ht. Libr. Rev. (1969) 1,375378

Bibliographical Activities ofSpecial Libraries in Latin America

A R T H U R E . GROPPt

Latin America is a complex area, and therefore challenging with respectto determining the volume of bibliographic information and how up todate it is relative to the production of printed materials. It is estimatedthat more than 20,000 publications in monographic form and an equalvolume of periodical titles are published annually throughout the entirearea. Until the publication of Libros en Venta (1964) and its Suplemento(1968) by R. R. Bowker of New York, citing over 87,000 and 30,000titles, respectively, of works still available, information of what was beingpublished was difficult to find, except through the tedious scanning oftrade catalogs, review sections and listings in journals and newspaperliterary supplements, selective repertories published outside the LatinAmerican area, such as the Handbook of Latin American Studies of theLibrary of Congress, the Inter-American Review of Bibliography and List ofBooks Accessioned and Periodical Articles Indexed of the Pan AmericanUnion, and the Anuario EspaKol e Hispanoamericano de1 Libro y de las ArtesGr@cas published in Madrid. Additional sources for the location ofbibliographic information, although with considerable time lag betweenthe date of publication and the date of disseminating bibliographicinformation, are catalogs of library holdings, bulletins of library acquisi-tions, and special subject bibliographies. However, the ability to locatebibliographic information in no way is an assurance that the materialcited is still available in the open market.

In 1963 this writer on encouragement from the Seminar on theAcquisition of Latin American Library Materials, now in its twelfthyear, undertook to update the Bibliography of Latin American Biblio-graphies, second edition compiled by C. K. Jones and published by theLibrary of Congress in 1942. Nearly 5000 citations to monographs1 have

t 5 113 Western Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20016, U.S.A. Formerly Librarian,Columbus Memorial Library, Pan American Union, Washington, who prepared this paperfor the 1968 Frankfurt IFLA Council under the auspices of the Special Libraries Section.

1 Periodical articles of a bibliographical nature and sections of books often carryingexcellent bibliographies have not been included in the updated edition, except for the itemsincluded in the second edition.

376 A. E. GROPP

been added through the cut-off date of 1 January 1965. Later imprints,already numbering nearly 300 items, are in reserve for a supplement.Copy of the basic edition is nearing completion and will be published bythe Scarecrow Press of Metuchen, New Jersey. For the purpose of thispaper the additions with imprint 1950 through 1964 were analyzed bysubject and by geographic areas as shown on Tables I and II.

TABLE IBibliographical activity in Latin America by country, 1950-1964

Argentina 258Bolivia 1 3Brazil 346Chile 74Colombia 239Costa Rica 48Cuba 61Dominican Republic 14Ecuador 29El Salvador 20

Guatemala 35Haiti 9Honduras 8Mexico 269Nicaragua 1Panama 28Paraguay 2Peru 74Uruguay 127Venezuela 123

Total 1778

TABLE IIBibliographical activity in Latin America by subject, 1950-1964

AgricultureAnthropologyArchivesArt and architectureBibliographyBiographyBulletinsCatalogs, libraryBookselling and publishingChildren’s booksEconomicsEducationExhibitsFolkloreGeographyGeologyGovernment publicationsHistoryHousing and planningIndexesIndustryInstitutions (museums, societies,

universities)

40 International relations 922 Journalism 1 965 Labor 91 2 Language 7

113 Law 28191 Libraries and library science 64323 Literature 35

79 Maps 91gt Medicine 391 7 Music 946 Periodical guides 11645 Philosophy 1074 Political science 91 2 Printing 3126 Public administration 1 122 Religion 1027 Science 2944 Social science and welfare 35

8 Statistics 56 9 Theater 71 7 Veterinary science 3

1 7 Total 1778

t This total represents only a very partial listing of the many dealers’ and publishers’ catalogs.

B I B L I O G R A P H Y I N L A T I N A M E R I C A 377

Traditionally, libraries in Latin America function with limited budgetsfor the purchase of publications. Consequently, acquisitions for the mostpart come from gift and exchange. Except for catalogs of libraries ingeneral of holdings, of exhibitions and of donations, and except for thecontributions of national libraries and to some extent congressionallibraries, bibliographical contributions by libraries in the past have beenfew in number. Not until library schools were established, now func-tioning in most of the countries, was there evidence of a growing contri-bution from libraries other than national libraries. Newly foundeddocumentation centers added to the movement of interest and activityfor the dissemination of bibliographical information.

