ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries December 1988 / 735 hurting those whom the boycott was intended to aid, resulting in the availability of even fewer re­ sources for libraries serving black students and scholars. Audience response reflected the complexity of the topic. Several participants strongly supported exemption of informational materials from an oth­ erwise solid boycott. Although the position of the A frican National Congress is total isolation of South Africa, other participants made it clear that the ANC is not the sole voice of anti-apartheid forces. As Corinne Nyquist concluded, the impor­ tance of the session lies not in its resolution of the problem but in its open discussion. The panel will be repeated at ALA Annual Conference in Dallas next summer. —Helen M a cL a m , Choice m aga­ zine. A customized d atab ase on Scandinavian governm ent By M artha L. Brogan Assistant to the Provost and Vice President fo r Academic Affairs University of Minnesota and Robert B. Kvavik Assistant Vice President fo r Academic Affairs University of Minnesota Customized bibliographic databases and educational innovation. T h e development of the Scandinavian political studies database is a joint project of Martha Bro­ gan, a professional librarian and former bibliogra­ pher for Western European Studies, and Robert B. Kvavik, a political scientist with a specialty in Scandinavian government and politics. Originally and ultimately intended to facilitate the compilation of a published bibliography, the project— while still in its developmental phase— has already served a beneficial use to support re­ search and instruction at the University of Minne­ sota. During Winter Quarter 1988, in a graduate seminar on Scandinavian government and politics, the database was used effectively to develop spe­ cialized readings lists on such topics as Finnish for­ eign policy, Norwegian and Iceland ic interest groups, and coalition governments in Sweden. The customized lists were discussed with the students, and research themes were identified which could be investigated using materials held by the Univer­ sity Libraries. The database also produced a master reading list for an undergraduate class on Scandinavian poli­ tics. The electronic bibliography saved us, our students— and presumably some of our library staff— precious time in identifying and locating relevant materials. Rather, the faculty member’s energy focused on helping students specify research problems, the student’s on synthesizing materials and formulating positions on agreed-upon prob­ 736 / C &RL News lems in the field, and perhaps the librarian’s, on ju ­ dicious selection of new materials to add to the col­ lections.1 Of course, the strength of the bibliography, no matter what its form at— electronic or in-print— is based on the selection of materials it identifies and must be grounded in a thorough knowledge of both the subject under consideration and the multiplic­ ity of sources where the subject is discussed. While new technologies may simplify some of the tedious and mundane elements of producing a bibliogra­ phy, they do nothing to guarantee a quality prod­ uct. The technology permits us to gather, store, and manipulate data in new ways— and even occa­ sionally provides “ m anagem ent in fo rm a tio n ” about what we have compiled— but the content of the bibliography, upon which the ultimate value of the tool rests, remains the domain of the subject specialist. This particular project has been espe­ cially successful because of the combined skills in bibliographic “sleuthing” and subject expertise which we could bring to it. Although it is entirely possible for one individual, whether teaching fac­ ulty or professional subject bibliographer, to pos­ sess the requisite skills, we have found the collabo­ rative approach to offer more checks and balances to the project, and, we hope, to result in stronger final tool. When we began to work on this bibliography in January 1986, an annotated bibliography of con­ temporary Scandinavian political science had not appeared since Sven Groennings’ Scandinavia in Social Science Literature: An English-Language Bibliography (1970). Although Scandinavian Po­ litical Studies compiled cumulative bibliographies for the periods 1960-1975 and 1976-1979, they fo­ cused on publications of Nordic political scientists, represented extensively the Scandinavian litera­ ture, and were not annotated. Further, this effort ceased with the second cumulation. The more recent work by Kjell Eliassen and Mo- gens Pedersen, Scandinavian Political Institutions and Political B ehavior, 1970-1984: An Annotated Bibliography (1985), is limited to Norway, Den­ mark, and Sweden, and focuses more narrowly on political institutions and elites, political participa­ tion, the decision-making process, and the public sector. Despite its subtitle, it employs a classified subject approach rather than annotations and it lacks an index. Other less comprehensive efforts have also been attempted, mainly as extended course reading lists, such as Eric Einhorn and John Logue’s “A Selective Bibliography of Scandinavian Politics and Policy” (1984), which is limited to 1The original version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Ad­ vancement of Scandinavian Studies, April 2 8 -3 0 , 1988, at Eugene, Oregon. The project is supported by a small grant from the Educational Develop­ ment Programs office at the University of Minne­ sota. monographic literature, and Robert B. Kvavik’s “Scandinavian Government and Politics: A Bibli­ ography of Materials in English” (1984). W ith this intention to fill the nigh twenty-year void, at a time when the English-language social scientific literature on Scandinavia is flourishing, we set out to develop a search strategy for Scan­ d inavia in p o litica l scien ce. Our efforts were greatly facilitated by the historic strength of the University Libraries’ collections in Scandinavian Studies. W e began with our local collections and established from the outset a principle of reviewing each item for its potential inclusion, calling interli­ brary loan services to the rescue only in isolated in­ stances where the materials were not readily avail­ able at the University of Minnesota. Aided by P R O -C IT E (in its early version called PBS or Personal Bibliographic Software), citations w ere entered m anu ally from such sources as: Suecana Extranea, Index Nordicus, Scandinavian Political Studies, Scandinavia in English, Books on Sweden in English, Scandinavian Political Institu­ tions and Political Behavior 1970-1984, D ocum en­ tation on Sweden, Nordic D em ocracy, C om para­ tive Public Policy: The Politics o f Social C hoice in Europe and Am erica, and “Scandinavian Govern­ ment and Politics: A Bibliography of Materials in English” (see bibliography). W ith few exceptions, no more than 20 percent of the items from these bibliographies was selected for inclusion. Older and dated bibliographies were reviewed primarily for identifying classic studies or works in fields no longer in vogue. In addition, articles published from 1970 to the present were selectively extracted from such journals as C ooperation and Conflict, Acta Sociologica, Scandinavian Political Studies, European Journal o f Political Research, and West­ ern European Politics. E lectro n ic downloading was done concom i­ tantly using Biblio-link. W e ran searches on exter­ nal databases such as the Online Union Catalog of O C L C , the RLIN files of the Research Libraries Group, and the bibliographic databases offered by Lockheed Information Systems (Dialog). In the latter case, we searched U.S. Political Science D oc­ uments (USPSD), Historical Abstracts, Social Sci- search, and Public Affairs Inform ation Service (PAIS). Subject headings for politics, e .g ., eco­ nomic policy, political parties, were employed for each of the Scandinavian countries and with Scan­ dinavia and Northern Europe; no documents pub­ lished prior to 1970 or in languages other than E n ­ glish were requested by the search protocol. The entire database was then screened for duplicates and irrelevant materials. W e also deleted articles which were felt to be out of date or had been slightly modified and published anew in less com­ mon and hard-to-find journals. W hile the working corpus was being estab­ lished, we began to design the codebook to be used for indexing the citations. The codebook provides access to the database by five broad categories: for­ December 1988 / 737 mat (e.g., book, article, serial), country, focus of study (e.g ., whether it was a case study or compar­ ative analysis), type of study (e.g., statistics, bibli­ ography, government publication), and, most im­ portantly, subject. The creation of the topical index in particular proved invaluable in refining the subject scope of the bibliography and in improving our search strat­ egy. The bibliography covers the following subject areas: government structure; political thought, be­ havior, and organization; political parties and in­ stitutions; public administration and policy; insti­ tutional and intergovernm ental relations; and assessment of the social democratic state. Thus, we can search singly or in combination with any of the variables included in the codebook. We can look for articles on