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Special Libraries, 1911 Special Libraries, 1910s

1-1-1911

Special Libraries, January 1911

Special Libraries Association

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PUELISHED BY THE Year a n~ect~n.e,was held in New York and SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION the i'cal work of tht- association was be- Editorial Omce, Stale Library. gun. The sn~iu:~lconvcnlion, held at Nackinac Island in July, 1910, exhibited the Indianaporis, Ind. inleresl which is taken in the special Ar~plicnt~oniican(llng for adml~slonns second- library movement. Plans were developed class matter st tho PostofRcc, In(linnn~olls,Incl. there which are beginning to bear fruit in the 1n'ol)oeals of publishing hou~eswhich Subscription...... $2.00 a year (10 num1)ers) have taken tangible shape, looking to the Single copies...... -26 cents l)nl)lication of new bibl~ograpl~iraland other aids. It has been the announced purllose of the association from the beginning to Dro- mote co-ol~erntiou anlong libraries doing sl~ecikil work This policy is carried out as far as 111wAicable in Special Librar~es. The work of the liul~lication is to a large extcnt exl1e1.imenta.1. New fields are tried out, Lhe object bang to test [lie conditions in order to establish sound bases for co- olieration. Diving tl?e ilrsl year the chief aim lit~sbeen to liiit special libraries in loucll with each otli~i,11y the descril~tion CONTENTS. or the 1'0rn1, melhods, work and facilities Special Lib1 aries Association, of iypiral 1il)l-aries. In looking back over Chicago Alecting...... 3 the year's worlc this seems to he thc best Digest of Papers and D~scussions. claim wliirli the association has for credit- Rcston hleeling...... 2 that an unlrnowii flelcl of library and senii- 1Tsc or Print Paper In Wo~ldof Affairs 2 library work has I~een'discovcretl and, to Cbt~~berof Co~niiierc~1,ihrtlry .... 3 a certain estcnt., surveyed and l~lntled. Stati~ticnlCepartmerit Ijoelon Pul~l~c The future looks even brighter Ilian the T-il~rary ...... :! rrco~clof Lhe first year and a hnlf. Special 1)iscnsslon ...... 4 lil)~-m-icsare just coiliirlg into a rigorons earn in^ Poa ey ol Special Libraries . . 5 liIc Tlicir value is cstal~lishecl. They are Lil~rarrof Children's Alcl Society . 6 u 1)11ainess asstt to any 1,rivate or liublic rllsclls~loll , ...... (i c.r~animtioll They are nol, estslrlisl~ed and Arte?ansl Trades Index ...... 7 insinfa~nerlas a nialter of selltime111, bul A Trade Catalogw Library...... 8 as a cold ~wol~ositioaof dolln~~sand cents. Nstional Organizations...... S 'Yl~cv ~nnbt!~e nrr~ful in evcry-day pi~tctlcal - - - ..... --.-- -- - .-- - - -. .... -- - ~~~.ol)lcms.Thpv have 1)ecolne illdispensable ------. ... . - -- to tile l)ro:.ressivc ljusiness lio~!ses, adnlin- TVitli this isriur Sl~ecialLibrnrics begins ibtl'alire ofliccs, leg~slnturesand city coun- ilr ketontl yew. That 11 has ~11sLifiedils cils, which hate already established them ( 11:~into the Iibrnry lield ib amply sl:onn Their s[rvcnd is i7:tl)id, a!l!l~llgh as yet 11y tile incronsing interest ~t develops. The tl1et.e is ]rut a small po1~tio11of their ])0Ssi- s~~l-sc:l'il~t~oiilisl has had a remarlcable l)ililics, both exlensivel~' and intensircly, ~,rowth and the articlea 1111blished harc devclopecl. ljeen widcly quoiecl in lil>r:?r.\. ~o~~nials,Thc rryst~lizal,ionof oul- lc~iowledgeof Llle niagazincs oncl ne\tslmlrers. It Fns begun mnvniient thrc~ngh the Special Lilrraries r~lsoto fill a rral need in its co-operative Association is doing rn11c.h to further the work. rallid gron th ol' these librarips The grov.th 01 this l~nl~licationis nlerrly Sl~t'cial 1,ibraries will cont~uneto folloW a. rt-[leu ot the 91*owlli ol Lhe Special Li- 1110 110.1cy already bcsun, and with tho 111xries ASSOCI~L~~OII111 July, 1909, the as- cordial co-olwmlion of all mewbers and ~oc~ationwas tormed at the Bretton hnlxcrit)e~~swhich has 11111s far been re- Woods confercncc, alter the call issucd ccbivcd lt, is confldentlp csl~ectedthat there 1117 the librarian ol Ilie bIercliants' Abm- w~llbe a steady advance in thc value of ciation of SEWPorlc. In November of thal the ~ml)licatioa. SPECIAL LIBRARIES

SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION special librarians wblch they are planning to undertake. CHICAGO MEETING. The training of special librar~ans was The Special Libraries Association held also discussed by MISS Merica Hoagland its second sectional meeting of the year and others. The opin~on le rev ailed that in Chicago, in the rooms of the Chicago while library training is essential for as- Historical Society, January 5 sistants it need not be extensive axid The meeting was directly in charge of a should not be too formal. The other duties co~ll~nitteecon~posed of Mr l'rederlck Rex, im~osedupon heads ot such libraries lnalrc Ass~stant Statistician of the hIullicipn1 Li- Lheir training in other lines more neces- 1:rar.v of Chicago; Miss Caroline M. Mc- sary ihan in the technicalities of library Ilwain, of tlie Chicago Historical Society, work and Mr. D~iglitTJ Akcrs, of the 'City Club At Lhe close of the meeting a commitlee, Library. About thirty librarians were pres- of which Mr. C 13. FaErch~ld, Jr., was cnt, mostly the special librarians of Chi- nlnnecl chairman, was appointed to con- cago. The program was ~nformal and the sider the formallon of a Chicago section discussion brought out many facts of in- of the Special Libraries Association and to tlbrest concerning the s1)eclal library facili- investigate the el)ecial library facilities of rlrs of Chicago and vicinity. Plans were Chicago and vicinity. This cornittee was 1;11tl I'or the clevelopment of a co-operative di~,ectecl to out~~ne11lans for organization sys~cmatter an investigation of the avail- and fnrther co-ol~eration. nlrle sources. The meeting wos called to order by Mr. DIGEST OF PAPERS AND DISCUSSIONS, Rex, who acted as chairman and outlinecl BOSTON MEETING, NOVEMBER 11, its 1)url)ose. 1911. Mr. John A. Lapp, of the legislalive refer- The Use of Print in the World of Affairs.* ence del~artment of Indiana, spoke of the Jmns C:OTTON DANA.I'l'esl~lent of tlw S. L. A. work which the Special Libiwies Associa- ( I:wd IJ\ Siw cti11v,; tion has done and the plans which are be- Mr. Dana said lhat iron^ investigations ing clevelolml fo~'the futu~e. The l)rol~lem of his onn and otbels it is shown that col. ot worlting out b~l)liogr~lMcalfacillties to lege ~)resiclents and protessors do not meet the needs of the special libraries was rcnllxe the value of their libm ies and do d~scussed at length. not impress t11e11' sloclents n~ththe In]- hIiss Carol~ne RIcIlwaiti exl~lained the portance ot skill in tlie use ol boolts and of scope and work of the Chicago Historical libraries, whik, on the olhcr hand, men Soc~ety Library and Museum, giving sl~e- of affa~rsare ~nak~nqmore and mow use rial attention to the historical collections of ])sin1 to broaden theiiq fields of work deallng with every phase of the social, and increase L11e11. efIic~ency. To illutitrale economic and political history or Cliictlgo I he tact that the acaclemic mincl has and lllinols. fallen shorL of the practical m~ncl In the s])lrlicat~onol printed th~ngslo further its Ah-. Dwight L. Alcers, of the City Club, devclol)~nenl,it s!lou~cl be noted that "the e~plainetl the work which the C~U~Jhas done in col~ectingmaterial ugon tlie many whole vast business of education in this civic irl'oblems which the club, through its counlrv does not produce cne journal re- numerous committees, considers. Facts lating to its field in general which a lap concaerningsome goocl collectionfi of material man of average intelligence, finds a1 once of on clty problems, such as conmlission gov- interest and instructive." Fnrthermore, In only five or six of the thousands of high ernment, city charters, etc., were brought out. schools, and not in nlora than three of the Mr. Frederick W. Schenlr, librarian of colleges and universities of thls countl'y the Chlcago University Law School, s~olre do we find a library adecluately housed, ad- upon the problems of s1)ecial libraries and ministered and used as a tool for t~ain~ns eml)hasized the possibilities ol co-operation students "in the knowledge of the use Of among the libraries of Chicago. boobs and cther printed things. E:;anll)les Mr. C. B. F'airchild, Jr , librarian and coulcl be cited and facts given. It is statisticlan of the city railway, sl~olceuljon enough, perhaps, to ask you to add to- the sl~ecialwork, not strictly library work, gether tlie expend1tu1.e~ of Harvard in which special librarians are called upon to the past twenty years for laboratories, do. He esl~ressed the general behet' that museums and gymnaslmn and athlet~c grounds, and then to set the total beside wecia1 libraries whlch merely collect and classify mater~alare fulfilling only a snmll the sun1 sl~enton ~tslibrary. Or you can Dart of their mission considcr niy own college, nartmouth, and In the discussion, hlr. R. W. W~lson,of rom1)ar.e its total expenditures for museunls the H. W. Wilson Company, gave an outline of the plans of his company for the trades index, newsllnger index and other help to SPECIAL LIBRARIES and athletic grounds with its library, never Very good one. Our beginnings indicate yet ~roperly clevelol~ed, and now turned that OUI' belieP is sound. We shall carry over to a group of professor.r as n slde the work on as long as the use made of issue in their work * * * I am a great Our collection grows as rapidly as it has heliever, and long have been, in Emerson's thns far." saying, that the greatest civilizer, aftcr all, Is selfish, huckstering trade. I have long CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIBRARY AND felt