Mostecky, Vaclav

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Classification for International Law and
Relations  (Book Review)

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lections of the institutions studied. As exam-ples of quantitative measurement, concisely reported, they provide models and lines of inquiry for further investigation. Finally, the conclusions set down, scrupulously drawn from the evidence presented, are matter for reflection by all librarians concerned with acquisitions policy and its implications.— Harry W. Hart, Columbia University Librar-ies. International Law Classification Classification for International Law and Relations. 2d ed., rev. and enl. By Kurt Schwerin. New York: Oceana Publica-tions [1958]. This work is based on the classification scheme developed for the University of Vir-ginia Law Library, originally published in 1947; it is currently used at the Northwestern University Law School Library. The schedule is divided into three parts: treatises on international law, treatises on international relations, and official publica-tions, reports, and documents. Private inter-national law, included in the first edition, has now been dropped; it is suggested that it be classed with domestic law. This ar-rangement follows the practice of the ma-jority of law libraries which generally sepa-rate documentary materials from commen-taries and treatises. In international law, its wisdom is open to serious question since it separates items published by the League of Nations, United Nations, and other agencies from works about these organizations. The Library of Congress JX scheme keeps such materials together and appears superior in that respect. Furthermore, the distinction be-tween international law and relations is of-ten arbitrary. Books on international dis-putes, for example, are classed with inter-national law; boundary disputes, however, with international relations; treaties and al-liances appear in both sections. The scheme uses a two-digit decimal nota-tion with expansions up to five digits, with-out a decimal point. Letter codes for interna-tional agencies and their organs are provided whenever applicable; a general list of coun-try symbols is appended to the schedule. Mnemonic features are few; in fact, the decimal principle appears to have been used primarily because of the flexibility it offers in interpolating new numbers and expand-ing the schedule as new topics arise; its other outstanding features have not been fully utilized. A comparison with the first edition shows that the expansion has been considerable: the index about doubled in size, the number of assigned symbols (without country or agency subdivisions) has grown from over one hundred and fifty in the first edition to over two hundred and fifty in the second; more than one hundred and ten numbers have been added, ten dropped, about five changed (relocated). The revision was neces-sitated not only by the rapid growth of inter-national agencies after World War I I , but also by the oversimplified approach of the original edition to the arrangement of the League of Nations documents which have now been completely reorganized. The schedule has many outstanding fea-tures: a comprehensive index, a complete list of country symbols, helpful examples of call numbers, and an extremely useful scheme for publications of the various international organizations. Its author recommends it for small libraries which might find the Library of Congress JX classification too detailed and too cumbersome to handle. One cannot help wondering about the wisdom of labeling an international law collection as "small" for, if it has research uses, it is bound to grow in-definitely and to reach the complexity of a "large" library. The 100-per cent expansion of the scheme under review, apparently indi-cated after ten years, strongly suggests that it would be safer, for any research library, to adopt the detailed classification of the Li-brary of Congress which has the additional advantage of a continuous revision. T o an undergraduate library, however, the Schwerin classification should provide a comfortable framework, in many ways superior to the current edition of the Dewey Decimal scheme. —Vaclav Mostecky, Harvard Law School. MAY 1959 259 

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Classification for International Law and Relations (Book Review)

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