Special Libraries, June 1910 Special Libraries Association

San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks

Special Libraries, 1910 Special Libraries, 1910s

6-1-1910 Special Libraries, June 1910 Special Libraries Association

Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1910 Part of the Cataloging and Metadata Commons, Collection Development and Management Commons, Information Literacy Commons, and the Scholarly Communication Commons

Recommended Citation Special Libraries Association, "Special Libraries, June 1910" (1910). Special Libraries, 1910. Book 6. http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1910/6

This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Special Libraries, 1910s at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Special Libraries, 1910 by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SpecialI Libraries --- .- . ------. -- -- Vol. 1. JUNE, 1910 No. 6

PUBLISHfijD BY THE Second Session: Monday Afternoon, July .4. SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCTATION Indexes to Current Llleratnre: Editorial OiRce, State Library. A Trades Index-Joseph L. Wheeler, Li- Indianapolis, Ind. brary of the Uistrlct of Columbia. Avplicntlon pcncllng for tirlniissir~n ns seconcl- A Public Ajlairs Index-John A. Lapl), clash mattel nt the PosLoffkc, Intllnnapolis, Inrl. Legislative Reference Librarian, Indiana Stdte L~Inwy. Subscription...... $2.00 year (10 numbers) The general discussion mill include a dls- Single copies...... 25 cents cussion of the above paIltlrs and a general The annual dues of thc Special Libraries discussion of the t'ollowing: Association include a subscription to Special Fields not covered by exlsting indexes and Libraries. - ol ilnllortance to slmial libraries. PrcsrAen t, JOHNCOTTON DANA Should the index conflne itself to a specl- Frco Pul~licLihr,wy, h'rwnrlc, N J. decl its1 of periodicals or Pources, or at- Vice-president, I:OIICRTH. WIITTTEN Pubilc Sewlce Comm~ssron,New Torlr City teml~tto include everylhing within its Scwetni v-'l'reas~nrr - - - GVY W. MARION particular field, shoolcl it be a complete Arthur D. Little, Inc.. 93 nroad St., Boston, Mnss index to a subject or a complete index E.uccuLlvc Bonrd . PRESIDENT. VICE-PRESIDENT. SEcnm,tRr-rrREAsultalr. GlCOnCE 11' Lnt:. Stonc to specifled sources? 's: Wcbater, Boston. 1-11:tin~n~O. RRIarranI. Annotations, descril~t~veand critical. SLntn L~bvar)', Pio!'lrlence. 11 I. Methods of 111~inting;cumulation; use of Mnnng~ngEditor ol Sgcrial LIb~'nllcs : .TOIIN A. LAPP,Stnte Library, Iniliaunpolis. Ind. cards and loose-leaf systems. Duplication of work and means of mini- CONTENTS. mizing it. Synopsis of Papers, Among those who will take part in thc Mackinac Meeting ...... 42 cliscussion are the following: Agricultural Librar~es. C. W. Andrews, Librarian, John Crerar Marjorie I?. Warner ...... 44 Library, Chicago. Library of Stone & Webster. Samuel 13. Ranclr, Libranan, Grand Rapids G. W. Lee...... 44 Public Library Technical Magazines Containing Book W. Uewson Johnston. TAmwian. Columbia Reviews. Joseph 1,. Wheeler...... 47 ~niversity. H. H. I3. Meyer, Chief Bibliogral~her,Li-

ANNUAL MEETING SPECIAL LIBRARIES ~irlEd ~&nn~etz,Indexer, Index to Le- ASSOCIATION, MACKINAC ISLAND, gal Periodicals. JULY 1 TO 5, 1910. Frederlclr W. Fnxon, Editor, nulletin of First Session: Fr~dayForenoon, July 1. Bibliogmyhy. Library bulletins, publicity and methods Prof. L. C. Mal'shall, Editor, Journal of Po- of keeping a special clientage informed con- litical Economy. c.erning current literature of interest Third Session: Tuesday Afternoon, July 5. Opening discussion, George W. Lee, Li- Election or oficers. brarian, Stone & Webster, Boston. Report of SecretarpTreasul'el', Guy E. MR- General discussion with specla1 reference ].ion. I,ibrarian, A, l3. Little, Inc, Boston. to the needs and n~ethodsof l~articular11- Repo~tof Public Utillty Librarlps Com- braries. Among those who will talrc part in mittee, Georgc W. Lee, Librarian, Stone & the discusslon are the following: Websier. W. F Stevens, Librarian, Carnegie Li- Report of Legislative and Munici1)al Ref- brary, Homestead, Pa erence Libraries Committee, John A. Lapp, Guy E. Marion, Librarian, A. D. Little, 1,egislt~tive Reference Librarian, Indiana Inc., Boston State T,ibrary. Robert H. Whitten, Librarian, Public Report of Teclmologg Libraries Commit- Service Commission, New York City. tee. Joseph L. Wheeler, District of Coium- D. N. Handy, Libranan, Insurance Lilwary bla Public Library. Association ot Roslon Report of Managing Editor of Sgecial LI- In connection mlth the above session there braries. This report will be Pollowecl by a will be an exhib~tof bulletins, methods and gcnernl discusslon of thc bulletin ~~ublished devices used by special libraries relating to by the association. thc su,bject under discussion. Annual dinner of the association. SPECIAL LIBRARIES

