San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks

Special Libraries, 1917 Special Libraries,

3-1-1917

Special Libraries, March 1917

Special Libraries Association

Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1917

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, March 1917" (1917). Special Libraries, 1917. 3. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1917/3

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, 1917 by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Special Libraries .- -. - -. .. - - - . - --- Vol. 8 MARCH, 1917 No. 3

Public Libraries and Business Men By R. Hasse, Chief, Documents Division. New Library

M7hat would you say about a business Inan number of cities In the country whose build- who pays taxes for city water, good, clean, lngs and locations and collections and 11- filtered water, piped to his house, to be used brarians you may well be proud of. ugstairs and down by merely turning a How often do you boast to the out-of- spigot, who then pays some one to dig a well towner that you are getting your taxes' in his yard, gays to have the water filtered. worth of return in your business from the or runs the risk of using it unfiltered, and library? What do you know, business men, who uses that water instead of the city water about your publlc library as a business asset he is paying for all the time? for you? A fern of you Bnow a good deal, but You woulcl say he is a queer kind of a Inany might know much more and greatly business man, and you would ask why he is benefit thereby. so foolish. Perhaps his answer might be The other day there walked into the li- that he did not know how to turn the spigot! brary ln a certain large c~tya representative Or he might say that the city water was of a special Inagamne. He had no idea that not pure enough. Or he might explain that he could find what he wanted in the public even though he was paying taxes on it, he library, but he had been every place else in did not know it was there. Or again, he town to no avail, so he dropped ~ntothe li- might tell you that he lilies his own well brary as a last resort Here he spent two in his own back yard, because it gives him hours. He iound not only what he came for, a feeling of just using it himself, and he but the librarian directed him to a set of liked the exclusive feeling. Government reports, oi which he had never You would laugh at any of these answers. heard in his life, and in them he found ma- You would say that any business man who terial which, lie said, saved his flrm five would not take time to learn "the simple thousand dollars in experiments. This Arm twist of the wrist" which tunls the spigot, had never used the library hefore. or who would not demand pure water for Another man, the ~cpresentativeof a big the rest of the town, as well as for h~mself, financial flrm, spends on an average of three or who had not sense enough to know what evcnings a week in the economic section of he was paying taxes for, and what he should his publ~clibrary. What 1s he loolung up? get in exchange, was not fit to bc a citizen, The history of finance for one thlng. The and you would have your opmion of h1n1 as price of silver, for another, and the price of a business man, without any doubt 111 the stoclrs in various countries for various world. years. Does anyone suppose he would be Yet a great many business men are al- spendmg his tinie this way, IE he did not most as unintelligent about thelr gublic find ~t good for hlfi I)usiness? libraries, as is th~smythical person who Still another AI~,ready to put its em- does not turn the sp~gotto get h~scity ployes on a grofit-sharing bas~s,sent to the water public library lo find how other profit-shar- Many of them pay taxes to support their Ing schemes have worked o~t.Anolher. public librar~es,and what do they get out of wantmg to advertise its special Illand of them? Their wives get assistance in writing breakfast food, found 111 the 1il)rarq- the lo- their club papers. Thelr children get help cations of all the grocery Stol'e? in th~ for their school and college class work The Un~tedStates The particular 1ibra1'y had whole famlly gets books for recreation and equipped itself with a volnmc g'ving just enlightenment of one kind or another. And data, saving this flrm the great csuen?e of they themselves have the opportunity of talr- making for itself such a survey ing the out-of-towners around in their auto- Om of the largest cigar manufacturing mobiles to show them the gublic library companies in the world sent to the public bullding and its wonderful location. That is library for histories of the tobacco industry worth something, I gl-ant, for there are any in the , to be used in n special 42 SPECIAL LIBRARIES

