Open Collections

 V.   2,   NO,   10  OF THE  U.B.C.   LIBRARY  STAFF  NEWSLETTER    JULY   I966
This   issue   is  the   result of numerous   library  staff and "tenant"
contributors and  the BIBLOS   staff wishes  to  thank them all   on
behalf of our   readers.
Credits go to Dr.   Audrey Hawthorn,   Museum of Anthropology;
Miss Ng,  Asian  Ttudies;   Miss Dwyer,   Fine Arts;   Hans Burndorfer,
Bibliography   (via   Isobel   Godefroy)   and  Pat  LaVac  for their
book-tour write-ups;   Eleanor Mercer,   Isa  Fiszhaut,   Heather
McDonald,   Donna Shaw  (Law Library),   Nick Omelusik,   and Lawrence
Leaf  for their various conference   reports;   and Gerry Dobbin,
Cataloguing,   (as edited  from her Cataloguing Division  supplement  of  the June   Reference  Group meeting). NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CATALOGUE DIVISION
On June 1st, I966...
1. The former Acquisitions bibliographic searching section was
amalgamated with the Catalogue Division LC searching and
cataloguing section.
Object:  To improve the efficiency of two groups previously
working on closely related work in the same area.
Additional benefits include: Increased variety of nonprofessional staff. More flexibility in the use of staff
where the need is most urgent at any one time.
2. Cataloguing staff doing original (as opposed to L.C. cards)
cataloguing was divided into five sections, each with a
librarian in charge and each responsible for a specific
category of material,
3. New routines for the production of cards and the physical
preparation of books.  Card production and book preparation
will be completely separated to help increase the output of
both our keypunchers and our typists.
Procedure:  1.  Cataloguing completed.  Worksheets, proof-
sheets, and L.C cards removed from books.
2. Keypunchers produce IBM cards for each item
from the worksheets, etc.
3. These IBM cards checked and then duplicated
a) Set 1 kept to prepare monthly accession
list.
b) Set 2 matched with corresponding book and
becomes the bookcard which stays in the
bookpocket.
4. Student help letters book jackets,
5. Books plated, pocketed, and marked.
6. Three day delay for examination by divisions.
7. Then go to various shelf locations.
8. Meanwhile, typists preparing all necessary
cards - main catalogue, shelf list, etc.  Therefore, card for divisional material will arrive
in the divisions shortly after the books themselves. 3
4, Who's-in-charge-of-what  Chart
CATALOGUING DIVISION
Head:  Gerry Dobbin
Bibliographic search. & LC Cataloguing Section.
Dorothy Shields - Head
Georgia MacRae - Bibliographic Searcher
Dave Thomas - LC card searcher and cataloguer
Original Cataloguing
Meg Little - Head
Mary Macaree - Serials
Barbara Gibson - Science
Heather McDonald - Slavonics
Lore Brongers - Fine Arts, Humanities, Soc. Sci.
Isabel Godefroy - Descript. Cat., other editions,
added copies.
Card Production & Filing; book preparation
Betty Misewich - Head
5. All clear now? Whether you are or not, we move on to the
new peoples list (Biblos' library staff plus mailing list
is up to 325 copies).
ARRIVALS
Acquisitions - Helena Korinek, Lib. Asst.; Susan Stepney, CI.I.
Cataloguing - Margaret Konya, CI, I; Howard Spence, Lib. Asst.;
Lorraine Morrison, CI.I; Hanne Hendriksen, CI.I;
Penny Damm, Lib. Asst.
Circulation - Jane Pierson, CI. I; Fay McKay, CI. I.
Curriculum Lab. - Jean Boulogne, CI. II.
Law Library - Joanne Brown, Lib. Asst,
Map Division - Nancy Morton, CI. I.
Prebindery - Elizabeth Robb, CI. I.
Serials - Alan Quan, CI, I, ARRIVALS (Cont'd.)
Systems - Gwen Brown, Keypunch Supervisor; Marilyn Adolph,
Keypunch Operator.
Woodward - Linda Hansen, Lib. Asst.; Dorothy Daly, CI. I.
ADVANCES
Diane Butterfield, Clerk II, Sedgewick
Martina Cipolli, Clerk II, Acquisitions
S. Y. Tse, Senior Library Assistant, Asian Studies
Marie Morgan,  Library Assistant, Sedgewick
Bev Richards, Clerk II, Serials
AU REVOIRS
Acquisitions - Neil Cameron, July 29th; Margaret Coles,
June 27th; Solahn Faulkner, June 30th;
Diana Fraser, July 31st,
Cataloguing - Virginnia Wing, June 27th,
Circulation - Pat Smith, July 15th.
