Review Articles

profitably in conventional form. However, Wills of the Justices at the end of the reading process, my eyes were much more tired than would have been The Wills of the justices; a Collection of the case after reading ordinary material in the Wills and T estaments of Twenty­ good light for a like period. Certainly, de­ Three Justices of the United States Su­ spite the amount of space which could be preme Court. Ed. by John C. Hogan. Los saved, I shall not advocate putting all our Angeles: Ray Fielding Productions, 1956. libraries into microfilm. Where the material Distributed by Oceana Publications, New consisted of photostatic reproduction of York. $20. (Microfilm.) handwritten documents, particularly if the This collection, which I am informed is writing was either obscure or unique, it was the first installment of what is to be a com­ almost impossible to decipher. This must plete publication of the wills (or of infor­ be considered a defect of the microfilm de­ mation concerning interstate administration vice at present, though obviously one would of the estates) of all justices of the Supreme be foolish to predict that it never will be Court of the United States about whom such overcome. However, even though the re­ information is obtainable, is extremely in­ production were perfect, I believe that there teresting. I do not know how gTeat will be would be less strain in reading a convention­ its practical value. However, I should think ally manufactured book. Nevertheless, as to that, at least when it is completed, the col­ rare and otherwise unobtainable matter, let lection could be a mine of information to us, by all means, have it on microfilm.­ biographers, historians, and commentators Maurice H. Merrill) University of Oklahoma. on the social scene in past years. In the pres­ ent selection, attention has been focused on the Chief Justices, ending with William Howard Taft, on the members of the court Filing Rules participating in the Dred Scott decision, and on a group of other Associate Justices­ And Practice David J. Brewer, John M. Harlan (the first) , Horace H. Lurton, Stanley Matthews, Joseph Filing Rules for the Dictionary Catalogs of McKenna, John McKinley, Samuel F. Miller, the Library of Congress. By Processing De­ William Strong, and William B. Woods. partment, U. S. Library of Congress. The first two wills, those of John Jay and Washington, 1956. 274p. $2.25. (Available Oliver Ellsworth, offer an interesting con­ from the U. S. Superintendent of Docu­ trast. Jay's is verbose and detailed, with an ments.) elaborate introduction giving thanks to the Deity for numerous specific benefits to John In a foreword, John Cronin, Director of Jay as well as for His general care of man­ the Processing Department, explains that kind. Ellsworth, to the contrary, put his this printed and bound book of rules origi­ entire will on a single pithy page, with no nated in a loose-leaf edition for the Library exordium whatever. These two types of staff, begun by James K. Boyland, revised draftsmanship we still have with us. The by several committees. and compiled into a other wills afford examples of various styles comprehensive code by the late Linn R. of composition, as well as of variant states Blanchard. Others at the Library of Con­ of fortune, and concern or unconcern with gress have assisted in gathering examples, affairs of business and of domestic property. editing the final copy, and preparing the After reading this microfilmed collection, index. The work truly exemplifies corpo­ I infer that the function of microfilming is rate authorship, and if anyone deserves the the reproduction of material which, for one major credit, it is Charles A. Cutter, the reason or another, cannot be published fourth edition of whose classed rules (1904)