tbat business runs the world, and that THE FACILITIES IT OFFERS. the world gets civilized only as it learns LLOYD13. HAYES,Llbrnridn Chamber of and pis in practice l~rinciples tried and Corn~nerce. proved successtul in business. When I estdb- Mr. Hayes considered the Chamber of lished the business branch in Newark Commerce Library rather as an informa- tion bureau, pmticularly for the service of * * * I had long telt that there is in the the members. The collection consists of field of everyday affairs a vast amount of government, state and city publications, helpful n~aterial,"which nlen "in that. field and those of comn~ercialorganizations. The would find useful and would use freely if Bureau of hian~lfactures,Census Bureau and It could be gathered, mastered and placed Consular Reports are conspicuous in the close to their hands." The branch coilection. An atlempt has been made to is "a few steps from the business and trol- keep praclically all the Massachusetts state ley center of the city. It occupies a room and 13oston city publications of recent on the ground floor on a street in much issue, and to obtain the annual reports of use for heavy traffic, but greatly used as various ronlmercial organizations through- a thoroughfare by lm7estrians-men ancl oiit the country by exchange with the organ women from great ofice buildings in or of the chamber, "Ailvance New England." near it " The material consisls of nearly The trade publications cover cotton, wool, 300 directories, American and foreign, tele- coal, shoes and leather, fruits, exports, im- rhone clnd ll?e trades. These were nsecl by ports, teutiles, etc Also, lhere are varlous 200 persons per month before the branch directories. Incluiries come through the was established, and now 1~ 1,300. A co- mall and largely by telephone, but very few operative list of directories is being made, 1)erson.s call at the library. The questlons on lcrse-lwf ledger sheets Several thon- are n~ultifarious and a long list could be sand n~anufscthrers' catalogi~es are voon given "We get a large number from lo be plnrcd In the branch. It has a large abroad, mostly from Europe, In order to number of pvblic docuniente, ancl it is know the opportunities here for the sale found that con!mon ro~inrilmanuals of im- of direrent manulactured articles, and, on portant cities tind rellorts of state bureaus the contrary, inqu~ries from Anlericans ns of labor a1.e much nsed. A large folder to Lhe market abroad." An irnl~ortrtnt rase of the important ra~lmavs is ]worn- branch of the work is to report on solicitors ised. TSere are about 600 books relating for charity. "The inerchants of RosLon to business awovntinq and adverlisinq, be- seem to be especially 'easy marks' " for the !ir'os abovt 500 orc13nsry reEerence books. fnl& charity hanter and fakirs in various Tllcl,e are 40 general ~leriodirals and 200 business schemes. i'rlat~n? lo trades, manufactures. labor, chan~bers of colimerce, municipalit~es. STATISTICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE nqnvemcnts fo~'pablic bellerment, and the BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY AND li!r~. .41so, there are n few of the most r?e-1 teleqral~h and cable codes. There are WHAT IT OFFERS THE BUSINESS 40 local a114 pener~l mans, mnlinte? on AND PROFESSIONAL MAN. rq.lers. abovt 60 11~11staken from direc- HORACEL. TT'HEEI~EII, Lllwarlnn Statlatlcnl tories of American and foreiqn cities, moro Department than 150 covering our cities, states and The ~nqulrieslhat come to this depart- tc.rl'Itories, ~howinytol~oqra)>hy, aqriculture, men1 are miscellaneous and most extensive. geology. railroads, trolley lines, etc , Thcre nre upwards of 15,000 books to an- ~nrunte-lon Inrge sheets of cardbonrd. There swer the questions, and Hies pretty well arr ~everaltbnupanrl vol~lmesof fiction and cover the field of economics. Census sta- general works, mnklng a total of nearly listics not only from the United Slates, but 9.000 aolumes, from wbich "we arc now f~.om pretty much all countries of the lending books for home use at the rate of world, are In the collection. It is surpris- nho~~t100000 per vear. * * * We are ing, for instance, to find how large is the onlv st the beqinnins of R worlz, the size nut1)ut from Sweden and Italy alllong the and im1:ortance of which we did not realize foreign counlries. There is a lawe col- at all when me began. * * * We be- lcction of industrial slatifitics and rondi- lieve the idea of placing in the center of tlons of yeollle engaged in industrials. our city a collection of 11rintecl things Peo])le come with various schemes and en- wh~chmen of affairs will wish to use Is a deavor lo get figures that will help then) SPECIAL LIBRARIES

