First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
These two handsome volumes contain 271 essays by library historians on the great contemporary libraries of the world. Some 224 essays focus on individual libraries, 34 provide overviews for various types of libraries, and 13 deal with "library development in regions of the world sporadically represented elsewhere in these volumes."
The A-Z topical and geographical surveys, which are confined to volume 1, vary in length from less than a page (Circulating libraries and reading rooms ) to nearly eight pages (Iberian libraries). Each concludes with suggestions for further reading. Topics include types of institutions (Archives, Public libraries, Special libraries); libraries focusing on special topics or formats (Buddhist libraries, Map libraries, Medical libraries ); libraries for special clientele (Prison libraries, Women's libraries ); and libraries originating in the past (Medieval libraries, Renaissance libraries ). There is also an essay on Online catalogs.
Following the introductory surveys, library essays appear in alphabetical order under the names of owning institutions, so that the Bodleian Library is not in the Bs, but in the U s, under University of Oxford Libraries. Library entries range from less than one page for National Library of Pakistan to as many as six pages for Library of Congress of the United States and British Library, or seven pages for New York Public Library. Each entry begins with the library's name in English and its own language if different, address, Web address if available, year of founding, holdings statistics, and a list of special collections. Like the topical and geographical essays, the library essays also conclude with further reading suggestions. The set concludes with a detailed index of 80 pages, largely devoted to headings for organizations (with cross-references from their acronyms), libraries (by name and by type), countries, continents, persons, and publications. A geographic index of the library entries would be helpful for readers who might be interested in exploring the great libraries of New York or China.
All academic and large public libraries interested in library history will want to add this one-of-a-kind compilation to their collections. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Like Wayne A. Wiegand and Donald G. Davis's Encyclopedia of Library History (ELH) (Professional Media, LJ 4/15/94), this reference set contains entries on both general library history topics and on individual libraries. Whereas ELH emphasizes the topical approach, this work focuses on the histories of individual libraries. The vast majority of the 225 libraries included are in Europe (122 entries) and the United States (59 entries). Editor Stam (University Librarian Emeritus, Syracuse Univ.) did try to make the work global: China has as many entries as France (seven). The typical small country, if included at all, has an entry for the national library and the largest university library. Each entry is three or four pages long, starts with brief directory and statistical information, and concludes with a short bibliography. All of the articles are signed. In the "Introductory Surveys" section, representing one-fifth of the total work, there are topical articles comparable to those in ELH. Among the topics covered here but not in the earlier work are digital libraries and women's libraries. Filling a gap in the reference literature of library history, this work should be in library science collections and large public and academic libraries. Thomas F. O'Connor, Manhattan Coll. Libs., Bronx, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