.JULY 1957 337 are, au fond, the beginning of all further term for its major development away from effort. its own rules, and the other exceptions fol­ The work is divided into two parts: the low, demanding a great deal of knowledge rules in use and the ones the Library of on the part of the filer. Of course, peculi­ Congress proposes to adopt as time and arities of language, abbreviations, letters, staff make possible. It is very likely the most signs, etc., must have a place, but one notes complete and painstaking book of filing rules immediately that such visual signals as itali­ ever published, and the copious examples in cized words have no correspondence to a conspicuous bold-face type explain in detail special exception. "Religious denominations" whatever the text of the rules may have left constitute a spectacular exception to the in doubt. The introduction sets forth the rules for filing of corporate authors. This basic rules in four pages, about half of requires the filer to know what a "religious which is in bold-face type. The remainder denomination" is and presumes that such of the book, and nine-tenths of its index, bodies have distinctive names and keep is made up of amplifications, clarifications, them all the time. What is done with the excellent examples, and very many curious Theosophical Society, with the First Zen Soci­ exceptions-the reason that large catalogs ety of New York, with the Ramakrishna So­ require an elaborate manual for the filers. ciety? Someone, cataloger or filer, needs Where Cutter's Rules cover the problems rich experience to be able to tell when the in ten pages, his rules "grown up" take 161 alphabetic order must be replaced, with­ larger pages, though happily in larger print. out visual indication, by a classed order. But one idea has not grown up with the Significantly, the alternate rules provide problems. Both the parent and its offspring that main and added entry be interfiled and presume to arrange things largely as the that religious denominations be treated most­ public is said t9 want them. Cutter pro­ ly by alphabetic procedures. The tendency posed to teach the user, when necessary, and of the alternate rules is away from the classed his explanation of the "person, place," rule procedures that Cutter instituted, away from is rather characteristic: "The arrangement alphabetic procedures in the filing of numer­ is arbitrary." The first paragraph of the In­ als, and generally toward adherence to a troduction to the LC Rules contains this rule of the sequential signal over unindi­ apologetic, if not prayerful, sentence: "If an cated knowledge which the filer is supposed arrangement seems arbitrary, there is usu­ to have. In the alternate rules, subject ally a reason for it; for it should be assumed headings are to be filed dash, comma, paren­ that it is always the aim to arrange entries thesis as in the ALA Filing Code, which is in such a way that they may be found as called a better arrangement (cf. p.l45). In quickly and easily as possible by the users the body of the rules, the requirement for of the catalog." Literature Headings that (Collections) and The rules on which the structure of the (Selections, Extracts, ~tc.) precede even the whole book rests seem straightforward enough. dash, not to mention (Comedy) and (Trag­ The first is the familiar "File word by word edy), is an annoying exception, however de­ and letter by letter," as uttered to all new sirable it may seem to have the whole before filers by all old catalogers. The second rule any of its parts. provides for the order of punctuation which Throughout the section on subject head­ is, in effect, a subdivision mark-comma aft­ ings one has the apprehension that catalog­ er surnames, comma after forenames; for ers may use several criteria for the choice ' subjects: dash, parenthesis, comma, in that of punctuation, and filers may decide that order; for place names, the period after the punctuation indicates entirely different de­ entry word. The third rule is the equally cisions. On p.l44, the Filing Rules explain familiar "person, place, thing, and title." that a mistake has occurred, from time to But with rule four, one feels that he has time, and the filer is to call for the Senior pressed his luck too far. The order is gen­ Filer so that "the correction can be made." 1 erally main entry, added entry, and subject This is for the distinction between racial entry. An important exception is made for and linguistic adjective, which is signaled place arrangement, the Library of Congress by a comma between it and the preceding

338 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES word, which it modifies, as opposed to geo­ number in the spelling supplied? Either the graphical subdivisions, which are signaled by revisers in the catalog room or the Senior a dash. The distinction can be preserved so Filer will have to be accomplished linguists. long as racial and linguistic adjectives differ Though the articles (a, and, the) and car­ in shape from the geographical name. But dinal numerals are listed for 28 languages, the trend of the language seems to be other­ the Asian and African languages must be wise. Granted that we have Portuguese for dealt with as they reach prominence. Even Portugal, French for France, but what do now the distinction between articles in the we have as the linguistic or racial adjective nominative case and those in other cases for London, Antwerp, Boston? What will requires a knowledge of gender in German: we need for Seoul, Laos, and Utah? We Der is also feminine genitive singular and speak of a "New York dialect," a "Pusan dative singular. Die is also accusative plural accent," and the use of a noun adjunct seems and makes a knowledge of number necessary, always to gain ground. Once the distinction and das is not only nominative but also disappears, how will the filer be sure that, accusative for neuter nouns, and · a knowl­ if one can imagine it, the dash between edge of case, dependent as it is on syntax, is Art-Seoul is not really meant to be Art, also necessary. Seoul, and, more important, what user can If Cutter's ten pages of rules had doubled comprehend the really delicate inference of each decade, they would in 1954 have re­ the punctuation? Who will decide whether quired 160 pages. Apparently the Library the error is the cataloger's or the filer's? How of Congress is keeping up quite well with will the obviously necessary see references be its 161 pages of rules this year. But carry filed? this process on, and how will anyone make The problems of filing originate w~th the his way through the 5,000-odd pages which choice of entry, and the logic of the ar­ will be required at the end of this century? rangement ought not to be independent of As world communication broadens and ex­ the visual signals given. When one signal, pands and the great social changes among such as parenthesis, indicates several differ- the once primitive peoples of the world . ent logical or grammatical categories, the continue, is it too unreasonable to suppose filer must undo what the cataloger has done. that something like this would happen? This requires a degree of skill and judg­ There is no quibbling over the compact­ ment which can be achieved, not by in­ ness, the printing, and the arrangement of service training, but by professional educa­ these rules. The book is of unquestionable tion. Carried to its ultimate fulfillment, the value to any library using Library of Con­ education necessary will give us a new branch gress cards, whatever filing rules that library of librarianship, to join the documentalists may follow. Though it leaves out some fas­ and archivists. What they will call them­ cinating exceptions and distinctions (such selves, I don't know-perhaps sequential­ as the difference between Portuguese d and ists. a, the treatment of the ampersand "&" as Consider the attainments required of a a sign-alphabetted and, . except when it filer, as the rules presuppose them, and occurs as a part of a conventional title for imagine fifty years' growth in libraries. music, where it is a comma) which occur in Though we may expect the average informed the finest print, the index is as inclusive as filer to know that 10 in French is dix, even it can be. The arrangement of the hook that 89 is quatre-vingt-neuf, though we may by catchword titles, all in alphabetic order, supply the spelling in brackets after the and the indexing of specific entries, with numerals for unusual languages, who is to references using a code equivalent of the decide what spelling is proper for languages catchword title and a Roman numeral as like 1apanese, which distinguish between chapter and verse of the rules, presupposing round objects, flat objects, numbers of men, some familiarizing, is doubtless most prac- and so on? Will not either the cataloger or tical. · the filer need to have a working knowledge Still, one cannot help wondering if this of 1apanese to know whether a Romanized excellent' book is not much more a guide book title employs the correct form of the to a complicated practice rather than a set