labor unions in Sweden, books on ethnic minorities in Finland, comparative studies on party systems, articles on parliaments after 1980, statistical materials on Norway in the Uni­ versity of Minnesota libraries, or for articles writ­ ten by a particular author, e.g., Stein Rokkan. As of August 15, 1988, the bibliography con­ sisted of 1,739 records. One of the useful features of the software is its ability to count the number of en­ tries we have coded for each index category. This permits us to monitor our search strategy to deter­ mine whether our results reasonably represent the extent of the literature in the field. Currently, the database is about equally divided between journal articles and books or chapters thereof. Thirty per­ cent of the entries, or 523 citations, are about Swe­ den; Norway represents about 18 percent of the database; Denmark and Finland each comprise about 13 percent. As to the subject areas, we have 86 citations on constitutions and constitutionalism; 139 on elec­ tions, campaigns, and voting behavior, and 117 on political economy. A closer review of this comput­ erized “management information” leads us to con­ clude that we need to dig deeper for materials on the role of the ombudsman and heads of state. In the case of studies on the ombudsman, clearly we have failed to identify the right sources or our search protocol is faulty. In the case of the monar­ chy or head of state, this finding represents an ab­ sence of English-language material on the subject and perhaps suggests an area for some additional research and writing. We must also reconsider our category on housing policy and environment, and more carefully select in the area of political econ­ omy and elections, campaigns, and voting behav­ ior. B ib lio grap h ic softw are PR O -C IT E is a database software package, de­ veloped and marketed by Personal Bibliographic Software, In c., of Ann Arbor, Michigan, designed to create and maintain properly formatted bibliog­ raphies. The major programs include the database software, P R O -C IT E , and its companion Biblio- Links, which permit the downloading and inte­ grating of records from external databases such as the Online Union Catalog of O C L C , the RLIN files of the Research Libraries Group, or the biblio­ graphic databases offered by Lockheed Informa­ tion Systems (Dialog) and BRS. It is run on an IBM PC or com p atible m achine using D O S 2 .0 or greater. It is not practical to use PR O -C ITE with­ out a hard disk and less than 640K of RAM. The database is created by entering records (ele­ ments of a bibliographic citation) into one of twenty different data entry work forms, each work form corresponding to a particular type of mate­ rial: book, journal, newspaper, dissertation, letter, conference proceedings, map, audiovisual mate­ rial, art work, data file, etc. Data is entered into appropriate fields in the data entry form, e.g., au­ thor, title, publisher, date, abstract. No punctua­ tion marks separating elements of a citation are en­ tered m anu ally. A sep arate p u n ctu atio n file automatically fills in periods and commas accord­ ing to a preselected style sheet. The default style sheet is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian style sheets are available alternatives; or you can define your own style sheet. The software permits the user to change style sheets without having to re­ type the entire bibliography, which is very useful if a publisher demands a style sheet which differs from your preferred format. Up to 32,500 records can be included in a single database.2 Foreign- language characters can be entered into the data­ base.3 PR O -C ITE has word processing and database capabilities which permit the user to create an ac­ curate, properly formatted, and thoroughly pro­ fessional bibliography. The editor is easy to use and provides typical word processing features such as block moves and copying. Bibliographies created by PR O -C IT E can be printed (even on 3 x 5 cards) in diverse formats (with headers, with any or all data fields, e.g., with or without abstracts, pagina­ tion, etc.) or sent to a disk using ASCII characters. Files sent to disk can be joined with manuscript files created by Wordperfect and most common word processing programs. Records may be sorted on any field (publisher, 2For practical reasons, a very large file (e.g., 2,000 citations or more), is cumbersome to work with even with a RAM disk and extended memory. As databases can be combined and merged, it is recommended that you work with smaller files un­ til you are ready to finish the project. 