SYNOPSIS OF PAPERS TO BE PRE- (by Dewey Demical Systen~") I)upl~cating SENTED AT THE MACKINAC MEET- by mimeograph or multigral)h, etc., vs. ~~rinting.Consolidation. Announcements in ING, JULY 1 TO 5. advance of l)ublication. IJulletlns as the Bulletins. shccls of n I~andl~ookon wherc to look 0. \.\'. Lee. 10) Definition of Bulletin. Tlulletins vary ARTISAN'S TRADES INDEX. from Lhc3 single sheet, or news])aper ~~oster, Joseph 1,. Wheeler. to ~~am])hlrtsof over n hundi-ed pages, 11Be Several lilnarics have offered to co-op- Ihe I3ulletin of Bureau of Standards and eriite in the pre1)aration of the Trades 111- vni'y tron~reading lists to bibliographies nncl des, and n d~finitcplan of ihe work is here indexes General and sl~ecidbullelins to outlined Following is a tentative list of the be distinguished; what is slrecial fivon~it nlagaxines from w11ich all articles of sum- gPneral standlloint may be general from a cient lcngth and value mill be indexed, keel)- special stand])oint. ing in nlind lhat the index is not designed to (1 Bulletins Past and Present. llulletin Includc the class of literalnre which apl~eals of' 13ibliography ns an index to other bulle- to engineers and sllecinl l)rofessional ex- tins; :L clearlng house to avoid ove~~lal~~)ingperts, and that it 15 not for tnerclmniu or and clul)llrat~onof work. l~nsinessmen who may be interested in com- (2) Bulletins as Reference Lists. Smn- mercial aspects or technical subjects, but pies. Need or their classification. A view that it is for workmen, fol-einen, amateurs, of the ground al.-early covered. ~nc1those wllo may be In search of prac- (3) Bulletins as Reading Lists. Snlnples Hctrl instruction as how to make various RTethods of using them Ci~,culationva, use. tllings, the operation of machinery, recipes Exlremes to be avoided: "Too much ol' u :md Ilrocesses for shop work, amateur worlc good thing" and "No earthly use," II too aud inanual trades of all kinds. long. yet iml~ortantatTicles must not be The 1)url)ose should be to tivo~ddul~llcat- oveilooked. Habit ot usin:: easily lost. Oilin- ing the work 01 the engineer~ngindexes. 111 ions of librarians. A view of tlic g~~o~iknclluany cases the same nlagaxines will be in- nlrently covered. flexed, bul a different class of materm1 will (-11 Contents of Bulletins. Ilaoku, book be coiisiclered. !i.ts. ~~eviews,notes and conlments, periodi- The amount of sl)ncc given to entries on cal refercnceu, sources of infornlalion in broad tol~ics,such as textiles, machine work, general, may well he incluclecl in the sai~i~~carlwnlry, etc., should be proportionate to I~ulletin. llie importance and interest of those topics. (5) Quality. Care nredecl In n~alii~lgulr Testiles, all Idnds ot machine, metal and I~ullelins. Tendency to rouline. RPCOI'CI01' slio]~work, b~iildingtrades should be 11101-- nnestions aslced as n Ila~isfor thc In~llc~li~iorigl~ly corered. Such trades as bnlrei%, S~~onsorahi~~of sl~rcialists. l~a~,her's,are of such a natnrc that the de- 16) Limitations of the Bulletin. I!ulle~in inancl for literature is vn.y sn~all. T1iei-r- ~4.pe~wn~l servire. The man bclhi~~dtha I'T? ~nrhslrecial magnzlnes ns 13alter's l~ullc~tin.Suegestions for a tnbalnled bullc- I-Ielper, I3i~ooms, etc., will not be indcxeti: lin to nlect the nceds of several s])eclalistr; l111t w11ei.e thc morc general magazines, lilrv nt once. Ar)ir~~icnnhlachi~~iul, describes ~)roct~sses. (7) Publicity. Newsl~al~ers,the Ihllelin l lie nrtirles should be indexed. of Ili1Aiogral)liy nncl other centers of ])os- The form ot entry should be ~nucli likc sil~lero-ol~erallon in giving pul)licity to ex- 11i:~t of the Reader's GLII~PInstead of be~ng isting and forthcoming bulletins. Inverse annotated like the hgineering l~itlrx 01' 1)ubllcilg: iml)ortance of ]nMic necacls being Technical Press Index. Izno\vn to the hullelin maker. Subject indehing heading. (8) Speclal Libraries Association in Rela- Title (short e1111'y.) Short roiw of thcl tlon to Bullet~ns. Should he ~u touch wth s~~l~-ti(leif nwcswrv. Pages. Illusl~~:~l- n11 the 1)ulletins lhtlt bear ullon the 1nle1'- ed. Magazine Date (.-Is oC its nlembers. Should have and pub- Exanlllles of indes ('11Iiy : Ilsh infomation on ways of oblainiqg all the Ouiler worlc. lxllet~ns. "Special T,ibraries" and its scol)e. Al)lrlyina ~)a~chesto I:oil(x~.s I il. ~lionlclrefer in bullelins 1)ublished or 1,ro- Power. Ntly 24, '10. ~~\scd,and should encourage ones that arc I J~il)r~catifl~~. iicctled, rather than attelnpl in its own pages C\'linder lubrication Pam let terb of lo snrisfv its menibe~*swith reading or isef- discussion, 1 % 11 Power Llny 9, '10. crence lists. Exchange ~)ossll)ilitiesilnd rho The .John Cl'erar 1,ibrai.y and the T,il~i.:~~-y ~)ossil)leformation of a liln-ary of bnllelins of the Stt~l\\'orlrs Club, Jolicl, I11 , lit~vcs Circulation ol 1)11llrtins11y mail on ;L loan oifcr~dto co-opcl'ale. Several others Imvr si rtelil pteviouslg expl'c~ssetl inteiaesl, nnd will no (!I\ Bulletins of the Future. Forin xnQ doubt help in the iticlrxiug Hclquosl is ~I:III(?:II*(~~~:I~I~IIin xeile1~11. C'~:issilic~iitio~~'*cti'ei~y ~natle thnl any lil)~,d~.ynhic.11 \voi~'(l SPECIAL LlBRARIES