Systems - Joyce Schurek, Keypuncher, June 30th.
Woodward - Luba Skripnikoff (Biomed. Branch)
We pause to interject a light note - from the Serials Division,
A recently received item published in Warsaw was addressed:
Serials Division, Library
University of British Columb
Canada
Attn. Miss.,.Camerou
Attached was a plaintive letter suggesting we give the publisher
a new address so "... the publication will reach you rather
than us."  The letter was from the Canadian Embassy in Yaounde
and was signed by the 3rd sec'y of the Canadian delegation in
the Republic of Cameroon. MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY
On to the last "tenant" in the Library building - the Museum of
Anthropology - located in the basement (just follow the North
Entrance stairs down).
Four major reconstructions ago, "The Museum", founded in 1927,
was a very small room on the ground floor of the library,
where the general circulation desk now is.  In 1948 the Museum
was expanded as a teaching collection, for use of the Department of Anthropology , the University, and the community.  It
was moved into the (then) new basement of the (then) new wing
of the library.  The size and place of the display room has
remained constant, but the collection has greatly expanded by
gifts and by purchase.
Storage space has been increased over the years as the library
could spare it.  During these years, also, the teaching functions of the Museum have increased, as space warranted.
Due to major gifts from Mr. H. R. MacMillan, the Leon and Thea
Koerner Foundation, Dr. Walter C. Koerner, the collections of
Swakiutl Indian materials here are outstanding.  Many gift
collections from friends of the University have added materials
from all of the tribal cultures of the world, and many of the
ancient and classic cultures as well.
The Museum is open when the University is in session, and
visitors and classes are welcome. Bookbuying  excursions are  not   idyllic,   restful,   browsing experiences.     They  are  a  tiring,   frantic,   and  somewhat  competitive
form  of   sport   in  which  numerous   libraries  and  book agents   indulge.     We  are  happy  to   relay  UBC   Library's   results   to  you   in
order of geographical   distance.
BOOK-HUNTING  -  ORIENTAL  STYLE
T.   K.   Ng
When I blithely set off on my acquisitions trip to Hong Kong,
Taiwan, and Japan, little did I know book buying could be so
brain racking.  Dear Colleagues, now you know why you see silvery tresses among my jetblack hair.
Book prices had gone sky high, that much I knew and was well
prepared for it.  But what was the use of money (!) if books
needed to complement our Asian Studies Library were not available?  Not only older materials such as Ming (1368-1644) and
Ch'ing (1644-1912) editions were extremely scarce, but even
publications of, say 1949-1960, were also hard to locate.  The
first few days after my arrival in Hong Kong, I was so discouraged by the dried-up state in which I found the book market
that I decided to return home empty-handed rather than spending Library funds on trash or duplicates.
The reasons behind that depressing scene (from the buyer's point
of view, that is) were obvious.  With the sudden boom of Far
Eastern libraries in America and other places in recent years,
competition for materials in the Far Eastern languages was getting greater and greater while sources of supply were becoming
fewer and fewer, until a situation was reached which could aptly
be described with the Chinese saying "too many monks (sharing)
too little congee", meaning demand far exceeds supply..  But what
a golden opportunity to book sellers!
I noticed that in a single month, a certain Mainland Chinese
book agent in Hong Kong had twice raised his prices, and yet when
I hesitated to buy from him just a moment too long, the books
were gone to other eager buyers! Competition was keen too between foreign and local libraries.
Some local librarians made it clear that they did not welcome
book-hunters, because firstly, they hated to see precious
material drained away from their homeland, and secondly, thanks
to those hunters, prices were climbing up fast, costing them
more and more money for their books.  Whenever possible they
would grab the books for their libraries, but usually at a 10%
discount.  I did not fare very well in grabbing.  The first big
batch of books I had selected from a second-hand bookstore
ended up mysteriously in one of the local libraries.  I learned
my lesson.,  Thereafter I went about my business in the most
guarded manner, hiding my itinerary, camouflaging my activities,
paying in cash (second-hand dealers would accept nothing else),
and having the selected items packed and sealed then and there
for mai1ing to U.B.C.
It was through a painstaking selection process at grimy old
stores where the only furniture was rickety shelves, that I
got hold of, among other things, over a thousand titles of
literary works, novels, poetry, plays, short stories, etc.,
of the period between 1920-1960, and back issues of important
journals published around the time of the Chinese revolution.