One person asked for stalistics on collars arriving very often at very offhand con- and cuffs, another on schemes for abolish- clusions. * * * I do not thjnk it would ing poverty, another on the Zero System of be of much avail simply to put a lot or banking, another, concessions of a certain books down here in charge of a cataloguer, railroad in Nicaragua, and a host of to~ics and I do not suppose the Public Library could thus be listed. The collection of Brit- would think of doing such a thing as tllat, ish parliament gapers is very good and also but there are a certain class of books the collection of econonlic l~eriodicals, in- which need to be cons~dered." The books cluding trade journals, newspapers month- bearing ugon "questions that tllc geo~le lies and weelrlies. downtown take a daily interest in" should - be wilhin easy reach, and it should be DISCUSSION: soniebody's busmess to find out what they contain and have the ini'ormation not only on tap, but dlgested and rcduced Is There Need of a Down-Town Business and Professional Men's Branch of Walter 6. Snow, Publlclty Engineer. the Boston Public Library? "1vIy line has been connected nlost inl- mediately with enqneering, and my great- DR EDWARDM. HARTWELL,City Statisticlan. est help has been Iounrl in the library of Dr. Hartwell described his library in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology brief, one of its functions, being to dis- * * I am not in a ~osition, tllrough lack of co-ol~eration,as you suggest, to go tribute the city documents and to receive to other ~ibrar~esand ask questions, and I others in exchange. He enumerated the think that the subject of discliss~on,as T number of libraries in the business district, conceive it, woulcl not be in the broadest showing that apparently they were suf- sense a llbrarp, but a clearlng bouse. It ficient In number-over twenty. "There is certainly sliculd be the reposiio'ry of a goodly not, however, more than the nucleus of a amount of helpful material, the latest edi- clistinct~velybusmess men's branch. * * * tions of the directory, gazetteers, and the They have lost what they once had The like. * * * The value ol' Ihat Irbrary Mercantile Library was something that the wonld consist almost entlisely in ~tsper- busmess people of Boston made their own," sonal element. The capacity of thc indi- but was hardly a technical library. "I vidual in attendance lo guide to the proper doubt if there is any very clearly recog- places for research would be of the greal- nized demand as yet on the part of the est assistance to the indiv~dual who was b.usiness and mercantile man for the kind seeking for inforn~ation." Many of us are of library which it seem to me, as a prac- not aware of the wealth of information at tical worker In the libraries, might very the Town Room Library, and have very lit- much help this section But I doubt not tle idea of what the State Library conlams, that it is not at all impossilrle to find an and "I am very sure that if tho private intelligent and enlightened business Inan libraries were thrown ol~enit would be a in Hoston * * * to promote the inter- revelation to many seeking information ests of an out station of the Public Library," along el~ecialhnes. The wisdom of an rn. or to help "some co-ol~erative scheme dertaking which woulcl ask t!?e individ~ial whereby the libraries which already exist to throw his library open to the public could establish a reading room which is ac- when that individual 1s selling the informa- cessible and useful, if ~t is managed on tion to the public, IS a question which finch 11rinci1)les as are In operation at the should be left to each individual to settle, statistical department of Ihe Public Llbrary, l~utI feel personally tbat a central clearing and that very mteresting library which house for informal~on * * * coulcl nnt we heard of this afternon, the Business fail to be recognized by all as a vev great Men's Branch In Newark." Tbls is not only admntage. * * I linow that all of us the busmess center, but the center of would be very thankful lo our friends if newsllaper Hoston, and our papers are not they should say to us, "Sou wlll find that vely well suppljed wlth what we should call infonnafinn in such and such a place. libraries. They have their "morgnes," in * * * I should certain y second any ef- whlch death notices are prepared in ad- fort which might be made to develol), vance, but "I know from what some of the through any instrumentality, a library of newS1)al)er men say that a downtown branch that character, or a clearinq house which of the library * * * kept up-to-date with nlight direct to sources of information." a fresh sulwly of selected current litera- ln the renialnder of the discussion the ture, they think would be a good thing. matter was brought u11 by Mr. Marion of * * * It could do very much not only a~kingone another stozk-in-trade questions. to stlnlulate the rearling habit among the It was supgestecl by Mr. Handy that "the business men of Boston, but gmde ~~eoplesource of information is open to anybody