bc willing to index a few selected magazines Anolher untouched field Is the city. NO for 1910, will please send word to the cllair- agency reporls the material produced by the man, indicating which inagazines it would citics arid Lhe various trade, co~nmercialancl like to cover either on the following list or civic bod~esof the city. No mcans exist for other magaines it may deem desirable. keeping in touch with cily aftairs. Tentative List of Magazines to Be Indexed. At ~)rcsentthere is no published index of newsgnl~ermaterial. Aircraft, American blacksmith, *Anierican Tlie first ~tepin the ])lan for n public nP- cmyenler and builder, American carpet and fairs index should be to determine the nc- ullholstery, American laundry journal, Amer- tnal fleld covered or not well covercd by cs- ican machinist, American printer, American isiting bibliogra~~hicnlngencies. No dul)H- shoemalnng, Blaclrsmith and wheelwright, cation or efrort tihould I)e atten~plecl. In Bicycling world and motorcycle review, many cases the present calnlogues, indexes Roiler maker, Brass vorld and plater's and bibliographies mfghl be enlnrged. Thus, guide. *13uilding age, Brick, Carriage monlh- for example, tho Index to Legal Perinclicnls ly, Castings, Cement world, Colq~er and might include the reyorls of all bar asso- brass, Craftsman, Domestic engineering, cintions in the country. The Catalogue of *'Y*Eiectrician and mechanic, 'Fibre and Stnte Docuinents of the Lihrary of Congress fabrlc, Foundry, Gas engine, Grand Rnpids niighl include eve~ythingl)ublishcd by state furniture record, *Healing and ventiIating omcers, closcly indexed. Tho proceedings nmqazine, Hub, Horseless age, Ice and re- of many soc!elies lnight ~)ro~~orlyconlo in frigeration, Illuminatio~l, llluminating engi- the gcnornl magazine indexes. neer, Inland printcr, ***Jeweler's circular, Machine~~y,Manual training magazine, Mer- A 11ublic affairs index is n~er~lytho ex- chant's record and show window, ***l\letnl pansion of l~resent aclivities lo sprcial industry, *Metal worker, Motor, National iielBs, lo su])]~lementthe excellent wol'lc nl- builder, National prinlcr journalist, Paclr- ready being done. A newspaper index is imperalively nccdcd. ages, 4 Paln ter's magazine, Paper trado journal, *Pluml~er'strade journal, Power. **Po% As Mi3. 'oster pointed out, it should cover selt's textile journal, Printing art, Progres- no1 one but seveiaal lentliiig newslmlwrs in sive age, Rock products, Bchool arts book, diffcrenl sections ol' the country. Our Stone, **Textile inanulacturer~' journal, newslmpc1-s are too narrowly ~wovlncinlois **Textile world record, Wood craft, Woocl- partisan to trust to one or two pal~crs.This worker. index should cover all sl~ecialnrlicles and Note.-A ssigncd . *TT'aslilngLon ; **New lhl- slio~~ldl~nndex all oP the ncws furnisbcrl by Ponl : *Y *Providence. the large news gntlicring ngenc1e.r. Tlint -- such a ihing is possible is shown by the ex- PUBLIC AFFAIRS INDEX. cellcnl though short iivcxl Slrsc~l'sPnnllox oC John A. Lapp. lllc N\'~WH. The ~nr~oseof this Impor is to set forth Slate librnries or othw state agencies the need of a public affairs index and to sl~oulf su])plen~enlthis l~yinrlexlng tho point out some of the flelds nat covered by stnto news nnd s]~ecialn~ticlos. To sul)])lc- existing agencies. men1 all of these fealures Lho bulletin of Llm We suffer from n laclr of knowledge of S1:ecial Libmries Associati011 should con- what others are doing, and sometimes igno- tinue the nole~and references on IIUIIHC rantly do things which are already better an'airs. With betler co-o~crntiontlllti ct~n clone. be made nn inclis]~ensal~lct~id. The special library begins where the gub- It wonld secin Lhat the ~~rol~eragency lo^^ lic or general library leaves off. The chlef doing the work of n l~ul~llcafi'nlrs indcx is nced of the special librarian is to gct up the T~ibrnryof Congress. The nerd is lni- to-date, reliable information on obscure sub- pernlivc In older to pel Ihis wst Inwl ninliH jects, most-of which are not treated in gen- 01' I~~l'orn~alio~iinlo circulntion. eral books and magazines. The general field is fairly well covered TENTATIVE PROGRAM. at present. The special fielcl is almost un- Agricultural Libraries Round Table touched. This is the age of orgnniznlions. Meeting. We have thein for everv conceivnl~legeneral Mr. J. T, Wye~',Chairman. and special purpose. Some of those which (American IJbrary Assoctnlion Confc~mccl, are not now rel~ortedare, the sl.atc and lo- hraclrinac Island, Junc 20 to July 6, '10.) cal bar associations, national associations The allention of niembers of tho Sl~ocinl of omcials and the hundreds of ~iational Ljbmries Association is cnlleil to Ihe 11ro- associations of all sorts. gram for the agricultural 1il)rarica i*oantl To the special library the reports and table meetings to be held cluring thp coin- proceedings of organizations covering a ing A. L. A, collference at Mnclcinac lslanil. specific field are the most valuable. We First Sesslon, (lo not now have even a list of those which I .-Agricnlturnl librnries and thcir varions ],uhlisI~~,~~aceedlnas and rcllorts. nctiviliet;. SPECIAL LIBRARIES