3By downloading a file into a high quality word processing program and using a program such as Turbofonts which permits printing of virtually any character (as well as presenting it on the screen), desktop publishing of professional bibliographies can be generated readily. Characters which are not readily available include: ø , ø , Ð, ð , Þ , and þ . Note that Russian-Slavic Cyrillic, Hebrew, Ug- aritic, Egyptian, Arabic characters are all sup­ ported. 738 / C &HL News author, title, date of publication, call number). Text searches can be made in any field. Duplicate records can be identified and deleted. This feature is especially useful when downloading records from several external databases which invariably overlap or duplicate one another. Using communi­ cation softw are such as Crosstalk, the various Biblio-links, written especially for use with PRO- C IT E , download citations from external databases and enter the data into the appropriate fields in a P R O -C IT E database. An indexing feature sup­ ports the creation of subsets or m ini-databases, e .g ., to create a bibliography of materials on politi­ cal parties from a larger bibliography on Scandina­ via. W e are pleased with the system but would cau­ tion potential bibliographers of the following cave­ ats. First, the system is expensive for those just start­ ing out. The software costs approximately $1,000 and the hardware requirements run on the top-end of the PC market. Second, although successive releases of the soft­ ware are increasingly flexible, P R O -C IT E is still limited strictly to the production of bibliographies. It is not applicable as a general file or database management package. Third, despite the promise of downloading, the system is still extremely time-consuming to use in the initial phases of development. E ach Biblio- link, whether to O C L C , RLIN , or to specific D ia­ log databases, has to be especially configured for the search so that the appropriate fields are trans­ ferred correctly. Virtually every downloaded rec­ ord, even if successfully transferred, requires addi­ tional editing, thus reducing the potential gain in cost efficiency. For example, author’s names may appear in varying forms in different files, and they have to be edited to a standard form; call numbers for the local collection have to be inserted manu­ ally; and foreign diacritics do not transfer cor­ rectly. Fourth, the integrity of downloaded records is wholly contingent on the reliability of the original input. A prudent bibliographer is wise to verify the authenticity of each record. Fifth, P R O -C IT E ’s editing capabilities, while improving, do not com pare in sophistication to those of familiar word processing packages. E d it­ ing is limited to a line-by-line basis and cannot be performed on a screen or compiled text basis. Help­ ful procedures, such as global “search and replace” commands, are not available. Sixth, as explained earlier, no matter how “ex­ pert” the technology, it cannot replace knowledge of the subject and fam iliarity with the sources, whether those of the local collection, the interna­ tional book trade, commercial database vendors, or specialized research institutes abroad. In effect, we have developed a prototype with all of the problems and promise such projects involve. The changes that are occurring in library automa­ tion and the rapid developments in the area of arti­ ficial intelligence and expert systems, however, are bringing this type of academic support service closer to reality for faculty and students. From the perspectives of this Scandinavian Studies faculty member and librarian, it is an exciting and gratify­ ing prospect. Developments that promote research and writing in the undergraduate classroom are fundamental to quality education. Lastly, infor­ mation management systems will create new link­ ages and divisions of labor between professional li­ brarians and the research community and a clearer recognition of the centrality of the library to the ac­ ademic enterprise. Sources Allardt, Erik. Nordic D em ocracy: Id eas, Issues, and Institutions in Politics, Econom y, Education, Social and Cultural Affairs o f D enm ark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Copenhagen: Det Danske Selskab, 1981. “Cumulative Bibliography of the Research L it­ erature, 1 9 60 -1 9 7 5 ,” Scandinavian Political Stud­ ies 12 (1977): 185-288. Documentation on Sweden. Stockholm: Swed­ ish Institute, 1968, 1975-1982. Einhorn, Eric S., and John Logue. “A Selective Bibliography of Scandinavian Politics and Policy.” [Amherst]: International Area Studies Programs, University of Massachusetts, 1984. Eliassen, Kjell A ., and Mogens N. Pedersen. Skandinaviske politiske institutioner og politisk ad- fe r d 1970-1984: En kom m en teret b ib lio g ra fi / Scandinavian Political Institutions and Political Behavior 1970-1984: An Annotated B ibliography. Odense: Odense University Press, 1985. Groennings, Sven. Scandinavia in Social Science L iteratu re: An English-language b ib lio g ra p h y . Bloomington: [for] the International Affairs Cen­ ter [by] Indiana University Press, [1970]. Heidenheimer, Arnold J ., et al. C om parative Public Policy: The Politics o f Social C hoice in Eu­ rope and America. 