advertisment. The library furnished not only trade papers? Has it these reports and those books and magazine articles on the subject, newspapers? It will be good for you both. but illustrations for the booklet as well. You may find that the library has some Imp0rtel.s and exporters, profiting by the things you never heard of, which may be of experience of those who have foulld what great value to you In your work. The libra- these institutions can do for them, Use the rian may get from you, names and titles of public libraries for stat~sticsand directories, boolcs and reports he has not known about, laws of foreign countries and steamship And you will have formed an alliance with routes. Your broker, planning to lend lnoneY s public utility well worth while. to foreign cities, goes to the library to find Too often you do not even try out your the size of the cities in question, them mu- yubl~cllbrary. When your corporation gets njcipal debts and various other lnforlnation big enough you start a business library of regarding them. Your man selling motor- your own. Such libraries are being started cycles, makes a trip to his library to find all over the country. Every concern of a the number of young mechanics in the certain size, doing a certain amount of busi- United States between the ages of so and so, ness, has a busmess l~brarywilh a trained who are unmarried, because experience librarian in charge of it. It has a room or teaches him that men of thls age and statlon rooms devoted to the library-and space is buy more motorcycles than other men. expensive, as you all know. It sinks every FXere is a man about to install a new year, hundreds of dollars into equipment, system on cost accounting The library books, magazine, reports, etc, and it pays makes him a list of the best references and well for tra~nedhelp, because business men he comes to use the books and magazine know enough to realme that expert asslst- articles. He knows when he is through with ance is the only kind that will do for such them, which system is the best for h~spar- work. ticular firm. When you get ready to start a library of He1.e is a paper manufacturing concern, your own, what do you do? You go to your sending to know how ~nuchtmber stands public librarian, and you ask the bcst way uncut in the different states of the United to put it through. You ask him where you States. Here's a promoter of a scheme to can get a good librarian, and how to go manufacture rennet. He is searching today about that. You find out from hiin about for the laws of Argentina regardmg bob equipment, shelving, lights, and catalog veal. Why? Because he would like to im- paraphernalia. port in cold storage, the stomachs of calves, This busmess library is veiy expensive, to be used in this rennet nlannfacturing but it is such a satisfaction to have a trained business. librarian to hunt down your references and You represent a firm wanting trade oppor- makes abstracts of your magazine articles, tunities In South d~ner~caand hlexico. The order the books and reports on your special library has Government reports, periodicals, line, keep you up to date with your clipping books and clippings, and you may or may files, classify and catalog everything so not be using its resources. that you and all your nlen know jiist what Tour library has ways of borrowing for therc is and where it is, that you are willing your use, books from other libraries. Why it should cost. Yon keep right on, year after uot make use of this privilege? The Govern- year, paying taxes for your public library ment publishes reports and statistics of the and demanding nothing of it, and footing greatest use to business men, and if the li- the bills of your own business library. brary hasn't them all, it has lists of them. The factory around the corner 1s doing Your library should have catalogs and the same thing. So is the bank across the indexes up to date, which will show you, at street. The wholesale house in the next a glance, what material is available on your block, the Commerce Association, the auto- particular sub~ects. Why not utilize such mobile concern and the trust company, the time-savers? Your library shculd have hbra- Insurance Club, the exporter and the railroad rians whose business it is to give you intel- headquarters are all starting special li- ligent help in looking up your questions. braries. Why not make use of these municipal serv- Everyone 1s proud of the public library. ants? but no one asks, "What do I get for my Why not make a survey yourself of what taxes ?" and "Why am I digging a well when you should be able to ask of your library, and I have city water already in?" then, if it 1s not up to your level of emciency, "But I tried our public hbrary," (I can why not work to make ~t so? It 1s your li- just hear it said) "And I couldn't get what 1-ary. JVhy don't yon make it a workable, 'I wanted. They haven't suffment service in efficient, up-to-date busmess laboratory for assistants nor in books and magazines to Your city and for your citizens? serve everyone. We can't stop to bothel' Make an appointment to see your librarian. with the pnbl~clibrary We are business Put it up to him and see what he will say men, and things have to move for us." Tell him you want to know what the library Do you take your children out of school has for you and your business. Has it such because there are not teachers enough? DO and such directories? Has it such and sucll you stay at home nights yourselves, because SPECIAL LIBRARIES there are not enough street lights to show ''But," You object, "they don't taG the you the way down town? Not at all. What periodicals I Want in the public library, and you do is to pay more taxes, if necessary, to they don't index enough of them, and it have enough teachers