Second hand book dealers handled their merchandise in two
different ways.  One of them was to make weekly trips to Macao
to collect as many as possible books which trickled out from
the Mainland (whether they were good or bad, old or new, complete or incomplete did not matter to them), and sell them on
a "first come first serve" and "no cash no buy" basis.  The
other was to gather together from various sources in Hong Kong
and Macao more valuable or out of print materials, sometimes
books in big sets or series and even complete runs of magazines.
For his time and effort, and above all, for his sound knowledge
in books, the latter kind of sellers usually received rewards
many times greater than the former.
Supplies in those old stores were, however, very limited.  I
would not have been able to accomplish much even if I had devoted all my business hours there during my seven week stay
i n Hong Kong, 8
Before taking the trip, I knew that if I wanted to make it a
success, I would have to rely more on private collections, and
accordingly wrote to friends there appealing for help.  And
help they did, by introducing to me six private libraries, of
which I purchased two, rejected three, and am still negotiating
by correspondence for the sixth.  The three collections were rejected for some of the following reasons:
(l)  very much alive silver fish and the like were found in the
books;  (2)  prices were more shocking and unreasonable than
usual;  (3)  duplication was too great, and (4)  the books were
good museum pieces rather than   the supporting part of a
graduate studies collection.  None of the six libraries was of
a great size; their largest, which has already safely arrived
here, was in approximately 4,000 volumes, only 1/11 of our
P'u-pan Collection (       ).  Gone are the days of the large
and carefully built private libraries like the P'u-pan. They
have probably all gone from Hong Kong to Australia, Great
Britain, Malaysia, and most of all, the United States
When I first laid eyes on the largest collection mentioned above,
I could not help falling in love with it.  The books were kept
in just the way I would like them to be.  They did not duplicate
much of our holdings but could very well complement the P'u-pan
Collection.  Early Ch'ing editions were abundant, mingled with
a few genuine Ming ones, all bound in the traditional Chinese
style.  It was another P'u-pan Collection in reduced size and
including different but scholarly books on history, philology
and literature.  However, I found out later that I had congratulated myself too soon.  What difficulties, headaches and
worries I had to experience before getting hold of it.'
In the first place, the owner was reluctant to sell.  When, after
a great deal of gentle persuasion from me she made up her mind
to sell it, she could not decide on the price.  Air letters and
telegrams flashed to and fro between our boss and me before I
could offer her a reasonable one, but she would not accept it,
Two weeks later she finally set her own price.  Telegrams were
sent flying again in a very happy mood (it was just a few days
before Christmas) only to be followed by anxiety.  The owner
changed her mind two days after we had agreed on the price.
She wanted to raise it to a few thousand dollars more,  I wished
I had Solomon's wisdom to deal with the situation - the library money was already on its way, there was no legal contract signed,
and I had not yet laid hands on any of the books!  I consulted a
lawyer friend of mine and got neither solution nor comfort but a
long lecture from him.  To complicate matters, the owner happened
to have a friend who was after a large commission.  He did not
know about our negotiation until the price was settled.  Naturally
he tried his best to stall the actual sale by persuading both
the owner and me to let him handle the business, hence the delayed
price raising request.  When he failed to make an appointment with
me by phone, he came early one morning to the Y. W. C A. where I
was staying, hoping to force an interview upon me.  To cut a long
story short (or else our editors would have their headaches), with
the help of a reliable book agent who had been doing business with
us for years, I managed to collect and move the whole collection
to his office, where he did the sorting, mending, packing and
mailing for us.  And we did not add another cent to the agreed
price.
I should consider myself very fortunate to be able to get some
private collections, according to another Oriental librarian
whom I met on my trip.  He was off to the Far East about a month
ahead of me, but I finally caught up with him in Tokyo.  He had
not found much that was worth buying, he said, although financially he was much better equipped than I was for a shopping
spree.  I was not at all surprised to meet him there, since it
was nothing new to Oriental libraries in America to send their
librarians to the Far East book-hunting.  In fact some of the
older and larger ones have been doing it regularly for a number
of years.  It was so frustrating not to be able to get the books
after all the time and labour spent on ordering (because by the
time all the checking is done and orders prepared and mailed to
the faraway sellers, the selected items are already sold out)
that they realize they have to tap the very sources of supply
for their material.  As far as I know, there were at least seven
or eight librarians who had headed for the Orient before me
during the past two years on the same kind of mission as mine. 10
We, the fortunate (or unfortunate?) ones chosen for the
acquisitions job, all agree that there were light moments
throughout our trips.  Besides meeting again one's old friends
one can sample Oriental delicacies.  It was said that the
best place to eat in the whole of China was Canton, but now
Hong Kong has taken over; there one can get food cooked in
all the different styles, and in the best traditional way too,
from Cantonese, Fukien, Peking, Shanghai, right down to
Szechuan.  In Japan, fellow librarians are the soul of hospitality itself.  They would introduce one to the real
sashimi, sukiyaki, sushi, tempura, etc.  I am afraid that
the hectic pace one keeps on such trips would not allow any
time for sightseeing, but to tell the truth, to cheer myself
up a little after a long cold session at second-hand bookshops in Kyoto, I did visit some Buddhist and Shinto temples
and shrines there.  The chimes of their bells still linger
in my ears, it seems.