who are seeking information offhand and without intcrfering at all wlth the espert SPECIAL LIBRARIES informatlon" of a given corporation. Mr, saved for thc constructive work when the Lee suggestcd that the librarian or secre- data was laid before him." Now and then ttiry of the cmo-operat~veundertaking should a direct profit of the special library can be have the discrelion to see that the ques- traced from ~tsuse. A notable Instance oC tions cotni~igto the cenler do no1 tresyass this was when the representative of a large ul~onthe time cr business iiitcrests of any safety deposit comgany called upon the In- tlie members, and that if a nucleus were suranco IJll~wiSyof Boston for ~nformation started exl~erience should evolve it on to on R1,eproof safes, whlch inE'ormat~on he a sat~sfactoryworking basis. was to use in j~reparing "advertising litera- 7 Inrc IilLendecl to pe~'suudenwn to the use of THE EARNING POWER OF SPECIAL vaults lor Lhe sale lreel~~ngof valuables." The unl~rejudicecl facts that he obtained LIBRARIES. "gave 111m scientific authority for what othrrwise would have seemed a question- 1). ii'. TTAsDY. 1,ll~rtirlnn.Tnsllrnncv TA~l>tn:~~Y able ass~~mpt~ou."Thnt information meant =\+socn~nL~onof Bosion mowy lo him, and the saving by the In- - surance Library Association was unqua11- It is by no means llossible to est~matothe fiedly a d~splayof earning power. "So, too, earning 1101: cr of special librar~esIn dollars when the fleld rel~resentaLiveof a fire in- surance company, by consulting our law and cents returned upon capital invested. relIorLs, is enabled to clte certain court de- The investment cannot be lraced "through cisions and rnlli~gs and thereby ward off raw material, finishing, sales and other de- esllenslve litigation or wholly unwarranted ~artmentsto an ultimate profit whlch can settlementu of iosses, likewise a service has becn clone wh~ch denionstrates speclfic be made to show on a b~lance sheet." 110wer to earn lor our conslituents." There is nothing of the penny-ln-thc-slot Grantecl the earlnng power, how sllall it akoul it. Rather it is the "power to rur- be increased? "Our ovvn llbrary collects n!sh ~equired and necessary information everything of imlnediate value or of even where it will do the most good at the righl ~~ussihleinteresl, on the subject of fire in- surance, pure and slml)leV; and, incident- tinie and in the right shape, with a nllni- ally, ~nlormatlonfor preventing fire, mate- mum exllenditure of tinie and energy on rmls collected on "building construction, the part of those nlhose business it is to lire i.esistlnq and fire retardanl materials, use the inlorma1 ion when furnisherl." It rnunicipal bullding laws, fire department and waler su1111ly systems, control and Inanage- del~erids not only upon library etficlcncy, men1 * * '' and so on, through a multi- but upon an intelligenl, "active const~luency tnde or wen less apliarently related sub- 1 ent on getting out of' il all the traffic will je[ ts." There are subjects upon which it woul(1 bear." The value of the iraincd special li- be a, burden for thiti library Lo keel) litern- ture, ycl which we may have occasional and brarian aljpeal-s in his exlml~tious, judi- urgent call for; hence the need for co-01,- cfous and adequate sul~llly of needed in- eratin2 1vli.11 other libraries which may slle- lolmai~onat the crucial moment. In Ncw clnlixe along relaled lines. "3ligl1L not a York Citv, where the Insurance Library co-ol)frailve I~ibliogral~hybe built LUJ?"SUP pose, for instance, our library needs to Ireel) "has made a sl~ecia~effort to Ireel) in touch in Loucli wilh sources of int'ormntioll on nit11 the insurance la~sand leglslat~onin electlolysui, and that another library of every art of Lhe Vnion," there IS a grow Ihston Ims the sanle need, but even lo a in: al~l~rec~ztionof the librnry servlce, greater extent than ours; sul)llose om' ref- erences shoulcl be united with theirs, allcl n b~rhsaves so 1nucl.1 tirue of correspond- that tlie un~Led IisL be always available 10 ence; for here the rcl)resentat~vesof the our librarian, and "always i'reshened by llle grrat co~npaniescan consult 1111s lilerature, addltion ol the latesL material; would there which otherwise would have to be obtained noL be a gain to both? And if the co-olIern1- 1by each one writing to the dilferent state mg limits were extended lo twenty libraries, InFurance del~artnienls A sperial library voulcl not the gain be even gventer? * * * in noeton clles a l~stof scvenLy questions How fa] can the slxxial librai'y work with answered in the aggregate of 7 hours 2S the public 11bra1.y to hell) in rendering more minutes, or an average of 61, m~nutesto a accessible the material whlch it already has rluestion. TL cites, aleo, an ~nquiry that on narrowly sl~ecialized fields? Much of took over three days of research work, the Ihls mate19lal is burled in p'i~lted