for your children, and takes them three weeks to get a book that you make a real genuine fuss till there are 1 Can telegraph for and get in three days enough lamps to light the town at night. And again I answer, "Why all these Then why are you so little interested in things?" your public library? Why are you duplicat- Any modern librarian will be more than ing work that Jones and Snlith and Brown glad to have his library on such a basis and the Robinson Company are doing? Why that the periodicals you want are indexed, are they duplicating worlc that the public and the books You want are ordered-tele- library is doing? Axid why do not all of you graphed for, if necessary The suggestions use your public l~brariesin your business? You make will be received with joy that If they haven't the equipment to serve you, there is some one who cares enough to why haven't they, and whose fault is ~t? make them. With all the business surveys that have At the present time, however, most 1ibr.a- been made and all the efficiency reports that ries are running on such small budgets have been drawn up and all the experts who that they cannot gwe you the complete serv- look over your plants, and pocket your ice you have a right to demand. But it will checks for showing you how you can get cost yon much less in the long xtun to install better service for the same or less money, it in your public libraries, up-to-date equip- does seem queer that no one has pointed out ment of all kinds, so that you can get the that the public library is yourus to use and same service that you get from your special that it can be made as efficient and much libraries, even though your yearly check to- more so (because it is always going to ward this emciency-goal 1s a large one. It have resources that you are not golng to will never be as large as it is for your busi- have), than your business library can pos- ness library. s~blybe. Once started with your coijperatlon and I am not saying that all public libraries interest, with the collecting bee stimulated are now more efficient. But they can be by firms wanting books, magazines, gamph- made so, if enough people are interested in lets, and clippings to use directly in their their possibilities. The magic cobperation business, with live catalogers, who are hu- of business men goes a long way in making man beings and not just machines, with li- any public institut~onefficient. brarians alert to the returns you should For a great many yeays, libraries were have on your money, with enough assistants only the storehouses of reading matter, and and enough books and enough telephones librarians were just the guard~ansof thesc and messenger boys and typewriters and storehouses. Then the storehouses became photostat machmes, and enough lack of red circulating lib~ariesfor the amusement and tape at the same time, you will find your entertainment and erudition of mankind. l~braryto be your best business friend. Then the women had a head-start, and li- To make your public library a success for braries cooperated with clubs and with in- you, as well as for your children, you must dividuals to the decided advancement of the begin with the "partner" attitude. The little family and society. sticker attached to letters of the National Children have been so much considered Association of Lhlanufacurers, "Every Busi- in libraries, that there are special training ness has Three Partners," should by rights schools for children's librarians and special read, "Every Business has Four Partners" rooms for children's books, story hours to and the fourth, a s~lentpartner, should be teach children something of the best litera- the public library. ture, and graded 11sts to keep them on the Once installed as your business laboratory, right literary track, besides teacher-l~bra- your relation should be a constructive one rians to help them in their school worlc. and not a destructive one. The man who Now the business man, realizing the ne- stops in the library, and storms because the cessity of modern library methods in his book he wants has just gone out, 1s no real business, feeling that he cannot get along partner. If he were, he would in Some way without a library, makes one for himself, arrange for more nmncy to purchase more when all the trine he is paying for a public copies for more uscrs of the library. Or he library and not using it. would find the expert employed for that Pur- Perhaps your worlr is so strenuous that pose in most libraries, and ask about other your firm needs the services of a hbrarian or books which might be even better than the two, or three all the time. Then why not one he wanted. pay libra~iansto work fo~you and let their when your public library is Youl' business laboratory be the public library? That will library it will be hiring many es~erts.Your save you the cost of the room and equip- library assistants will none of them be dead ment of yonr own library, and the cata- wood, wo~lcxngbecause they "love to read," logers and classifiers and filers you would or because the trustees are their uncles 01' have to h~robes~des, and the expense of your nephews. They will be prepared to give You book collection. exeprt service. And for this service, You and SPECIAL LIBRARIES your fellow-citizens will be prepared to pay and heat and Insurance, and for collections them the salal-ies of experts. which are going to bc out of date anyway in a few years. You will be using your public you will not then be duplicating Inany hbraries and your libraries will be using times the work of cataloging and indexers. you, and there will be one municipal waste you lvill not be collecting duplicate libraries. the less for your thought and cooperation you will not be paying for space and light now.-[From American Industries.]