From the exotic East, we move West —
FIRST B AND B... NOW b's TRIP TO EUROPA
OR Scenes from the trip of Hans^jkirndorfer, freely adapted
from hi s ,talk Julv 11th
' r."3 *	
On April 28th, 1966, Hans departed from Vancouver Airport to
invade the bookstores in East and West Germany, Austria and
Swi tzerland.
In West Berlin, the importance of connections and timing was
impressed upon him.  Armed with the International Directory
of Antiquarian Booksellers, our man "b" went first to our
friend Bucherwurm who proved invaluable in helping him discriminate between the various booksellers, 11
ishing special store hours ( 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. ) just for
Bucjierwurm allowed him to peruse at leisure the material
shelved from floor to ceiling by means
of a step-ladder.  Hans knew that
material available today would be gone
tomorrow ( two days before Hans
arrived in West Berlin, some art dealers
held an auction of over 2,000 books;
the day after Hans arrived, 3 remained!!)
Keen'to visit the booksellers behind the Iron Curtain, Hans
arrived on the run at Check-Point Charlie.  After being searched
for Western magazines and stripped of
his passport, he was handed a slip of
paper; "Hans Burndorfer 6120" and innumerable vouchers.  Dangling his 120
lb. bag, he strolled across No-Man's
Land to East Berlin arriving sans paper
slip.  PANIC !  Where was it?  No slip,
no passport refund.  A few sprints back
and forth across No-Man's Land and
success!  he found it and arrived.
Phew !  But ever onward:
"Taxi!  Taxi!  To my hotel!"
"No taxi here.  Your hotel is just around the corner" came a
reply.  So after twenty minutes of scout's pace casually clutching that 120 lb. bag, Hans arrived at the hotel to have his passport again relieved of him and another slip handed him!  Slips
became the bane of, his existence, ~„
<__
j±:
The   thought  of Being  stopped_behindthe   Iron  Curtain with  his
name and  an arbitrary number as   identification  failed  to comfort
him. ,-*»»l:    T /§fc\       c"""""^   J\ o
'^i£ e-r<^l    f     ^ So with this constant red tape, our man "b" arrived at the
Leipzig booksellers with his best Canadian "Guten Tag" and inquired for catalogues of material in philosophy, history and
sociology.  Aware of Leipzig's reputation in the former, he
probed this field particularly and got wind of the fantastic
collection of the late Professor Pichler formerly of the University of Griefswald.  Gaining immediate access to it, he began
climbing up and down the ladder as at Bucherwurm's.  It sure
looked great!  But fear of duplication crept into his mind:
"What has U.B.C. acquired since I left?" He paced back and
forth ... 20% off to compensate for duplication ... lots of
first editions.  No time to check the current holdings at
U.B.C. ... Remember the art dealer's auction in West Berlin.
He must phone immediately for authorization from Basil (at the
dealer's expense, of course). At 9 a.m. a very excited switchboard operator placed her first call to Canada   the Librarians
Office, U.B.C At 5 p.m., she reached the Circulation Division
and Hans heard Basil rush to the phone and shriek: "Is this
collect?"
"No."
(In a very relieved and now casual tone) "Oh, fine.  How are
you? How's the weather? ,,. philosophy collection ... hmmmm ...
O.K.  Buy it!" Cheers from the dealer and staff!  Time to
celebrate - where1s the bottle?  It must be under Schopenhauer's
Col lected Works'.
So thre
later -
"b" to
Such a
we. . . ?)
e collections and several blanket order negotiations
— totalling approximately 10,000 titles   back teete
the welcoming (?) arms of Acquisitions and Cataloguing,
great job done, we wonder if he'll ever recover (and wi
rs
11, 13
-, ,-^l My trip to Britain, or,
^hat/a resourceful librarian can do!