proceed- s~gnificant fact being "that here was an III~S,811nuc~I rel~orts and trade pal~ers,and organized plant rcady at the mollon oC the unless cna hap1)ens to know' where ~t is questioner to he set at work on his behalf, betore he goes there. ~t is very doubtful ~f the questioner's time and energy being the lib~aryassistant w~llbe able Lo unearth SPECIAL LIBRARIES it fronl tile mass of general titles, not a few b~~lletins,iswc.d I)y 1,342 different organl- of wllicll give little clue LO c0nte1lt~. * * * zat.ion3 In the Vnited States and foreign In the special library, l~ecauseof Lhe limited countries. Ilesides the l~ublicntionsof phil- field covered, it is not iml1osslble for an anthropic agencies, scientific societies, con- alert librarian to become SO fM11iliar wit11 ferences, etc.. thc library contains a num- its contents that he is in a measure freed ber of indlbl~enuableboolrs of general refer- from limitations set by indexes and cata- ence, nnd many boolcs giving legislative, logues. Hut in a general library this can statistical, sc~entilic, historical and prac- le true only of general subjects If the tical informallon oi' dciinite value in the :l)ecial and public library can work together actual solution of difficulties constantly to render more accessible to readers mate- dealt with I)y social workers. I1 also in- rial already received bv the latter, lt will cludes the most important conteml)orary cloubtless increase the ability of both to ~tudiesof social conclitions and problems, serve their const~tuents." as well as slimulatin~and inspiring vol- Special libraries bulletins would hclp the ~i~neswhich convey the conlaglous fervor of city publication. The part played by the master spirits to those who naturally turn pubhc library "woulcl consist in placing at lo books for the best they can give. the disposaI ot' the special llbrary cala- The ~al)crcontained an outline or the loguer all the material on its shelves bear- histo~y of I he lil~rary's growth, mentionecl ing on his subject, nnd in nsing the indexes ~tsl~resent limitations, and noted the fact provided when they were delivered to iL. that a committee of thc board of directors The co-operative part played by the sl~ecial we now considering 1)lans for 1ts future library ~vould consist In furnishing the in- c1evelol)ment. In conclus~on, Miss Pendle- dexes. As indexes cost money, therc would ton said: be no mconsistency in the public I~brary "At a Lime wl'en Boston 1s makinq more 11aying an annual subsc~iplionprice for the vlqnous effort than ever bcfore to arouse service " Anotherf fleld of co-operntion for in nll citizens, yorng and olcl, a quicken~ng the special library is with sl)ec~alists,w~th sense of civic resl~onsib~lity,it seeills cslle- wl!oni it should seek to be in louch, en- cially suitable to urge ul,on the attention cleavoring to be the re1)ository of "nnusual of all who care for the 'ideals and sacrccl and esllert data. * * * It should seek things of the city' the importance of such to be thought of ns the nalural rel)ository of n library. As a cenler of educational influ- valuable coilections Tt shoulcl feel lceenly ence, 'social, cl~nritable, c~vic,'the l~ossi- the slight when a private collertor d~esnnd hilities aP usefulness before It, if atlequatclg leaves his collections to be dissipated in equl11l:ed end administered, can scarcc?iy bc anct~onrooms, or sold to already overbur- ovel*esIinmted." dened pnblic libraries * * * It is all- parent that in the growing demand for s~e- cial information and its prompt delivery without the intervention of slow and indi- rect methods, the necessity for the library which concentrates its activities n1)on a ~ ~ . single sub~ectIS to be nmre and more-recog- scellls as though I could lieartily agl.ee nized. Its intensive lnethocls arc to con]- \vitll the wllo said it mould bccll mand increasing attention and respect; anrl llloney in I,oclcet it' he had been specific earning i)oaer, which is now too holn. Sow, lil,l.a,.ies cost-el.erytlling costs. often grudginglv conceded, ~111be 1 look ul,cIl Illlrary as sil~lplya neces- versally admitted." ~tv.* * * You have rrot to hve ~t. . .. ~ob,have aot to have -bool:s on your LIBRARY OF THE CHILDREN'S AID shelves n llether you look at then1 os not- SOCl ETY. not read very much, perlvti)s, but they count. The fcndness for libraries and the tendency to collect 1U)raries is eiml~ly a mark of progress. What 1 feel is, that thc MISS Pendleton ga.ve a brief description 11se of hlwaries for business men does not of the Library of Philanthroliy of the Ros- dawn upon human belng'~ as early as it ton Children's Aid Society, a working col- ought to." Peogle take an interest In olher lection of more than 20.000 books and pani- lines of inqniry besides thcir own inime- phlets, dealing with subjects of inleresl to cliaie business, and I could illustrate this social workers. Since the interests of so- by the difficulty 1 had in getting infoha- cial workers are in a vwy real sense shared tion on the clearing of salt marshes from by all right-minded yeogle, the books are eel grass. freely at the bervice of all readers who care "In the special lihraries you have special- to consult them e~the~for reterence or ists who know what is in them and know home use The greater pnrt of the collec- the value of what 1s in them * * * 01 lion consist of reports, monogral~he, and 146 hoolcs on a subject * * * which are SPECIAL LIBRARIES