The library is prevented from taking a more active part in producingbibliographical publications due to insufficient support to make possibleextensive bibliographical contributions beyond the responsibility oforganizing the materials. It is the user, generally not related to thelibrary, and often belonging to another administrative unit of the sameagency to which the library belongs, who is given the responsibility forthe compilation and dissemination of bibliographic information. Univer-sity institutes, documentation centers and specialized government officesbelong to this type of administrative unit.

Earlier contributions came primarily from the contributions of notedbibliographers, among them, JosC Toribio Medina of Chile, one of theworld’s great bibliographers of all times, Joaquin Garcia Icazbalcetaand NicolPs Le6n of Mexico, Carlos M. Trelles of Cuba, ManuelSegundo %nchez of Venezuela, Antonio Zinny of Argentina, GabrielRent-Moreno of Bolivia, Antonio Simbes dos Reis of Brazil, Luis DoblesSegreda of Costa Rica, Dardo Estrada of Uruguay, and Albert0 Tauroand Rub& Vargas Ugarte of Peru.

The panorama of contributions from special libraries are representa-tive of types of libraries which can be found in other parts of the world:agricultural, art, business, banking, chemical, economic, educational,engineering, industrial, insurance, law, medical, public administration,social sciences, etc. The content of their collections, however, may notalways be as specialized as the name implies, due in large part to acquisi-tion policies and to financial capacity. Nevertheless, they do fill the roleexpected of specialized subject collections.

In analyzing the contributions of special libraries and documentationand bibliographic centers, as reflected in the forthcoming updatededition of C. K. Jones, of the 1778 items, bearing imprint dates 1950-64,13 1 were found to come from the centers and 33 1 from libraries. Of thosecoming from libraries, 109 were periodical publications and 57 werecatalogs of holdings.

3 7 8 A . E . G R O P P

Several guides are available, in which special libraries are recorded,but none that register an extensive and comprehensive record of speciallibraries and their publications relative to bibliography.

Some information can be gleaned from general library guides andfrom listings of co-operating libraries in projects aimed to provide basicinformation such as the Cata’logo Colectivo de Publicaciones Pehidicas, pub-lished in 1962 by the Sociedad Argentina de Instituciones Sociales,Cientificas, Artisticas y Tecnicas, in which 142 libraries collaborated.However, in general, the field of special libraries, their bibliographicalactivities and publications sorely needs exploration and study. Thefollowing sources may be helpful for beginning a study of this kind :

Brazil. Instituto Brasileiro de Bibliografia e DocumentaqZo. Bibliotecasespecializadas brasileiras; guia para intercambio bibliogrc@co. Rio de Janeiro,1962. 375 pp. Contains information about 471 libraries. Publishingactivity is noted, but publications are not cited.

Jose Federico Fino. Lista de bibliotecas especializadas de Buenos Aires.Buenos Aires, 1948.9 pp.

Angela Hernandez de Caldas. Bibliotecas y centros de documentacidnagropecuarios, botdnicos y dasondmicos de Amkrica Latina. Pasto, Col., 1963.(Universidad de Narifio. Instituto Tecnologico Agrciola. Biblioteca. Ser.bibliografica, No. 3.)

Olga Lendvayova. Estado actual de bibliotecas agricolas en Am&a de1 SW.Turrialba, C. R., Instituto Interamericano de Ciencias Agricolas, 1966.46 pp. (Bibliotecologia y documentation, No. 7.)

Pan American Union. Columbus Memorial Library. Guia de bibliotecasde America Latina. Washington, D.C., 1963. 165 pp. (Bibliographic series,No. 51.) Types of libraries are identified. Publications are not cited.

Ralph R. Shaw, Armando Samper, and Arthur E. Gropp, Facilidadesde intercomunicacidn cientijca agricola en Am&a Latina. Turrialba, C. R.,1953. 71 pp. (Instituto Interamericano de Ciencias Agricolas. Publ.misc. No. 3.)