Melva Dwyer, Fine Arts
"A resourceful librarian, one might say, is a librarian full of
resources!!" Taking this suggestion from one of our best education
texts to heart, I decided that May was the time to pack my bags
again for the British Isles.
Always being resourceful, I had become a "Scottish woman" and was
able to enjoy a first class charter flight on a new Boeing 727.
Some 85 hours after departure, we arrived at Prestwick in fine
shape!  after the relaxing influence of a continuous free bar
service.
Since I really considered that this trip was a holiday, I swore
that book buying would be kept to a minimum and at times I managed
quite well will my resolution.  But when one is completely surrounded by museums, art galleries, and book shops it is impossible to
turn one's back and say nay to such a heaven-sent opportunity.
Instead of hastening south as soon as I landed, I decided to spend
my first week in Scotland revisiting my old haunts.  I found that
some of my favourite book shops in Edinburgh had been forced to
close their doors or had only new books to offer.  This meant that
for me they had lost most of their charm.  The explanation given to
me by one of those remaining in the antiquarian trade was the increasing difficulty in acquiring good second hand book stock at
reasonable prices.  The American market has become too competitive
and has forced the prices to prohibitive heights.  This was particularly true of Fine Arts books I found wherever  I visited.
Before I had left Vancouver, Maureen Wilson, our map librarian and
I had arranged to spend a week together in Copenhagen and Amsterdam.  I flew to London and met Maureen and we continued on to
Copenhagen.  Here we found a very cosmopolitan city with broad
streets in the-newer sections, the world famous Tivoli pleasure
gardens; the mouth-watering smi6rbrod; green copper roofs and
spires on the oldest buildings; the LitfJe Mermaid near the harbour
entrance; hovercraft plying between Denmark and Sweden; and finally,
museums, galleries and bookshops.  A trip to the castles of Fred-
eriksborg and Elsinore, where Shakespeare's Hamlet was said to have
been set, rounded out our stay.
For the last half of the week we went on to Amsterdam, my favourite 14
city of north Europe.  Here, I found that I had to succumb to book
buying.  How can one ignore book stores displaying all the latest
and best in Fine Arts books!  Even so, I only managed to visit
three of the six or eight which specialize in Fine Arts and Music
and completely ignored the shops of Le Hague, Leiden and Delft
where I knew equally fascinating stocks were to be found.
Here in Amsterdam, we both delighted in the Art Museums, the old
buildings and the canals.  We attended concerts at the opera house
and were interested to find Nicolas Goldschmidt conducting "Die
Zauberflote".  This made one realize again that the language of
the arts is universal indeed.
When we left Amsterdam, we realized how fortunate we had been
weatherwise.  Not a drop of rain for the entire week!  On my return to London, I visited the British Museum and saw their Music
Library for the first time.  No air conditioned rooms for their
priceless treasurers, I was assured.
I also met several of my former bookseller friends whom I tried
to convince that UBC was not in the hinterland as they so fondly
believed.  Loggers and Indians still loom large in their ideas of
typical British Columbians, although my purchases helped to dispel
some of their preconceived notions.
London is still a city of theatres, historical pageantry and bookstores, despite the modern Post Office tower, Hilton Hotel and
other architectural monstrosities which have been allowed to mar
the horizon. I tried to concentrate on book purchasing a little
more here and therefore skipped the pageantry.  One week is entirely too short a time to do anything well in a city like London.
Even the traffic prevents one from hastening between two points
at certain hours.  London has still not succumbed to the freeway,
so traffic frequently comes to a standstill due to the concentration of vehicles which suddenly converge on the central core.
"The Tube" is the best solution to the whole thing but I feel like
a groundhog as I go down the hole to emerge again at my destination.  Wouldn't it be terrible to get stuck down there?
For my final week, I left London and motored to Norwich, another
of my favourite cities.  From here I made several trips to visit
churches and cathedrals of historic interest: Ely, Bury St.
Edmunds, Long Mel ford and Lavenham all proved to have something
individual and worth visiting. 15
Norwich itself with the Norman castle, cathedral and other ancient
buildings makes one aware of how full of history Britain is and
how young we are in Canada,  As you can see, books were incidental
here although I did visit one shop of importance and spent an
enjoyable morning touring the relatively new (2 years old) Norwich
Public Library as guest of the chief librarian.