By Dr. A. C. True, Director, Office braries is Lo lay hold of the boolrs and ar- of Experiment Stations, U. S. De- ticles brought to the attention of their partment of Agriculture. clientele through existing bibliographies. As 2.-Popularizing agricultural literature. the total output of periodical scientiflc liter- (a) Traveling libraries for farmers. ature can never be available in any one col- By Mr. Charles B. Galbreath, Li- lection, it would be of great service to sys- brarian, Ohio State Library. tematize the locat~ngof series which may (b) Agricultural collections in private li- be made avilable through loans, or accurate braries. transcripts of desired references, and this By Mfss L. E. Stearns, Chief, Trav- plan applies equally to the use of very rare, eling Library Department, Wis- old, or costly boolrs, such as are often in- consin Free Library Commission. dispensable-though now often inaccessible 3.-Agricultural literature in the reference -in the biological sciences. library. One of the chief advantages to be gained BY Mr. C. W. Andrews. Librarian. through co-operation of agricultural and -~ohnCrerar Ljbrary, chicago, 111: other scientiflc libraries lies in the possi- 4.-Instruction of students in the use of bility of joint conlpilation of biblioqranhies agricultural and scient~fic literature. -not mere reference lists, but thorough, By Miss Anna RI. Smith, Librarian, comprehensive bibliogra]~hiesof special sub- Department of Agrjculture, Uni- jects. Such joint compilation seems to the versity of Minnesota. writer capable of producing, under compe- Second Session. tent editorship, better results than have 5.-Relat~on of the Experiment Station Li- hitherto been l~ossiblein this fleld of bibli- bmrg to the College Library. ography. Besides the literature of special By Mr. Charles R Green, Librarian, subjects, that of agricultural periodicals can Massachusetts Agr~cultural Li- be most successfully handled by the co- brary. ol~erationof a number of libraries. If the 6.-Gu~des to recent agricultural literature "union list" principle could be extended to By Miss E L. Ogden, Libranan, include a large number of collections in dii- Omce of Experiment Stations, U. ferent sections, or even the entire United S. Department of Agriculture. States, many extremely rare and valuable 7.-Indexing agricultural llternture. serials, now known only in fragmentary By Dr. E. Mead Wilcox, Professor sels, would undoubtedly be brought to light. of Agricultural Botany, Univer- sity of Nebraska. LIBRARY OF STONE & WEBSTER, 8.--4gricultnml perioclicals,-selection and preservation. BOSTON. By Mr. William R. FIe~~burn,Li- G. W. Lee, Librarian. brarian, Purdue University Tn the March issue Dr. Whitten tells of 9 .-Permanent organization. the scope and working of the Library of the New York Public Service Commission, First AGRICULTURA-L LIBRARIES. Ilistrict. The article seems to me important Mnrjnr~eT" n'xrner. U S. Deut. of Ag.rlcl~lturc, and to the ~~olnt,and I hope it has been and Chairman of the Agrlculturnl L~brn- mill be' widely read Rather than describe rlcs CommiLtee. independentlv another library, of kindred Agricultural libraries cover such a wide scope, I would flrst summarize what he has range of activities as to come into contact written, and then, under the headings he at some point with nlrnost every form of has used, compare the two and dwell upon scientific library; most of them are merely only such features of the Stone & Webster general scientific libraries, with, of course, T,ibrsary as differ from those of the Public cartain definite adaptations and limitation, Service Commission. according as they exist chiefly for purposes He refers to the Public Service Commis- of education, origmal research, or biblio- sion Library as aiming to collect and index graphic conservation. The greater propor- material that may he "wanted in relation tion are obliged to serve the needs of sci- to car brakes, gas meters, franchifie terms, entific investigation of agricultural prob- Paris subways, etc.," so that infor~nation lems, and their need of co-operation conse- upon such subjects may be readily forth- quently has less reference to the literature conling from their collection of boolrs and of agricultural practice than that of its con- ~~arnohlets,amountmg to some 8,000. He tributory sciences, chemistry, botany, etc. emphasizes the need for care in selecting As the current literature of agricnlture and in discarding books, if such a library proper is already pretty well covered by is to be efficient. The Pubhshers' Weekly, bibliographical publications, and the natu- the United States Catalogue and the par- ral sciences are each prov~dedwith several liamentary lists, besides the reviews and *on many journnls of bibliographv, reviews, announcements in the technical journals, abstracts, etc, the urgent need in most li- etc., are examined regularly Valuable as SPECIAL LIBRARIES are the books, ~amphletsand special re- of various members of the organization ports, he considers that "they are out- and from monthly visits to the Boston Pub- ranked in value by the periodical article." llc Library, where such books of possiblc Consequently the Law Library Journal, the interests to us as may be available are Readers' Guide and the Engineering Index loolced over, and whence some are brought are also