The Use of Books in Business By W. Dawson Johnston, Librarian, St. Paul Public Library

There are at least fifty-seven varieties of number of messengers from separate busi- service which the librainy may render the ness houses provided the demand for this business man, but all of them may be em- form of service is sufficient to warrant its braced under these three heads: establishment. First-The collection of up-to-date infoy- llrancl~esin Business Houses mntion on nll subjecl~of znte~estto the busi- ness 7ncin. It is equally obvious that a branch of the Second-The tmnsndssion of this in.foosmn library establishment in every large manu- facturing plant or businees house will make tiox to individztals o~ -.grolips of. indivirlzids weding it. it easier to satisfy the ordinary needs of TI~ird-The ditfzrsion of infownation re- officers and employes. These branch collec- gnrdzvg ezwrent business literntwe and the tions consist not only of business books, but literature of specific business questions. also of books on history, social questions, travel, biography, and fiction, At the pres- Librnry Cullect.io~ls ent time there are sixteen such branches in The most important part of a business 11- St. Paul, located in the following houses: brary, perhaps, is government documents, American Hoist and Derrick Company, statistical and otherwise, such as the publi- Brown and Bigelow, St. Paul City Railway cations of the Department of Commerce, Co., Crex Carpet Company, The Emporium, trade directories, periodicals, catalogs, Foot, Schulze and Company, The Golden maps, and magazine and newspaper ex- Rule, Gordon and Ferguson, Guiterman cerpts. The collection of catalogs of local Brothers, Northwestern Telephone Com- manufacturers and jobbers should be com- pany, Robinson and Strauss Company, Sani- plete and up-to-date. Indeed, the more com- tary Food Company, Schuneman and Evans, plete and up-to-date the entire collection is G. Sommers & Co. the more comprehensive and accurate will be the information obtainable from it. Of T'aried Size These collections are primarily of use to The libraries in these houses are shelved the librarian in answering questions re- in either the study room, rest room or lunch ceived either by phone or post, and to clerks room. They vary in size from GO to 319 vol- sent to the library to investigate questions umes. The use of them is promoted by notes requiring more extended research, but they in house organs like the Golden Rule Store mill reach their maximum usefulness only News and the Emporium Enterprise, and in when they are duplicated to such an extent the G. Sommers & Co. six-page catalog of that it will be possible to lend single books, the library. An employe attends to the dis- and collections of books, and package libra- tribution of books. ries on any business question, either to indi- vidual business men or groups of business Bi~ririesa Informutio~iSorvice Inen. The third essential of the service here described is information in regard to cur- Lihmry Extensio~i rent business literature and literature of At present not more than 1G per cent of specific business qustions. With this in view the members of business organizations are the St. Paul Town Criers club in October library cardholders. It is not only probable inaugurated a four-page monthly, entitled but certain that ten times this number would "Business books: an index to recent books use the collections if they could be made and articles in magazines of interest to more accessible during business hours. business men," the first pel-iodical of the Library estension may be brought about kind which has ever been published. With in two ways: First, by the free delivery of this in view also the library will furnish books in the husiness district; and, second, business organizations and employers with by establishing library branches in each lists of recent books on specific topics for large industrial and business establishment. distribution among the members or em- It is obvious that one or two library mes- ployes.--[From The Twin City Commercial sengers might do the work of a much greater Bulletin.] SPECIAL LIBRARIES

lecting, indexing, and disseminating of in- Special Libraries formation useful to the merchant, trader, PUBLISIIFID BY THE manufacturer, or shopkeeper. Such a libra- SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION ry might be described as a huge vertical Monthly except July and August. file, in which would be found every kind of Editorial and Publication Omco Indiana Bu- reau of Legislative ~nformatibn,Indlannp- information, brought together from many olis, Ind. sources. Zntered at the Poatomce at Indianapolls, Ind., as second-class matter. Perhaps the most important fact brought -- - - out by Mr. Jast, however, was thnt such a Subscrlptlon...... $2 00 a year (10 numbers) Single copies ...... 26 cents library would inevitably depend, for its effi- -- - ciency, on the willingness of business finns President...... C. C. Wllllamson FvIUniclpal Reference Library, New York to share with others such information as City. might be of general interest. It was obvious, Vlce-Prcsldent...... O E. Norman he insisted, that in reorganizing industry, People's Gas, Llght and Coke Co., Chicago, 111. the old method of each one for himself would Secrctary-Treasurer...... John A. Lapp not do. It was foolish, and bad business, Bureau of Leglslative Inforrnatlon, Indlan- apolls, Ind. not to pool the general information, and he hoped and believed that the llnb~tof thus EXECUTIVE BOARD util~zingknowledge would grow. Presldent, Vice-President, Secretarb-T~eas- urer, IJ. C. Buell, Educational Bureau of There is, of course, no other attitude to Information, Union Pacific Ry.. Omaha, take on the matter that is in any way log- Neb.; Elizabeth V Dobbln? Amerlcan Tel- ephone and Telegraph CO.,''New Yorlc Clty; ical. If the community, acting as a com- A. L. Bostwick, Municipal Reference Li- munity, comes to the conclusion that it is to brary, St Louis, Mo. Managing Edltor of Speclul Libraries .--John its advantage that all of its business men A. Lapp, Bureau of Legislative Informa- should have as much information as possi- tion, I~idianapolis,Ind. ble, and should be afforded every opportu- Aaslstant Edltor, Ethel Clelnnd, Bureau of Leglslatlve Ir>formation. Indianapolls, Ind. nity for developing their trade to the best advantage, then for these business men to CONTRIBUTING EDITORS withhold information wherever they have a F. N. Morton, Unlted Gas Improvement Co., . chance to withhold it, is sorry reasoning. U1- H. H. B. Meyet., Llbrary of Congress. timate success in any business does not de- D. N. II~ndl.,Insurance Library Aasoclat~on. pend on chance advantages, but rather on ability to recognize the opportunities which are always coming, on readiness to take full The question discussed at a recent meeting advantage of them, and, above all, on that of the North Central Library Association of honest application which has come to be hpolten of as "b11slnessl1ltc."-[C11rislinn Sri- , namely, the formation of commer- cnce Monitor.] cial libraries in large industrial centers, for the benefit of business men, is one of the Ralph L. Powcr, Librarian of the College first importance. In libraries, as in educa- of Business Administration of Uni- tion, there has always been a want of bal- versity, js contributing to the Boston Uni- versity News a series of articles dealing ance as between "pure cultu~e,"if the re- with various special libraries in the vicinity dundancy may he forg~ven,and "pure busi- of Boston. Among the special collections da- ness." This is, of course, largely due to the scribed so fala are: the library of the In- fact that a "world" of business is of much surance Library Association of Boston; the more recent formation than a "world" of library oC the Vocation Bureau of Boston, the library of the Women's Educational and culture; but, even today, when business is Industrial Union; the textile I'ibrnry of admittedly an international affair, the ordi- Lockwood, Greene and Company; the library nary concept of the library is of a place for of the Old Colony Trust Company; the So- the scholar or the reader of fiction. The cial Service Library; the chemical library of the Arthur D. Little Company; the li- proposal by Mr. L. Stanley Jast, the deputy brary of the Boston Society of Civil Engi- librarian of blanchester, who contributed a neers; the technical library of T). C. and paper on the subject at the meeting already W. B. Jackson, engineers; the library of referred to, represented a wide view of the Sampson and Murdock, publishers of City and Town Directories. It is understood thnt question. The object of the commercial libra- these interesting articles will be assembled ry, he declared, might be stated as the col- in book form in a shorl time. SPECIAL LIBRARIES