(he best ones? TI T were going to find out, their work. If we get such a secretarial say the diPfercnce betweeu going to a gen- service from the S~ecialLibraries Associa- eral l~braryand being told there were 146 tion, I think we can have the best kind of boolrs, well catalogued * * * and going thing that can be done in Boston. to the School for the Feeble M~ndedand Imving Dr. Fel'nald guide me and tell me At the budget exhibit in New York City which I~oolcsand which chapters and which for this flscal year, the Public Service Corn- pages are the most recent and best, and lnission L~brary, Mr. R. H. Whitten, li- who are the men back of them," you can brarian, had this notice of its work and imagine what the difference woulcl be. needs, in large disl~lay: Where you have a library you iilusl lia~e THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION a ninn who knows that l~brary,and yon niust liave high-minded peolh who are open LIDRARY minded, and who glve sincere and disin- Consists of a working collection of Books, terested directions to what is worth read- Pninplilets and Arl,icles from Technical ing * * * T thinlr me are going to And Periodicals relatlng to that we, in the llnes of soc~alservlce ancl PIJR1,IC UTILITIES AND RAPID the Inen down at the Chamber of Com- TRANSIT merce, are alniost indistinguiehable. 2,600 Volumes. 6,000 Pamphlets. * * * TJsed by Commission Employes: 300 per Mr. Lee then gave an example of his re- week; 15,000 per year. cent experience in flnding out who was the Secretary of Stale of Arizona. At the Back PURPOSE. Thy 1)ostomce he was referred to the Boston To kcel1 in touch with progress the world ~~ostofice,from one division there to an- oyel'. other; from there to the ofice of Lhe Sec- To liave the facts always AT HAND. rtary of State, and from there to the Cov- To avo~dgoing over old ground. c~nol.'somce: ancl he finally foulid what he To profit by the experience of others wanted a1 tlie State Library. AXDREW CARhlEGIIZ. in his "Empire of Rusiness," says that his firm made many nlZRTRAND 'I'IIOMPSON, "~0~t011-1915." mistakes through neglect of the simple "lt is e series question how to get rule: "Never undertake anything before needed information quickly on occasions having been able to examine everything when it is most wanted, and how to do so that has been done on the surface of the is the question which the Sl~ecialLibraries earth in that l~articuldrline." Assoc~ation inust answer. They inust pro- vide facilities for Ihe sl)eedy answering of ARTISANS' TRADES INDEX. cjuestions. l3ibhogl~a1)hies are absolutely - necessary, card calalogues also; but they do The 1-1. W. Wilson Company, of Blinne- not actually sul~plyanswers to urgent clues- apolis, well lrnown as the publishers of the tions for a busy, practical man Readers' Guicle, are contemplating the edit- "B very good s~~gqestionwas made this ing and publishing of the Trades Index. evering, thal all the libraries in and around the plan and scope of which have been al- Poston should bave a central card cata- ready prcscnted in Special Librar~es. Most logue, probably In lhe 13oston Publ~cLi- of the lnagnzines listed in Ihe June, 1910, hrnry, ro lhat one can loolc first 111 the nos- isme will be indexed, as well as several ton Public Li11ra1'~anrl find at ?, glance others. The form oC entry will be that of v.llat and where the resonrces ale. tlie Readers' Guide, and the alphabetic Time irs saved by tho clcver use of sec- arrangement will be followed. A sliding relmlcb. They are Ihe ones Lo read ar- scale of subscril~lion has been adopted, ticles, "and select ancl digest Llle material whereby each library will pay awroxi- and tunl the resulls over to you in five mately at the rate of 20 cents for each mag- 1'a";s 11mn a hundred magazines." ~xincindexed wh~ch it receives; I. e, if Sonlc tinle ago, when I was practicing a library takes 50 of the ~nagazinesindexed law, I was asked lo write some art~clesfor it w~ll pay $10.00. This arrangement, a ?n enc~rlo~~edia,and I hired law students just and eensible one, allows small libraries, lo do the prel~minal~yrase reading lor me. individual manufacturers, etc., who sub- Al the e~ldoC the day I could read tlie llas- scribe I'os less than fifteen magazines, the sages they had niarlred in a couplc of opportunity to secure the index at a rate of honrs; and I was sendlnq in twice as much $3.00, which will be the minimum rate. copy as any of Ihe otl-er writers. That The editing of the index bgT the Wilson demonstrated to me that it is ])ossible to Coml?any m~llinsure a high grade piece of get a sufliciently high grade of research work, and il is hoped that there will be work, which under competent direction, can a quiclr response to the circulars being provide in a nutshell the lrind of practical sent out by the yublishers Trade scl~ools, Icnowledge that 1)ractical people met1 for boards of trade, rnanufartures, labor organi- SPECIAL LIBRARIES