examined regularly in ,order to keep to the oflice to be especially considered. in touch with the periodical literature. The The system is susceptible of improvement, classification used is simple; the arrange- and in this connection mention may be ment alphabetical, the annotation a com- made of the l~roposalto establish in Uoston bination of letters and flgures. There is a a depository for new books. If the plan vertical Ale for magazines, clipping8 and goes through it is hoped that publishers pnml)hlets, and, of course, a card catalogue, from far and wide will co-operate by send- which is alphabetical: (1) By author and ing one copy of each of the~rnew publica- title, (2) subject headings, (3) regional tions as fast as they appear. Under pres- headings. The magazine articles and ent circumstances the chances that many of pain~hletsare catalogued "as fully as the the books we need escape our attention for books, and the cards for the articles are an indeflnite period are very large. Our placed in the catalogue with the cards for disposing of superseded and unnecessary the books"; the sgecific information of books is partially achieved through a month- boolcs, etc., being more desirable to classily ly auction, which means that a large num- than the particular books or sets of books. ber are given away or are carried off as A Library Bulletin is issued once or twice waste. Tt has been suggested Lhat one of a week, and is sent to about 250 offlcers and the tunctions of the Boston Branch of tho employes of the Comin~ssion, who chock Special Libraries Association might well be the books or articles they desire to see and, to operate a clearing house of books wanted signing thew names, return the sheet to the and for sale in this vicinity library, getting in response the article de- We follow the periodical literature bear- sired or having their names put upon the ing upon our interests and depend very reserve list to receive it when available. In largely ullon the items we list therefrom. addition, this person or that is especially Our Current Literature References for 1907 notifled of liteyature thought to be of par- and 1908, in pamphlet form, and our supple- ticular interest to him. Furthermore, ref- mentary card index to date, together with erence lists on special subjects are readily such aids as the Readers' Gwde and the struck off from the catalogue, because jt Engineering Index, avail us for many sub- does combine the boolcs and catalogues in jects of reference. In contrast to the P. S. one. Also, the experiment is being tried of C. Library, we seldom send for copies of maintaining "always up-to-date catalogues" articles listed in the Engineering Index, on certain subjects by putting entries on finding that most of the references that we letter-sized onion-skin gaper, from which need, are in thc journals we subscribe for blue prints are made as needed. Additions or are otherwise obtainable; also, we clip are made on the original, and new blue comparatively little, probably less than we ~rintsare struck off to date. The library could to advantage clip. We do, however, not only has references on the street rail- clip and paste away in monthly succession ways of England and Russia, for instance, the various groups of items in that Index. but prepares a report on the supervision of These we maintain in a vert~calfiling cabi- railways in these countries, Dr. Whitten net until succeeded by their annual volume. rightly emphasizes the necessity for quick Class~f~cat~on.Our classificatfon is quite information service, apart from the dealing different from that of the Public Service in copies or titles of books and articles. Comn~ission,though should we start again The Stone, & Webster Library has been I am not sure but that we should copy theirs bmlt up in the interests of an organization, almost in every essential. likewise, having to do with public utilities; more aspecially, however, their financing, Dr. JVhitten's nemonic notation, like Fr. constructing and operating. It has a col- for Franchise, Ga Ac for Gas Accidents, is lection of books, periodicals and pamphlets an obvious convenience; 90 also his con- to the number of about 5,000, perhal~stwo- bination of geography and subject, as Ra403 thirds as many as the N. Y. Public Service for ailr roads-I‘Joston. Our classiflcation Commission; but, as this article goes to starts geographlcall~, i. e, 1100, Maine; press, much material is In process of being 1200, New Hampshire, etc.: 1460, the region discarded because superseded or not timely of Boston; 1461, Roston; 6131, Seattle, etc. for our present purposes, or because avail- Then follows the deciinal point, and to the able elsewhere in the vicinity. right of it comes the classiflcation by Corn- pang and by subject. Company numbers Selection and Collection of Material. hardly concern the books, so that the latter Our book selection is made from reviews usually haye a "0" after the decimal. Thus and announcen~ents in periodicals, from .01 signifies l~ropos~tionsIseldoin used for ~~ublishers'lists, from the recommendations bool~s); .02, statistics; -03, legal affairs, SPECIAL