News and Notes

Through the courtesy of R. L. Polk & Com- The firm of Swift & Comuanv.- ~--, Union pany of Altoona, Pa., the local Chamber of Stock Yards, Chicago, is orgallizing a libra- Commerce is to have an exchange libraw of ry. Marion Reynolds is the Librarian. city directories installed in its offices that will include all Pennsylvania cities covered by the company and a number of others with Dr. George J. Fisher, of New York, nd- which Altoona commercial firms do extensive dressed the delegates to .the Intcrnatiollnl business. The library will be available to Recreation Congress, whlch was formally the members of the Chamber and to the pub- opened in Grand Rapids Monday night, in lic. u talk showing the vital part organized rec- reation is playing in tne development of fill'- The Local Publicity Committee, arranging eign countries, particularly India, and for the Louisville meeting of the A. L. A., . June 21-27, offered prizes to the Louisville Nearly 500 recreation leaders heard the Free Public Library staff for designs for opening address of the Congress by Dr. full page advert~sementsto appear in li- Fisher, President Joseph Lee of Boston, brary periodicals. There were twenty-four who spoke on "Football and the W~I.," and designs submitted. These were judged by Dr. Alfred W. Wishart, of Grand Rapids, Mr. Paul A. Plaschke, cartoonist on the whose topic was "Leisure and Llfe." Courier-Journal and Times, Mr. Wyncie Dr. Wishart asserted that recreation is King, cartoonist on the Louisville Herald, one of the most serious of the problems that and Mr. Charles Sneed Williams, artist and confront a modern city. Recreation facilities portrait painter. Several of the winning are a necessity, not a luxury, he said. "You designs will appear in Special Libraries, cannot solve the baser problems of a big March, April and May. city unless that city is prqvided with ade- quate facilities for recreation. Most cities Sanderson & Porter, engineers, 52 William have gone too far in commercialized amuse- street, , are contemplating ments. To lcave the problem of entertain- the inauguration of a library for the accu- ment entirely to private enterprises is folIy mulation of clippings and articles. Mr. Fair- for the community depends in no small meas- fax C. Christian is in charge of the plan. ure on tl~eproper use of leisu~e.It is a city's duty to provide its citizens with wholesome In Los Angelcs, the public library occupies recreation."-[Christian Science Monitor.] three floors in an office building in the very center of the city. "To this fact we ascribe our immense patronage," declares the libra- The Consumers Power Company of Owos- rian. "and we would rather be in an office so, Mich., features its slogan as widely as building in the center of things than in a possible. The phrase which it has taken as beautiful classical monument so far removed its text is worded: that it was little used. Of course the ideal would be," he admits, ''to havc a beautiful Ilvnys-AT POrR S E RYI('$--.ill Ways building centrallv located, and that we are "Service" is a broad-gage word, but the striving for." company uses no limiting adjectives. Recent- ly the principal of a local school asked the The Unire~salPortland Cement Co., 208 firm for complete data on the number of cm- S. LaSalle street, Chicago, Ill., maintains a ployes and their earnings in a given industry library. between 1909 and 1914. The information was furnished promptly, much to the satisfaction The State Board of Health of Ohio has of the school director. a little circulating library for the public A short time later a debate was scheduled health nurses. in the Owosso high school on the subject: "Resolved, Tliat the City of Owosso ShoulSf Own and Operate Its Electric Light Plant. The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company The principal for whom the company had has built and equipped a library which con- secured the above-mentioned data, suggest- tains more than forty thousand volumes, op- ed that the students having the negative side erated and maintained by thc company for call at the power company's office for ma- the free use of employes. terial. Naturally the company's slogan was again The Palmerton Neighborhood House of the justified and the debaters were given argu- New Jersey Zinc Co., Palmerton, N. J., has ments galore. The negative side scored a a library containing about 16,000 books for decisive victory, and as it happened that free distribution, amongst them a good col- the leader of that team was the daughter of lection of Hungarian and Slavish books. the mayor, and succeeded in convincing her SPECIAL LIBRARIES