To make amends for this lapse, I decided to return to London via
Oxford so that I could spend a day at Blackwell's.  I renewed my
acquaintance with the several bookshops of this famous establishment where naturally the Music Shop and Fine Arts warehouse
attracted my attention.  I also found time to investigate their
main store where a new underground reading room had just been
opened with much fan fare.  Reluctantly I drove back to London -
returned my car and flew back to Glasgow in time to rejoin the
"Scottish ladies".  The return flight was as enjoyable as the
original one, in fact, I am sure that the bar was even better!!!
My resourcefulness had really paid off.
Jp/Zlv uJ'-J    ^^_    ft t? I 16
Overseas Report.
Little did I know when the boat left the National Harbour Boards'
Wharf under Burrard Bridge and headed for the open seas, that I
too would join the ranks of the reporters on overseas travels
The travels that have taken our questing staff to the far flung
"Librianic strongholds" of the world and myself to ...... Bowen
Island.  That fabled island of peace  and rest - now that the
Moonlight Cruises have become a fond memory and the Company
Summer Picnic and "happy" weekend camper have been banished to
a past era.
For now Bowen, with it's permanent housing, primary school, and
lack of public conveniences, has become respectable and what
greater mark of respectability can there be than a Library, and
here on the Island is possibly one of the most delightful libraries in British Columbia.
The small, two roomed, wooden bungalow, with its' six stair entry
and wooden bannister giving it rather the appearance of a miniature
Swiss chalet, perched as it is on the hill amidst the trees.
A rustic sign proclaims to all who enter that "This Library is
dedicated to the Memory of Annie Laurie Wood, Charter Member of
the Ladies Auxiliary to Bowen Island, Pacific No, 150.  Royal
Canadian Legion" and it is the Ladies of the Legion who
have kept the Library open since 1962. Twice a week Tuesdays and
Saturdays 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. and what the ladies lack in professionalism they make up with dedication in the sincerest sense
of the word.
The Collection numbers approximately 2,000 volumes of varying
vintage and the subject.  These have mainly been donated by
residents of the Island and other well wishers.
Shelves are arranged by Author alphabetically with no division
of subject matter, and with each title neatly recorded in a handwritten book.  Circulation is also written entry (2 books per
person per 2 weeks) . 17
Juveniles have two shelves in the second room, pocket novels remain in cardboard boxes - it's always exciting to find what is at
the bottom of the box - and back issues of the National Geographic
Magazine occupies another two shelves, a mute memorial no doubt
to one of the past residents of the Island who cleaned out his
basement just before moving back to the Mainland.
In fact everything is so uncomplicated that the day I was curiously perusing the shelves a new volunteer helper was shown the
whole system of circulation and filing in less than ten minutes.
Some of our travellers have visited more exotic places but who
amongst them was invited to a "Tahitian Tea" at the Union Steamships Hall on Saturday afternoon - run by the Ladies of the
Legion - Well I was and I very much regret that I was not there
to attend as I am sure it would have been just as delightful as
thei r Li brary.
And please if any of you have books, of any vintage, that you
find can be spared, I would be most willing to take them off your
hands and mail them direct to; -
The Library
Bowen I si and, B. C.
It's just across the water - on a clear? day you can almost see it.
P S,  Gifts and Exchange.  Please note the last paragraph. 18
Meanwhile.. back on the North American continent our librarians
dashed off to a wealth of conferences returning with a wide
range of impressions and results.
First Impressions of CLA (Canadian Library Association)
Most events are susceptible to one-word evaluations, and this
is the course I proposed to take when asked to produce some
impressions of the recent CLA conference held in Calgary,  It
was, however, made clear to me that BIBLOS editors were not
in the business of conserving paper, and the following plethora is the result.
On entering the hotel for the first time and sizing up the
citizenry gathered in the lobby, I feared that I had accidently
stumbled into a D.V.A. workshop on the rehabilitation of war
wounded.  But these were librarians, and the aura of V - E
Day which surrounded my introduction to the assemblage was
soon supplanted by quite a different set of responses.
Francis Bacon wrote that "reading maketh a full man; conference
a ready man and writing an exact man",  Well, the ready man at
a conference soon becomes full, and, unfortunately, inexact.
Therefore, I am i11-prepared, even were the inclination present, to describe in detail what transpired at the various
meetings, having chosen to follow the example of my older and
wiser colleagues, to wit, emulation of a sponge.
Business sessions were largely drone and acquiesence, with
occasional flashes of eloquence, irrascibi1ity and outright
stupidity emerging to titillate the customers.  Discussion
groups on the conference theme, were, if my group was typical,
lively and well-run, although punctuated by spasms of immaculate irrelevance.  Discussion was dominated by a minority.