LIBRARIES etc.; .07 and its ramiflcntions for engineer- alphabet thus being used for mnemonic ing The laws of Washington State would fhort cuts. These brevities would thus al- thus have the number 6100.03, while a book low the use of a notation such as e82d for on electrical engineering, which defles the electric railways in Massachusetts. Fur- geographical classification, would have the thermore, by combining these with the geo- number to the left of the decimal omltted. graphical flgures that we have been using The system was originally devised for the for our book files, e82d61 could be used for Library and the Filing Department corn- electric railways in Hoston. bined, but today, when these are separate, Arrangement of Material. Dr. Whitten's the numbers to the right of the decimal magazine clippings and pamphlels are kept often provk conspicuously unsatisfactory for in vertical filing drawers. We subscribe for the book classification. A pamphlet issued about 60 and we receive about 150, some 60 in 1907, entitled "The Library and the Busi- of which are bound, subject to retrench- ness Man," describes the system in use at ment in the measures we are now taking that time and suggests most of the under- for greater efficiency. In addition to the lying principles of the system, even though indexes bound in with eacli volume we have changed in varlous details to meet the needs a duplicate set for many of the journals, so of today. Copies of this pamphlet are still that time and nervous energy are frequently available for those who may be interested saved by referring to special "loose-leaf" in the subject. volumes of indexes. This index set is likely Our periodical classification has been con- to be developed further, so that we may siderably modified since the description in maintain indexes to publications that we do the pamphlet, but it follows largely the hot bind. headings of the Engineering Index and is Catal~ague. Our card catalogue as it is proving particularly efficient for putting- being changed to date has its shelf list (ar- away purposes. Some one hundred refer. ranged by the geographical and subject ences a week are thus written and filed nun~bers)and its alphabetical list, in which away. Civil Engineering falls in the 10's; subjects and authors are run together. We Electrical Engineering in the 20's, while 90 do not cross-reference so highly nor make covers the considerable Miscellany. As an so many cards in duplicate as does the Pub- instance in. detail, 60 covers Railway Af- lic Service Commission Library, but we have fairs; 64, Electric Railway Construction, laid plans for a library catalogue in book Equipment and Operation; 54f, Shops, or pamphlet form which will be, also, a Plants, etc ; 54f3, Substations. I can read- source of information handbook. We real- ily understand that Dr. Whitten might use ize that books need to be analyzed, and that the letters "Sb St" for substations, which many a book contains several nlonographa should certainly be eaeler to remember than which should each be treated as books in our number, Recently, however, I have themselves. This problem is, of course, been working upon a system of cross-tying quite universally felt by librarians, but we the classification, which bids fair to hell, have not yet advanced sufficiently far in the the memory and hasten the work. By using handbook compilation to foretell just how this decimal point to Indicate "aspects," we it will appear in every deta~l. have under 71a, which refers to societies, Bulletins and Publicity. The Public Serv- 71a.l for Civil Engineering Societies; 71a.2 ice Commiss~onLibrary issues a bulletin once for Electrical Eng~neering Societies. 71a.3 or twice a week containing references to for Mechanical ~Ggineeriigsocieties; 71a.9, books, articles and pamphlets. We issue a I\Iiscellaneous Societies. On this analogy, sheet regularly twice a week, dated for should occasion require, we could use Tuesdays and Fridays, containing only refer- 71a.64f3 for a society which devoted itself ences to periodical literature. The Tues- to the study of substations. It seems to be day sheet covers civil, electrical and me- the conclusion of most special libraries that chanical engineering; the Friday sheet rail- each special library needs its own classifi ways and all else that may be of interest to cation, and, therefore, I would say, "Come us. The sheets circulating throughout the and talk it over before you go very far on office are marked substantially as in the your own tack, to get from us who have case of the Public Service Commission and, established systems some suggestions that likewise, we call attention to articles that may prove of decided help to you." may be of ljarticular interest to particular A further improvement recently effected, persons. These semi-weeklies would seem which is after Dr. Whitten's system, but to stimulate the use of the library, as indi- which will not have been thoroughly tried cated by the requests for articles referred out before this articles goes to press, is to to. Outsiders who receive the lists seldom use the small letters of the alphabet to in- ask ns for or about the references, and we dicate certain topics in which we are par- hardly know to what extent they are ac- ticularly interested, via., b, bibliogra1)hy; e, tually appreciated. When, however, for electric railways; m, money and banking; some five months the service was aban- 11, power stations; s, statistics; t, tabIes, doned we had several letters to the effect charts and formulae, etc., etc., the whole lhat it was decidedly nlisscd. SPECIAL LIBRARIES