father of the value of independent plant op- ance for 1916-1917 and invites those who eration, the company felt well paid for its may be desirous of so doing to engage in trouble. their study. Recently the company received a request The Institute has no classes, nor does it for data on the value of products manufac- offer instruction by correspondence. Its work tured from 1909 to 1914 and the capital re- is largely supervisory. It prescribes the sub- quired to handle the industries of the United jects to be studied, suggests the reading to States during that period. The request was be done, and aids in such manner as may promptly complied with, as was one from commend itself to its Executive Committee the business men's association for storage all affiliated societies which undertake to room for some banners that are in use for establish lecture courses in harmony with a short time each year. The policy of diver- its own. Once each year on dates assigned sified service is claimed by the company to it holds examinations for all students who be steadily building good will for it.-Elec- may be qualiiied to take them. To students trical World, January 20, 1917. passing the examinations certificates are granted. To those who successfully complete the entire course the Institute awards its The Board of Directors of the American diploma. Library Association, meeting in Chicago, have decided to hold the next annual gather- ing of the association in Louisville the week Joseph Bancroft & Sons Company of Wil- of June 21-27, 1917. Headquarters will be at mington, Delaware, bleachers, dyers and fin- the Hotel Seelbach, which has guaranteed ishers of cotton piece goods, is developing 300 rooms, and the Hotel Henry Watterson, a special library. While heretofore this across the street from the Seelbach, has company's library has been merely a collec- guaranteed 150 rooms, and the Hotel Tyler, tion of three or four hundred books and pam- three blocks distant, also 150 rooms. There phlets roughly classified and in charge of no are numerous other hotels to care for all pos- one, the new special library wiIl comprise sible overflow. General sessions of the Amer- the best books, reports, bulletins, pamphlets, ican Library Association will be held in Ma- magazines, clippings, etc., that relate in any cauley's Theater, across the street from the way to the business of the company. Hotel Seelbach, and there are ample meeting Extensive files of dye$uff tests, mill and rooms in the Hotel Seelbach and the Henry laboratory experiments, Safety" and "Wel- Watterson for the meetings of affiliated so- fare" will be important features of this de- cieties and sections of the Association and partment. The information contained in the other groups. library and abstracts of other obtainable Approximately 3,000 delegates from all works will be kept accurately classified and parts of the country, including librarians, indexed and a Library Service Bulletin will library trustees and persons interested in be regularly issued. A competent librarian educational and library work, are expected is employed by the company and it is hoped to attend. Louisville was awarded the con- to make the library of great assistance to vention after spirited opposition from Chi- the production and executive departments. cago, Cincinnati and St. Louis. In the Electric Railway Journal, F:bruary Columbia University has announced the 3, 1917, pp 201-2, under the title How a Summer Courses in Library Economy, July Commission Works," is an account of the 9 to August 17, as follows: filing and indexing system used by the Pub- Bibliography, including reference books. lic Service Commission, second district of the Miss Helen Rex Keller, Instructor in Libra- state 01 New York. This is very interesting ry Economy, Columbia University. for those in charge of correspondence filing. Administration of the school library. The high school library, Miss Mary E. Hall, li- brarian, Girls' High School, Brooklyn. The Under the patronage ol' university ~resi- normal school library, Miss Irene Warren, dents and students of economy, a new in- formerly librarian, School of Education, stitution under the name "Institute for Chicago University. Government Research" IS about to begin ~ts Cataloging and classification. Miss Helen activities in Washington. The inst~tutewill Rex Keller. be under the immediate direction of 11'11- Public documents. Miss Adelaide R. limn F. JVilloughhy, formerly a memher of