zations, tecl!nical libraries and depart- societies are admittedly the inost valuable nients; and in fact,. every one interested in kind of material. Yet these publications are trarles 1itpratul.e as distinguisherl tlsolll cn- nowhere indesed eucept in a €ex inslancw. gineerlng literature, will be interested in And until t111sl)a~ii])hlet a])peared concel'nllig thls index. social o~'ganizations, there has been no soni'ce of inforrliatlon concerning the scope A TRADE CATALOGUE LIBRARY. of their activities. This is, however, only a sniall part of 1110 ]xSoblem of gelling infolniat~on concet'ning Il~ematerinl of ol.gmixallons. There are A 1;l)yary has been. established in tlie h~rndredsof national and inlcrnational asso- I-Indson Terminals at GO Church street, New ciations which ~lublishyroceedings, besides York City, which is accepting catalogues ol the social organ~xationsand not includmg American manufacturers, ciassllying and the learned societies. The ~~robleiuis to filing these catalogues and digesting them leaim of the contents of their ~)ublications, in card index forni for reference and con- but before that ran be tione there mnsl be sultation of hiiyers, ~nanulacturers, engi- lmomleclge concerning tlic organizntioiis neers, contractors, purchasing agents, and theinsel~es. This is lhe proble~noC the gen- ether consumers, both resident in and v~si- era1 as well as Lhe s1)ecinl libi.arianfi It tors to the n1etrol)olilan district The ])lan will be one aim of "Special Libraries" to has filled a needed want In the way of ])ro- encourage all attcmpts to secure dnta con- viding a Dernlanent and comprehensive col- cerning national organizations in dtfferenl lection of trade literature. which is result- fields and lo publihh lac~tsconcerning tlieia. ing to the mutual benefit of the manufac- It is recognized that it is a big ~uirlertaking turer and the buyer. to make a doniplete list giviil~data coiicern- The custodian of the library is the Com- ing all the national oi~gaii~zalioiis. mercial 13nreau Company, to which appl~ra. Tt is 1)ossible however, to meel a part of tion for stlace should be nddressed. Thc the ~~robleniat a time. Thc Library of Con- total cost to the manufacturer will be $10 gress is prepariny a list of intional nssocla- per year, for which sum he is entilled to tions of pul~liconicials, such as the nntionzl have placed on file any or all ot his cata- association Of Insurance con~missioners. lognes, photograpl?s, drawlnge, etc. This This wid bimg to t!ic pcblic attent~orimany fee also includes ilie insertion in card in- of this most practical Ir~udol nssocialions. dex files for buyers, of a card giving a It is to be hoped that the coliiln~tleosof printed index of .the original catalogues tho Sliec~alT,il)raries Associiilion nil1 each placed on file by the manufacturer. These take up thc matter within Ihe~rfield and card mdex files are distributed to buyers compilc dnta concernlne, all nalionnl aszocin- and others interested for use in their own tions which 1)~:blish procerdings or other offices. publicallonu. NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. One of the most significant publicalions of the year is the sn~allpamphlet of thirty-two THE H. R. HUNTING CO. pages on the Tnter-Relation ot Soclal Move- Springfield, Mass. ments, prepared for the charity organization department of the Russell Sage Foundation makes a spec'alty of looking up and report- by Mary E Richmond. This paml~hletgives ing on special items. Classified catalogs are information concerning the work of ~ixty- issued monthly. Corres~oiidcwe invitcd. seven organizations devoted to social work, Special library bin+iiig. and suggests the next mevitable step-their co-operation or amalgamation. This is of special interest to librarians because of the problem of keeping in touch with tlie pub- The stamlard of binding established iind lications of these various societies. Tf7e are llving in a time when gractically all progres- niaintainrd by sive work 1s done by voluntary organizations They cover every Aeld and every phase of THE AMERICAN LIBRARY BINDERY activity. As soon as a need is disclosed, the tendency is to forni an organization to meet it The rel~orts of investigations and the proceedings and other l~ublicationsof such has bccome ~imversallyrecogn~zed