2nd ed., New York: St. M ar­ tin’s Press, 1983. Kuhnle, Stein, and Lars Svåsand, comp. “Nordic P olitical Science 1 9 7 6 -1 9 7 9 : A B ib lio g ra p h y ,” Scandinavian Political Studies 4 (1981), supple­ ment. Kvamme, Janet, comp. Index Nordicus; A Cu­ mulative Index to English-Language Periodicals on Scandinavian Studies. Boston: G .K . Hall, 1980. Kvavik, Robert B. “Scandinavian Government and Politics: A Bibliography of Materials in E n ­ glish.” [Minneapolis]: University of Minnesota, [1984]. Larson-Fleming, Susan, comp. Books on Swe­ den in English: In-print as o f January 1, 1983; Translations, N on-fiction, Sw edish-A m ericana. Edited by Lena Daun and Marna Feldt, New York: Swedish Information Service, [1983]. Suecana Extranea: Books on Sweden and Sw ed­ December 1988 / 739 ish Literature in Foreign Languages. Stockholm: Royal Library, 1963-1976. Tiblin, Mariann, ed. Scandinavia in English: A Bibliography o f B ooks, Articles, and B ook R e­ views, 1973-1974. Compiled by Kaaren Grimstad, et al. [s.I.]: Society for the Advancement of Scandi­ navian Study; Lawrence, Kan.: [Available from] Allen Press, 1975. Published as Scandinavian Stud­ ies, vol. 47, no. 4, supplement. Tiblin, Mariann, and Susan Larson-Fleming, eds. Scandinavia in English: An Annual Bibliogra­ phy o f Humanities and Social Sciences. Minneapo­ lis: Center for Northwest European Language and Area Studies, 1980. F ren ch university libraries in 1 9 8 8 By Jo a n McConkey Assistant Director fo r Administration University o f Colorado at Boulder Libraries The observations of an American librarian on sabbatical. For three months I was in France visiting li­ braries and meeting with French librarians during the winter of 1987-1988. My program was ar­ ranged by the international relations office of the Direction des Bibliothèques, de Musées, et de l’ln- formation Scientifique et Technique (DBM IST) of the French Ministry of National Education. It is more usual to go to France as an exchange librarian through a program sponsored by ACRL and the Franco-American Exchange Commission. My po­ sition in administrative services does not lend itself easily to exchange, because of the nature of the re­ sponsibilities and the rarity of similar positions in French university libraries, so I was pleased to learn that an independent visit to a number of li­ braries during my sabbatical leave was possible through the same sponsors. My itinerary included several days at D BM IST for an overview of organization and new develop­ ments in French university libraries and visits rang­ ing from one or two days to three weeks in a variety of university libraries. In Paris I also visited the Bibliothèque Nationale and two modern public li­ braries, the Bibliothèque Publique d’Information (BPI) at the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Mé- diathèque de la Villette. B P I, a comprehensive public reference library, is very popular with uni­ versity students who enjoy its free access to materi­ als, special services, and extended hours. The multi-media collection using the latest library tech- nology of the Médiathèque reflects the science and technology emphasis of the City of Science and In ­ dustry where it is housed. The university libraries I saw included the ven­ erable Sorbonne Library and the Bibliothèque Sainte-Genevieve, whose history goes back to a pre-revolutionary abbey library, both in the his­ toric student quarter of Paris; and the modern li­ braries of the postwar University of Paris X (Nan- terre) and the still newer University of Technology of Compiègne. A three-week stay was barely time to absorb the complexity of the Interuniversity L i­ brary at Montpellier which serves 40,000 students in three universities with six libraries. In Montpel­ lier I also spent half days in the public library, which has marvelous rare book collections and a very modern media center, and at the departmen­ tal archives of Hérault, which are rich in regional history. A week at the library school in Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, gave me an opportunity to learn about the curriculum, to attend an interesting all-