Hasse. Chief of Documents Division.- 8 New the Taft commission on econonly and em- York public Library. ciency, confidential adviser of Yuan Shi h- Indexing, filing and cataloging as applied kai, and the successor of TVoodrow Wilson in business. Miss Irene Warren. to the chair of jurlsgsudence and politics at Princeton. Professor Willoughby is or- ganizing the institute and expects lo get to The Insurance Institute of America, 141 wo~ki~nniediately. Milk street, Boston, composed of insurance, This inslitut,ion is the result of constrnr- associations chiefly of an educational char- tive tllollght given the snbpct of gavel-n- acter, has prepared its courses in fire insur- mental efficiency by men and women who 48 SPECIAL LIBRARIES

have thought enough of its need to contrib- been the situation of the factory library. ute to its maintenance. These persons It is still in the reorganization state, but it have agreed to serve on the board of trus- is well for our people to know what are its tees: Edwin A. Alderman, Charlottesville, aims and ambition. Va.; Robert S. Brooklings, St. LOUIS, Mo.; "Usually a library is considered a store- James F. Curtis, New York city; R. Fulton house for dead material in the form of Cutting, New York city; Charles W. Eliot, books, pamphlets and records. That popu- Cambridge, hlass.; Raymond B. Fosdick, lar opinion, which rightfully belongs to the New York city; Felix Frankfurter, Cam- libraries of the early nineteenth century, is bridge, Mass.; Frank J. Goodnow, Balti- what keeps the average person from using more, hld.; Arthur T. Hadley, New Haven, the helpful tools collected by the library. Conn.; Mrs. E. H. Harriman, New York By tools, are meant business directorlee, city; C. Lombardi, Dallas, Tex.; A. Law- residential directories, almanacs, which rence Lowell, Cambridge, Mass. ; Samuel give up-to-date information about the prin- Mather, Cleveland, 0.; Charles P Neill, cipal civilized countries of the world, Who's Washington, D. C , Martin A. Ryerson, Chi- who in America and similar books of other cago, Ill.; Frederick Strauss, New York countries which glve the main facts about city; Theodore N. Vail, New York city; the lives of eminent men and women who Charles R. Van I-Iise, Madison, TVis., and are coming into prommence each year, dic- Robert S Woodward, Washington, D. C. tionaries, encyclopedias, special ones which As explained by Professor Willoughby, give valuable hints on vegetable gardening, the institute is an association of citizens co- animal raising, flower culture, farming, food operating with public omcials in the meth- values, eic., books which give practical sug- odical study of business systems, wlth a gestions on canning, housekeeping and cook- view to the promotion of emciency in gov- ing. These alds for everyday living could ernment and to advance administration be prolonged indeflnitely. There is nothing methods. He declares that no question be- nbout them that suggests shelf-worn books fore the people of the United States is of or the name of the library. Yet, that is the more urgent practical importance than this. kind of mforination that can be obta~ned He desires the fact to be understood by the from any library. In one of the large city publlc that the institute, in its operation, is libraries a young man, newly married, came to be in no sense an investigator for the to the desk and secretly thanked the librar- purpose of tearing down or criticizing ad- ian for giving his inexperienced bride a versely present conditions or practices. practical cook book. The present up-to- Quite the contrary is true. The purposc is date and live library is the Continuation to flnd out by research possible better. meth- School in life for the grown working people. ods of administration than those now in "Our own collection of books is large for a vogue. When discovered they will be offered privately owned library. It consists of a in good faith for adoption or rejection as general collection that will help the em- the ofacinls concerned may eIect. ployees to be better equipped for their work. The function of the institute will be as Special attention is given to the classes of wide as the government itself It is intend- boolrs that mean better business men for ed to meddle in no way, nor will it interfere better business. The library collection 1s or seek to force its way bcfore adnlinistra- being well rounded out with boolrs on sales- tion officials. Its work will be qulel and it manship, scientific management, shop and is possible little may be said concerning its omce advertising, English composition, bust- accomplis1'~ents. A plan is being formed ness English, letter writing, machinery, for a numbar of universities to co-opcrate enamellng, grinding, weldmg, toolmaking, in maintaining a house in Washington to mechanical drawing, etc serve as headquarters for those students "The factory library is here for 'SERVICE. and professors desiring to prosecute studies Send, or come and bring your questions, re- in the field of hlstory, politics and econo- gardless of what they may be. The librarian mics. may know something about the subject, but [Christian Science Jlonitor, Oct. 7, 191 61 chances are that she does not. Tho biggest part of a librarian's training is not to re- taln knowledge, but to know where to find some informat~onon any subject. The Com- The following is an excerpt from an ar- pany's library is not so equipped that it can ticle on the Library of the National Cash