Most librarians appear disinclined to speak freely in public,
but there is a cadre within the profession which strives
mightily and with spectacular success to compensate for the
taciturnity of the others.
Most of the real work of the conference is done outside the
pattern of organized events.  Those who accomplish most, and
enjoy themselves in the process, are the ones that refuse to
be intimidated by the imposing superstructure of the program.
Nick Omelusi k 19
Last year it was Lapland - this year, for Eleanor Mercer, it was
a brief look into Yukon territory.
We saw the Yukon?  No, not really, just Whitehorse and immediate
environs.  Fifty-odd (some very odd) librarians flew north after
the CLA conference for a three-day visit in the territorial
capital.  The wiser took an extra day or so to see Dawson, or
to train to Skagway past the beautiful Lake Bennett; the Misses
Morton came down the coast via Mr. Bennett's new ferry.
Whitehorse itself is not particularly scenic, but the residents
are friendly.  They are accustomed to many visitors, and turned
out in force to see the librarians.  Betty Col Iyer (regional
librarian) had arranged special dinners where we met many local
people, something the average tourist would not be able to do.
We visited nearby Carcross, had a sandwich lunch at the ancient
Caribou Hotel; went through Miles Canyon (once dangerous rapids,
now subdued by a power dam), ate sourdough pancakes, visited
the handsome new library building, and enjoyed an excellent
exhibit of Eskimo carvings and prints.
The chief excitement in Whitehorse was the moving of the Old
paddle-wheeler Klondike.  This relic had been beached at one end
of the town, and is now being moved (Centennial project) to a
park area where it will be restored by the boys from the vocational school.  Meanwhile, she is being moved along Front
Street with the help of a quarter-million dollars, four cats,
tons of soap suds, and dozens of old truck tires.  The tires
go under the cat tracks to protect the blacktop.
My advice - it's exciting country, but when you go - take plenty
of time to see it properly.  Incidentally, the fishing is good, too.
Note.   In the future, requests for supplies from the stock
room must be in writing and submitted once a week.  Please be
specific and in some cases a sample is recommended.  Larger
orders not usually in stock must be requested on a memo to Mr.
Bell for the balance of the fiscal year. 20
South-east of the 49th...
A.L.A. NEW YORK INSTITUTE
The New York A.L.A. Preconference Institute on Library orientation Programmes presented a background paper describing the state
of library orientation programmes as they exist to-day, exposed
the delegates to the latest in multi-media equipment and orientation methodology, and then invited the delegates to present
their queries, observations and problems to the panel of "experts"
(established library orientation methcdologi sts) .
All agreed that ;:he problem of library orientation was not a new
one, and that its Increasing magnitude was mainly due to the
rapidly burgeoning college population.  The library faculty at
some large U.S. universities have become inundated and have
turned to offering only token orientation to first year students,
and have concentrated their efforts towards graduate students
using the tutorial method.
Several interesting points were explored during the evening panel
discussion.  One of the most pertinent was that librarians were
failing in their efforts to orientate the students with resources
of the library, and how to use them, mainly because librarians
were emphasizing what librarians should know about the library,
rather than what students want or need to know.  Librarians have
been too mundane and theoretical in their use of the newer media,
thereby failing to arouse and to hold the interest of students.
It was further suggested that the most useful and effective library orientation programmes could be carried out by the students
themselves with the library faculty acting in an advisory capacity.
Other interesting points discussed included:  (1) closer affiliation
and co-operation between college and school librarians; (2) 'how
to find a book without asking a librarian'; (3) library orientation
brochure kits; and (4) library performance tests.
As well as attending the Institute, I was able to briefly visit
twenty-seven libraries in the metropolitan New York area.  These
included university, college, public and special libraries.  The
entire trip proved to be interesting, rewarding and intellectually
stimulating.
Lawrence Leaf 21
South of the 49th..,.down L.A. way
AALL or American Association of Law Libraries - Donna Shaw - Law
Pre-Conference Institute for Cataloguing and Classification in
Law Libraries.  At UCLA, June 26th to July 2nd.
Frances Holbrooke, chief cataloguer UCLA Law School, acted as
director in our 9 a.m. to 9 p.ro. schedule.  I won't elaborate
on the painful details of law cataloguing and risk the wrath of
our cataloguing perfectionists.  However, Seymour Lubetsky, now
of UCLA, charmed us for two days with a profound yet marvellously
simple, discourse on the beauty of the NEW RULES, soon to be
published.  Those successfully completing the course (50 out of
50) received certificates and diplomas.
Conference, July 3-7. Ambassador Hotel, L.A.