Reference Lists. Because we do not keep American Gas Light Journal. Occasional, our periodical and our book list as one, we critical. Reviews all books of importance. cannot make reference lists with the same American Soclety qf Civil Engineers, Pro- ease as the Public Service Commission Li- ceedings. Accessions to the library, with brary, though the handboook to which I have descriptive annotations. alluded would in itself be a series of refer- American Machinist. Long, careful and ence lists; and if this should be edlted an- critical. Uooks on mechanical engineering nually or maintained by an interleaved or and nlachine work. loose-leaved system, it should become a American Marine Engineer. Descriptive, most important feature of our Library. sometimes analyzing. Architects and Builders' Magazine. Short, Blue Print Methods. The blue print lists of descriptive. Covers aglllied architecture the Public Service Commission, maintained to and relatecl arts. date, are a novelty to me, and I should think Building Age. Always contains reviews, they would be most useful. I hope Dr. Whit- descriptive rather than crilical. Covers ten will report on this several months buildmg trades. hence, so that if the exper~mentproves all Gassier's. Long, thorough, critical re- that he anticipates we, too, may unhesitat- views of a few important books. ingly adopt the system. Besides keeping Cement Age. Descril~tivereviews, super- the additions to date, he can also make ob- flcial. literations to date, as possibly called for by Chemical Eng~neer. Extended, cr~ticalrc- the superseding of references that have views. lndustrial chemistry. been listed. Concrete. Occasional descriptive notes Collection of Information. Our Library Concrete Engineering Good reviews; seldom compiles data on various subjects, fairly long and critical. Lists of books re- not only because we have so much else on ceived. hand, but more especially because the sta- Electric Journal. Critical and descriptive. tistical and other departments, with their Electric Ral iway Journal. Occasional. "students," do considerable work of this Descriptive notes, sometimes of length. kind. Electrical Age. Occasional. Very short Record of Questions. A matter that Dr. descriptive notes. Whitten does not touch upon is the record- Electrical World. Covers fleld of elec- ing of questions; who asked them, who an- tricity, though reviews appear only in occa- swered them, how long it took to answer sional issues. Critical, thorough reviews. them, and where the information was Electrician and Mechanic. Good descrip- found. Our classified collection of question tive reviews of boolrs on l~ol~ulartechnical slips makes a stoclc-in-trade reference bu- subjects, especially amateur. reau, which, to my mind, is of great value, Englneering and Min~ngJournal. Exten- and should prove of greater and greater sive lisls of new boolrs. All iml~orlantbooks value. It is my hope to see the headquar- reviewecl, not very critically. ters of the Spacial Libraries Association Englneerlng-Contracting. Long, thor- bulld up a bureau of this kind, so that it ough, c~iticslrevlews of important civil en- shall indeed become the information center gineering boolrs. Publications received, for specialists of all kinds. But this is far with short notes. beyond the modest achievement that the Eny ineering Magazine. Current record of S. L. A, aspires to for the present. new books. No annotations. Quick Service. Quiclr service is indeed Engl neeri ng News. Literature supllle- called for and rightfully expected. We need nmlt middle of each month. Most valuable to realize that not only are we library work- review ot general engineering subjects. ers, but that we are otllce workers, and that Englneering Record. Weekly reviews of the department as a whole is nlerely inci- some length. Thorough and evaluative. Spe- dental to the work of the engineers, flnan- cially good on civil engineering. ciers and general managers of gublic ul~li- Fly. Descril)tive reviews, not critlcal. ties. ---- Foundry. Long, descril~tiveiseview8, Pair- ly thorough but no1 critical. TECHNICAL MAGAZINES CONTAINING Franklin Institute Journal. Good reviews, BOOK REVIEWS. but cover only occasional books. Joscpli L. Whccler, Ful~licLibrary. l>i.strlct of Gas Engine. Fairly good, criticnl reviews Colutnb~a. Chalrrnnn ul Teclmologs of boolrs on gas engines and their nyglica- Llbrar~esCommittee. lion. Aircraft. Carefully annotated. General Electric Review. T,ong, thorough American Architect. Long, careful anno- and critical reviews Specially good on elcc- tations. tric tli~oryand engineering. American Chemical Society, Journal. Hub. Occasional descriptive notes (Ve- T,ong and very thorough reviews. Lists of hicles). new books Ice and Refrigeration. Descriptive, some- Amerlcan Engineer. Short descripfive tiines critical reviews. Covc~~srelrigcration no1 es. tliosoughly. 48 SPECIAL LIBRARIES

