REVIEWS AND SURVEYS G.V.Miheeva
Dedicated to contribution between the libraries
The English-Russian dictionary of
library and information terminology/ J. Richardson, Project Director; E.R. Sukiasyan, V.V. Zverevich, eds. Professiya, 2005. 267 p.
Needless to say, the publication
of a bilingual dictionary is a long-awaited present for all Russian (and not
only Russian) librarians, but as well as to all specialists in the field of
library and information studies: students and professors, translators, scholars,
bibliographers, IT specialists -- it seems impossible to list them all!
The necessity for such
an edition was felt for a long time. The initiative, courage and competence
needed for this work was uniquely present in the person of John Richardson, Professor
of the
Long gone is the time
when knowledge of the English language was not required of a librarian, when it
was merely enough to get acquainted with some articles in the well-known and
popular periodical edition of “Library science and bibliography abroad.” Being
a Scandinavian oriented philologist, I myself used to copy-print articles from
this magazine on the Scandinavian library experience. However, the articles
published there (though done by competent and concerned specialists) still were
not representative of foreign librarianship. Foreign library literature,
received by state libraries and in the private libraries of some specialists, had
to pass through ideological control (at customs, in special stocks of
libraries, etc.). Therefore, the part of
it that reached librarians did not truly reflect the whole range of the world’s
library literature.
In spite of that, leading
specialists in the field of comparative librarianship still managed to
familiarize other librarians with foreign experience, even in the years of
isolation. For example, a brilliant thesis, entitled “Main features and
tendencies of development of librarianship in the
During the last years,
the number of our native library employees who can work abroad or participate
in international library conferences increased. Now, the flow of publications is
free from ideological control. Also, one should keep in mind the worldwide web,
which a user cannot understand without being proficient in special, mostly
English, terminology.
There were several
dictionaries of professional library terminology published during the Soviet
years. E. R. Sukiasyan, a senior specialist at the Russian State Library, recalls
in the preface of the reviewed publication the several Moscow-based editions,
such as the “English-Russian dictionary of book science terms” (Moscow: Soviet
Russia, 1962. 512 p.) by T.P. Elizarenkova (1900 – 1968) and the “English-Russian
dictionary of library terms” (Moscow: Publishing House of the All-Union book
chamber, 1958. 286 p.) by M.H. Saringulyan (1926 – 1997). He mentions their creators
warmly and heartily.
I would also like to recall
a unique, totally forgotten (there is not a single word about it in the preface
to the reviewed dictionary) the “English-Russian dictionary of library terms”
of 1941. Its compilers were brilliant experts in the field of theory and
practice of Soviet and foreign librarianship, notably V. F. Saharov (senior
lecturer at the Communist Politico-Educational Institute named after N. K. Krupskaya,
now Saint-Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts) and T. P. Sokolova (the
chief librarian of the State Public Library named after M. E. Saltykov-Schedrin,
now the Russian National Library). The dictionary was edited by G. G. Firsov
and B. Yu. Eidelman, whose names are well known in Russian librarianship. The
dictionary (or rather a mini-dictionary, measuring only 12.5 cm in height)
includes over 1600 terms. It was signed for publication on January 21, 1941,
but appeared in print only in May. The terrible war was looming, but librarians
cared about those readers who were “starting to study library literature in
English,” for which “they would really be in need of such a dictionary.” Indeed,
librarians possess a lot of optimism, which makes them an essential part of the
world...
In the time that has passed since then, the
world has changed drastically: now we are on the threshold of entering a new, information-oriented
society, and the library practice has made great progress, accommodating
computerization, unifying world cataloging rules, MARC, UNIMARC, and RUSMARK. The terminology has also expanded
vastly. A small example: the 1941 dictionary lists 122 terms and turns starting
with letter “A”, while the 2005 dictionary lists 307. We have realized that
such dictionaries can be compiled only by collective, international efforts.
The first
English-Russian library dictionary of the 21st century is perfectly
compiled and worthily published. There is no doubt that it will be in great
demand, and will be printed again and again.
Now it is time to
create a “Russian-English dictionary of library and information terminology”. I
hope a group can start working on it as soon as possible.
Indeed, I am looking
now at a large volume of the second edition of “Vocabularium bibliothecarii,”
compiled by A. Thompson and issued by UNESCO in 1962. Its dedication says in
English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Slovak: ”Dedicated to the
collaboration of librarians of all nations,” which in full may be referred to
the dictionary compiled by Professor J. Richardson and his talented and
tireless international crew.
G.V. Miheeva, [
Translation by Elena Valinovskaya; revised by Elena Boudovskaia