From start to finish the last word in good planning and organization. Chairman, Arthur Charpenti rer, Librarian for the Bar
Association, N.Y. City.  Business meetings were business-like
and adjourned on time.  Law book publishers attended throughout
giving basic guidelines for the use of their publications.
Representatives of some affiliated law organizations presented
a lively panel discussion to help sooth nightmares and resolve
problems daily met by the law librarian.  (Have you ever tried to
explain to a prof that just because a "report" appears in a footnote does not mean that it is published and available?)  Of considerable interest was a panel conducted by a few knowledgeables
in African Law discussing the role of law in developing countries
especially Africa.
On the lighter side - luncheons, banquets, cocktail parties (galore)
often at a publishers' expense, and a tour of Disneyland.  The
crowning glory!  An evening at the Cocoanut Grove where we had our
annual banquet.
And if you want to see a library with lots of money, plenty of
space, where every operation is an art or science, it's the Los
Angeles County Law Library.  Staff is tops, building is new with
room for expansion - it's every librarian's dream.
* Donna received two scholarships at the Conference - enough to
cover most of her expenses, she says! 22
And finally, a postcard from another whirlwind pair who attended
a number of illuminating features including the Learned Societies
convention in Sherbrooke, Quebec with sidetrips to Harvard and
the Library of Congress.
New York
Greetings to al
To put it mildly, trip was a roaring success from beginning to
end - wine, food, song and oh yes - men.  Sherbrooke may never
recover from the overdose of budding Shevchenkos, though the
conference was interesting: featuring a few modest proposals such
as a union catalogue of the entire Canadian Slavic holdings, revising the LC classification schedule as well as LC subject lists,
etc.  However, ;*s"ani ty prevailed and we decided to begin with a
Canadian Slavic collections - meaning extra work
yours trulys.  Next stop, Quebec City - all those
j^ends about the French are true, true, true.  Two
ardent biculturists have been recruited!  Next
|r - the venerable ivy-covered walls of Widener
Library at Harvard University.  There we discovered
tharUB^C is not the only place with a swinging library staff. The great swinger Himself (Gordon
Bechanan) and his charming group of cohorts led us
delightful and illuminating expedition of Cutter's
j&\d  stamping grounds.  Joking aside, Harvard's Slavic
/collection was truly impressive, and we found the
C  trip very profitable.  From there, we began a two-day
Vstint of the Library of Congress,.the Mecca of Librarianship - where we duly bowed three times before
.entering that terrifying factory.  Found librarians
most hospitable and helpful.  Many of our cataloguing problems were promptly clarified.  Our
last stop was New York and little can be said about
it except that it has the most of everything, including just a few libraries.
Love to all,
Isa & Heather. ?3
Poets'  Poets!  Where are you?!%&*#
We've even abandoned the qualification that the subject matter
be about the library.  Anything goes!  To whet the palate and
the imagination here are a few samples.  The present poet
laureate assures that the prize will be presented near Himself
but will be of a less aesthetic nature.
From a traditional game comes this adapt ion..,from Woodward
Here we go round the Serials File ....
A journal?  Why yes Sir
-No trouble at al1 -
They're all a Iphabet i ca1
Right there in our file.
For 'Blood' look under B
and for 'Gut' look under G,
'Mouse Newsletter' - M
Any trouble - ask again.
Our motto around here, Sir, is service with a smile;
You'll find anything you want, Sir, in our Serials File.
(there's more) ... Look for the concluding stanzas in the August
Issue.  In the meantime..,)
Perhaps I should warn you, Sir, it may take quite a while,
But by ten o'clock tonight, Sir, you'll love our Serials File.
Another ardent limerickist has contributed some fine examples of
the art, to wit... and more in the August i ssue!
There was an old fellow from Lincoln,
Whose eyes were eternally blincoln.
When asked what was wrong,
He replied, "Run along!"
When I'm thincoln, I can't stop from blincoln."
We also have received a serious poem which deserves a spot of its
own in August and is perhaps more suited to the pages of PRISM
than BIBLOS. 24
In conclusion (Thank goodness!) a brief parting holiday word
to our cartoonist Di Cooper who hits the Europe circuit in
August.
Contributed by David Miller from Source Unknown-
Jetaway
Breakfast in Dear Old London
Luncheon in Gai Paree (is)
Dinner in New York City *
Baggage in Italy.
Di is substituting Geneve for this one.
THE END       AT LAST!
Not quite.
FLASH  The Bursar has approved a sum of money to permit
a thorough study of library ventilation problems.