GLEETT - University of Washington

I was received everyubere with unfailing courtesy aid genuine
interest. C my part, it was a real pleasure to seat Soviet aid Pulish
extazqe librarians with wixin I bad oorrespcix.ed for a ruiber of years
in my capacity as Slavic Aculsitiens Librarian (molding respciisibility
for IUlnois Soviet aid East Dnupean exdiarvjea). At alscet every library
I visited, I was taken en a tour aid had the cçportunity to meet aid talk
with librarians in other deparIients audi as Cataloging aid Reference. In
itiai to disoussirq the excbanges, Soviet aid Polish erthange
oufleagues were very interested in talking about library
prthlenm audi as cataloging backlogs, inadequate stack apace, aid kidget
prthl, as well as enre general issues auth as library edixmti.en,
biblicgraIilc instructien, clasefficaticsi systas, aid the use of Soviet
aid East xean materials by ear1.can facolty aid abmients.
Ibe Soviets aear to be pereitting nors libraries to cc*ict
lnternatienal e3atengee. S1tly befor, my daperturs for Ieocw, we
received In Urbana a letter frcn the State Central Theater Library,
asking if we would be interested In establishing an aidiang. with then
(they had aily r.oently been given pernissien to cçerate internaticnal
e,cd,anges). I visited then while I was in Xosoov, aid we r, hav, the
begizriiivjs of an e*hange with then for pobL1neti In the areas of
theater, c.lneaa, rmiio/IV, aid susic. We have also received inquiries
frce several other Soviet libraries interested In establishing i
egea with Pserican libraries (e.g., Vorunezh University). The
possibility of regular eanges with a larger mer of Soviet libraries
is, of irse, a great ccortunity for American libraries, bot also raises
questiam of hc*, to baniled Increased staff ts for corresdene,
greater bet cxxuithmnt to em±angss, etc.
me acxxuntIng basis of ediange. centinues to be a source of
disoussien aid Most of lUincis' large edanges with Soviet
libraries are en a "axnetary' basis (i.e. eadi partner in an aiethange
agree. to balance the .iiange in terse of total dollar or ruble irth of
materials sent, regardless of vola, serial titles, microfilm reels,
Sto.), although Soviet librarians did not sees to think this was a totally
fair asthod, given th. high price, aid high lnflatiai rates of American
books aid jaals. (i th. other hard, several of the large scientific aid
tedmical libraries I visited (e.g., State Public 8ciaitific-!1cbniosl
Library) insist en an "it itara" basis of eangs acixiuriting (book
for book, serial issue for serial issue, microfilm reel for microfilm
reel), a method that we censider at least partially unfair (again, because
of the great differeirm in prices between Soviet aid American materials).
At the practical level, lliiiois is fairly casual about maintaining strict
acxiountlng balaiw always .eid our m1,angs partners what they
request fran us (assaning it is available) even though each inlividual
emtharq. may be cut of balance (either way) for a year or so at a tine.
Cr local situaticzi has changed ecamabat recently since many
University of Illinois Press publicatiam that were formerly available
free for a exchange use have either ceased piblicaticm or are ri
available aily en a pnthase basis. lile we do have a bodget line for
p3rthaslng materials for exchange partners ($28,000 per year), these
And. ax, increasingly inadequat, to suly all of cur large exchange
partners with anash materials to keap the extharqes balar.
ail. attentIng to have cur exdange Iuget increased, we have also
been forced to be a little e "creative" by shopping arcwxf wrj U.S.
vers for larger discounts aid using other methods to get the meat
cut of the dollars m available to us for exthang, prrthases.
Si