meet all requirements, but, with few ex- Register Co., written by the Librarian, Miss ceptions, direction can be given where the Edith Phail, and appearing In the house desired information can be obtained. No organ of the company, the N. C. R News, for question is too simple to be given consider- : ation and no question too dimcult to at- "While a department is in the state of re- tempt. organization, it is never good policy to ad- "Following is a list of questions typical of vertlse. For the past two years that has the kind asked each month. Books or some SPECIAL LIBRARIES information was given on each one of them. fort to secure documents and other mate- Occupational dis- Glass etching rial which throw light upon the manner in eases Uasoline tanks which fire insurance and fire protection Progressive dies Infant care engineering have developed. In many re- Storage of gasollne Picture of a Ford car spects the unique collection of early fire in- Milling machines Failures and liabili- surance policies, broadsides, photographs Lnthes and manuscripts could not be duplicated. ties in retail stores "The Insurance Library has been made Roses for the last five the custodian of a most interesting collection Conditions in years of fire prints and engravings, the property Conditions in the Quotations on health of Gayle T. Forbush, president of the asso- Crime and criminals ciation. Recently one of the broadsides is- Safety devlces Rubber sued in in 1681, by Dr. Nicholas Paper making Bonds and invest- Barbon, one of the pioneer fire insurance Buslness letters ments men, came into its possession. This broad- Sex hygiene Banking side, which is notabIe as containing one of hfachine shop calcu- Music the completest arguments for fire insurance lations Algebra made at the time the system was being Speeds and feeds Came projected, is probably the only one of its model making hiochqnicu kind in existence on either side of the Navies of the world Twist drills Atlantic. Income tax Layout of tennis '(The library is maintained by an associ- Jig: c6urts ation incorporated under the laws of Masa- ~~IIIS Golf achusetts. A board of twelve trustees, five Snlirage Cleveland automat.1~ of whom are nominated by the executive Gardening machines committee of the National Board of Fire Drawing Patents Underwriters of New York, act in a super- Derivation of the Spiral gearing visory capacity. name Lillian Inventions "The library issues a quarterly bulletin, Plays Electricity which mints lectures given before the As- Logm-ithms Reaming sociati6n1s evening classes, and a dictionary Train signaling Chrmistry index to the current literature of fire in- Theosophy Heat treatment of surance and fire protection engineering. All Andrew Carnegie steel of these aids are of the utmost importance Linotype S~lesmanship to students of fire insurance and allied Factory conditions Advertising subjects. Political economy Die making "The maintenance of the Library is de- Steum boilers Sclentiflp manage- rived from contributions from fire insurance Shop arithmetic ment companies doing business in the New Eng- Panama Canal land states, fees derived from memberships -the Association now having about 450 members-and a direct contribution froni Ralph L. Power, Librarian of the Col- the National Board of Fire Underwriters. lege of Business Administration of Boston At the rooms of the National Board of Fire University has contributed to the Bos!on Underwriters in New York City a complete University News, several articles descriptive card index of the material at the Insurance of special libraries in Boston. Of the BOS- Library in Boston is on file. The collection ton Insurance Library, he says in part: is of such extreme importance as to warrent "The Insurance Library maintained by this duplication of the card index. the Insurance Library Association of Boston at 141 Milk Street is the most complete li- "The Insurance Library Association, first brary of the literature of fi~einsurance and incorporated in 1887, has always had as li- fi~eprotection engineering in the United brarian a capable man well known in his States. In fact, it is believed to be the most profession, Daniel Handy, the present li- complete existing anywhere in the world. brarian, was at one time a student in Boston "All standard works on fire insurance and University and is now Instructor in Fire In- fire protection engineering; complete sets of surance in the College of Business Admin- all the British and American insurance or- istration. ganizations; practically complete sets of the "While the Library is maintained wholly reports of government supervising insur- for members of the Insurance Library As- ance officials, both for the United States and sociation, students who are investigating the Great Britain and its colonies, and an field of fire insurance and fire protection enormous mass of pamphlets, clippings and engineering are frequently granted permis- special reports collected froni many sources sion of making use of the map and reading in both Great Britain and America are in room, and are allowed the freedom of the this library. book stack room. For such research work "Among the unusually complete sets on Mr. Handy is usually able to grant the de- insurance periodicals are some of the earli- sired permission, although in certain in- est published in England and the United stances the authol-ity of the trustees must States. The Association has spared no ef- first be secured. SPECIAL LIBRARIES