THE UNIVERSE OF INFORMATION.pdf - ideals

making promises that are not kept and of which I am afterwards
reminded ...
I am making it my duty to acquaint you to-day with these bitter
criticisms of which I am to be understood as only the echo and
which I have described to Mr. Otlet on several occasions.
The facts are impressive; hundreds and hundreds of subscribers beg
us to finish it. They are interested; they merit our sympathy; they are
impatient...
What can be said about our progress toward that moment when we
will have discharged our obligations. We must give our consciences
some peace.
I appeal to you, my dear Mr. La Fontaine, to take an energetic
decision, so that the common subdivisions can be prepared, so that a
more or less perfect alphabetical index can be issued.
Save us from this nightmare. For my part I am morally and physically
exhausted, and the pleasure I took in helping the enterprise to
be successful has been replaced by a strong regret at having delivered
myself to the duty of lying and making vain promises to so many
people who deserve better treatment. 43
ALINGH PRINS AND CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT
The year 1931 was a year of great change for the IIB.
It was the year in which work on translating the UDC into
English was formally begun. It was the year that, because of
the prospect of this translation, concordance with the American
edition was recognised as having become only desirable
rather than imperatively necessary. It was the year of German
translations; a year in which the centralist character of the
Institute was further eroded by the growing strength of
national sections. It was the year in which the Institute's name
was changed and a Dutch President, J. Alingh Prins, took
office, cementing Dutch power in the management of the
Institute's affairs, and confirming and accelerating the changes
begun by Pollard.
Early in 1931, Pollard wrote to Godfrey Dewey requesting
permission to translate the CD into English. Dewey was
alarmed:
Education Foundation (Lake Placid Club) protests officially and
earnestly against English translation of Classification Decimale which
would be direct violation of fundamental agreement with International
Institute of Bibliography. I will be in London about June 1 to
discuss the underlying problem which is concordance. 44
In London he met Pollard, two of the IIB Secretaries-General
(Donker Duyvis, reporting on the meeting, does not mention
who the other was), and representatives of the BSIB and
ASLIB (Association of Special Libraries and Information. Bureaux).
The meeting was judged successful and it was agreed
that:
'I. All parties would renew their efforts to achieve complete accord
between the library and bibliographic editions, and would strive for
the establishment of central machinery provided with the necessary
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