Illuminating Engineer. Long and thor- journal of the Special Libraries Association, ough reviews of important books. is a work which the American Library As- International Marine Engineering. ne- sociation, or the Library df Congress, might scriptive reviews, sometimes of length. well take up, and by so doing flll a great Iron Age. Descriptive notes of some need. The writer, Paul P. Foster, makes length appear occasionally. Covers COm- his plea in behalf of the editorial library mercial and to some extent the practical and the journalist, but such a work of ref- side of iron work. erence would be of real value to thousands, Journal of Industrial and Engineering and the wonder 1s that there is none. Pub- Chemistry. Long, thorough and critical lication of the index to the Times was signed reviews on this special field. discontinued in 1906, and since then con- Journal of Modern Geology. Valuable sultation of newspaper flles has been a hap- signed reviews. Includes metallurgy. hazard grubbing, in which only zeal and Machinery. List of new books with short time could insure success. The carefully notes. prepared index to the London Times, issued Metal Industry. Occasional evaluative In monthly parts and in annual volumes, and descriptive reviews of books on com- and listing every article, item, or name mercial work with non-ferrous metals and which appears in its columns, offers a con- alloys. venlent model Which the compiler here Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering. might follow. It is no doubt true that' the Thoroughness depe~ds on imgortance of future historian, thanks to a more elaborate book. Some reviews, long and critical. Has reservation of statistics elsewhere, will also list of new books. rely less on newspaper files for actual pres- Mining World. Descriptive rather than ervation of authoritative documents than critical. heretofore, but as a reflection of contem- Municipal Engineerlng. Occasional re- porary comment, and as a handy chrono- views, descriptive and critical. Specially logical arrangement of events, the volumes good on municipal reports. of a metropolitan journal, indexed, will be Power and Engineer. Descriptive notes invalnable. Mr. Foster offers the comment of some length. Keeps good track of power of an historian, James Ford Rhodes, who literature. has said that the time had passed when one Practical Engineer. Good reviews of prac- could "apologize for the use of newspaper tical power engineering books. material, or ignore it." To make this mate- Sclence. Thorough signed reviews of rial more available would be a praiseworthy books on pure science. task for any library or association. Scientific American. Dimcult to cleter- - mine what class or quality of books are in- A TRADES INDEX. cluded. Descriptive; seldom critical. From Public L~brarics, Mtiy, 1900. Sibley Journal of Engineerlng. Short de- The idea advanced by Mr. Wheeler of scriptive notes of a few books. the Public Library of District of Columbia, Signal Engineer. Occasional, long and in his letter to Special Libraries, of hav- critical. Covers signalling. ing a number of libraries combine with Society of Chemical Industry, Journal. At- others interested, to publish a llist of tempts to list all important new books, trade ancl artisan references for all, is Anlerican and foreign. Good reviews of bound to take form sooner or later. some important books, especially those in There is much to be sa~clin favor of English. the proposed preparation of lists for the Water and Gas Review. Occasional de- various libraries as a means of economy scriptive. Gives contents. and conservation of time and strength. Western Society of Engineers. Valuable, There is room for query, if not for criti- long, thorough. Generally signed. Engi- cism, as to the wiscloin or 1111ncIredsof li- neering books only. braries doing the same thing in the same Wood Craft. Valuable reviews of all im- way for the same purpose, Individually. portant books on machine and hand wodd- Lists of books on th~s,that and the other working trades. topic made up froin exactly the same ma- Additions and corrections are requested terial in varioils libraries are collected, from technology libraries. prepared and printed, from one end of the ~- - country to the other. The libraries all A NEWSPAPER INDEX. have about the same material on thew Evening Post, New York, Thursclng, May 19, shelves, and there is no good reason why 1910 [Editorlnl]. the listing should not be done once for all, Preparation of an annual index to one or by one agent, and then distributed with several metropolitan daily newspapers, local iml~rints as desired by individual which is suggested in an article In the libraries. QThe H: R. Huntling Company. Springfield, Mass.. makes a specialty of looklng up and reporting on specla1 Items. Classified catalogues are' issued monthly. C:orrespondenre invited. Special library binding