JULY 1957 339 of rules for the strategy in which both cat­ aloger and user are engaged. We cannot Documentation in Action say that we know how users prefer items Documentation in Action; Based on 1956 filed in a catalog, whether a certain user Conference on Documentation at West­ really expects identical items to be together ern Reserve University. By Jesse H. Shera, or believes that the alphabetic order has, Allen Kent, [and} James W. Perry. New naturally, scattered them. We have always York: Reinhold; London: Chapman & guessed that we are doing what a mythical Hall, 1956. majority of the users want, but we have never really known how. many of the users The conference recorded in this book (re­ even have a preference, let alone know ferred to throughout the text as the Con­ that some variation is possible. One won­ ference on the Practical Utilization of Re­ ders why the new filer, eager to show his corded Knowledge-Present and Future) knowledge of the alphabet, does not repre­ was held on January 16 to 18, 1956. Some sent the untrained user. If a rule is hard 670 persons attended, including librarians, for him, it is almost certain to be hard for documentalists, scientists, lawyers, and ex­ those like him. perts on machine computing, operations re­ Would we be playing this game of strat­ search, information theory, and language. egy with more skill if we established a rule The object of the conference was "the pro­ and stuck to it, regardless of where the card motion of understanding and cooperation landed? If so, the rule would have to be among organizations and individuals repre­ devised by catalogers themselves, and it senting a wide variety of interests, with four would have to ordain, once and for all, the particular foci: choice of entry, whether main or added, a. The use of information and its rela­ whether subject or series, according to some tion to the structure of recorded infor­ objective analysis of which signs and sym­ mation and the patterns of recourse bols are going to equal what. We would to it. have to presume that our object is not to b. The contribution which certain spe­ give the user the exceptions we guess he cialized fields of knowledge, e.g., op­ wants, but in every case we would have to erations research, information theory, show him that we are honestly acihering to etc., might make to improving the uti­ the rule which we insist that he must learn lization of graphic records. if he wants to play at all. c. The development and improvement of One wishes that the Filing Rules could methods, systems, and equipment for be made a standard part of a high-school the organization and correlation of in­ course in the use of a library. But, actually, formation. as the alternate rules indicate, they are not d. The training of personnel." quite standardized even for the Library of Congress itself,. and, in any case, no high­ The book is made up of five parts. Part school student could read that there is usu­ one consists of seven " 'state of the art' ally a reason for a seemingly arbitrary ar­ chapters" on fields chosen as basic. These rangement without thinking that the un­ were prepared by committees and distrib­ reasonable arrangements predominate, and uted before the conference. Part two sketches that the word usually is an outright misap­ out what machines, systems, education, co­ prehension, if not a lie. He is quite free to operation, and language study might con­ assume that the aim of the cataloger has been tribute to better documentation. Parts three, to play a fierce game of hide-and-seek with four, and five respectively "summarize the him, though he has neither the disposition panel meetings," report discussions on pos­ nor the time, nor-to tell the truth, as he sible cooperation in documentation of vari­ might not-does he have the knowledge to ous subjects, and assess desirable future re­ win, even many years later when he is work­ search. ing on his dissertation.-Jay E. Daily) Paula This is a review of the book, . not the con­ K. Lazarus Memorial Library) National Con­ ference, which the reviewer did not attend. ference of Christians and Jews) New York. The book is disappointing in matter and

340 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES