Special Libraries, July-August 1950 Special Libraries Association

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Special Libraries, 1950 Special Libraries, 1950s

7-1-1950 Special Libraries, July-August 1950 Special Libraries Association

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A COMPREHENSIVE AT LAST!- -- METALLURGICAL INDEX WHAT IT IS: WHAT DO I NEED? The ASM-ALA Metallurgical Litcraturc. First, the booklet containing the classi- Classification is a subdivided outline ot fication proper-essential for all purposes the entire science of metallurgy that pro- . . . Second, a set of looseleaf worksheets vides a guide to the filing and indexing of which provide capacity for the individual metallurgical literature and data collec- user to expand minor fields, to add new tions. It can be used with standard card subjects, and to develop desired sidelines indexing and literature filing systems or -essential only for the user who wishes with a specially designed punched-card more detail than provided in the existing system. The complete classification outline outline . . . Third, Punched cards and and instructions for its use are contained punched-card equipment-a new and effi- in a handy 8% x 11 paper-bound booklet, cient bibliography filing method. selling for a dollar. WHERE DO I GET IT? WHO MADE IT: The cla~sification book and the Work- The classification was prepared by a sheets are available from the American joint committee of the American Society Society for Metals, 7301 Euclid 4ve., for Metals and the Special Libraries As- Cleveland, Ohio. The punched cards and sociation. Its authority, accuracy and ccm- punched-card equipment may be purchaped plrteness have been checked by experts in from Lee F. Kollie, Inc., 35 East Wacker all branches of metallurgy. Dr.. Chicago 1, Ill. For further details, write: AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR METALS 7301 Euclid Avenue Cleveland 3, Ohio

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Editor ALMA CLARVOEMITCHILL CONTENTS Editorial Assistant 41 1950 6 MRS.WINIFRED YORK FORWOOD VOLUME JULY-AUGUST NUMBER Advertising Manager MRS. KATHLEENB. STEBBINS ARTICLES

Widening Horizons ...... Some Libraries and Library Problems in Finland, Karl Emerik 02soni .... SLA OFFICERS, 1950-1951 The Technical Literature Service in Nor- MRS. ELIZABETHW. OWENS, President way, Gunvor Hannisdal ..... Mercantile-Commerce Bank & Business Libraries in the Netherlands, Trust Co., St. Louis 1, Mo. Gerda M. Van Andel ...... GRIEGASPNES, First Vice- President and President-Elect Special Libraries in Australia, P. Mander Brown & Bigelow Jones ...... St. Paul 4, Minnesota Australian Institute of Librarians, Edith MRS. RUTH PARKS, A. Sims Second Vice-president ...... National Safety Council, Inc. Banco de la Republica Bogota, Elizabeth Chicago 11, Illinois Baugh ...... DONALDWASSON, Treasurer Training for Democracy in the United Council on Foreign Relations, Inc., New York 21, New York States Information Centers, Martha R. Schmidt ...... MRS. KATHLEENB. STEBBINS, Executive Secretary Our New President ...... 31 East Tenth Street New York 3, New York Have You Heard ...... MRS. RUTH H. HOOKER, Immediate Pasf-President Naval Research Laboratory Washington 25, D. C. Indexed in Industrial Arts, Public Affairs Information Service, and Library Literature

The articles which appear in SPECIALLIBRA- RIES express the views of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the opinion or the DIRECTORS policy of the editorial staff and publisher. MARGARETHATCH Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. SPECIAI, IJ13RARIES published n~oritlily Senternher to April, San Francisco 20, California wit11 bi-montl~lyissues JIXS to August, by The Special Libraries Association. Publication Oflice, Rea Building, 704 Second Ave., ESTELLEBRODMAN Pittsburgh ID. Pa. Address all colnrnunications for publication U. S. Army Medical Library to ~ditorialoffices at .3l lhst Tenth Street, Ncw York 3, N. Y. Washington 25, D. C. Subscription price : $7.00 n year ; foreign $7.50; single copies. 73 cents. Er~teredax x~cond-classmutter Februar$l 5. 1947, at ROBERTE. GRAYSON the Post OfJicr: ut I'ittshvrgh, Penns~lvania,under the Act of Marc7~3, 1879. Acceptance for n~ailinqat special rate of postagc New York Herald Tribune providtxl for ia the .lct of J'rhraar~98, 1925, authorized E'ebrtc- New York 18, New York or?! 5, 1957 RECOMMEND THESE BOOKS TO YOUR

JULY -AUGUST

BONDS OF ORGANIZATION An Appraisal of Corporate Human Relations By E. WIGHTBAKKE, Direcfor, Yale Labor and Management Center What are the forces and factors that underly good teamwork within a business organization? This book reports a pioneering study of a large organization from which emerged a new and basic concept of what the "bonds of organization" really are. Shedding new light on the dynamics of industrial relations, it is "worthy of a treasured place in the bookshelves of forward-looking industrial relations and personnel executives."-NAM NEWS. $4.00

INDUSTRY'S UNFINISHED BUSINESS Achieving Sound Industrial Relations and Fair Employment By SARA E. SOUTHALL,Formerly Industrial Relations Executive, Interna- tional Harvester Company. Foreword by FOWLERMCCORMICK. How to get such minority groups as Negroes into harmonious working adjustment with other employees is becoming increasingly important to sound personnel practice. In detailing the policy which has been successfully employed in numerous companies toward this end, this book makes "an outstanding contribution to the history of industrial relations and to the cause of fair employment in the United S~~~~S."-LAWRENCEA. APPLEY, President, American Management Association, Inc. $2.50

PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY By Lours B. LUNDBORG,Vice President, The Bank of America "The best book on Public Relations which this observer has seen up to now."-ALVIN E. DODD,Honorary President, American Management Associa- tion. A frequently neglected but essential aspect of good public relations is here fully considered for the first time. The author explains why any organization stands to profit from a "good neighbor policy" in its local community, and gives numerous specific examples of how such a policy can be put into practice. $3.00

BUSINESS LETTERS Third Revised Edition By WALTERK. SMART,Emeritus Professor of English, and Lours WILLIAM MCKELVEY,Professor of Business Writing, Northwestern University A new revision of one of the most successful and effective books of its kind available. Incorporating much new illustrative material, the book explains in detail the basic principles and forms for every kind of business correspondence, and contains hundreds of sample letters representing the best practice of progressive firms. "A complete and modem guide to the writing of all types of business letters."-PUBLISHERS' WEEKLY. $5.00

AT YOUR BOOKSTORE OR FROM

HARPER & BROTHERS 49 East 33rd st. ~ewYork 16, N. Y. rcb Please Mention Special Libraries When Answering Advertisements Widening Horizons

The present lnternational Relations Committee of Special Li- braries Association can report that its major activity - that of acquainting special librarians in foreign countries with the aims, techniques and accomplishments of SLA and its membership has definitely been accomplished.

One of the results of this accomplishment was seen last year when the July-August issue of SPECIAL LIBRARIES was devoted exclusively to articles of an international character. Our foreign colleagues responded so generously at that time to requests for material that lack of space precluded the publication of all that was received. This material was considered too interesting and too informative to be discarded, however, and accordingly, a second international issue was planned.

The lnternational Relations Committee has for some time an- ticipated the possibility of taking part in or promoting some formal plan that will bring groups of working librarians from specialized fields to this country. Such a congress could make an invaluable contribution to an enlarged and more unified concept of special librarianship. It is hoped that this idea will take tangible form in the not-too-distant future.

In the meantime, the Chairman of the lnternational Relations Committee and the Editor of SPECIAL LIBRARIES take pleasure in presenting to the readers this second issue of international scope which they hope will help to cement to some degree the growing bond of international professional unity.

ELEANOR S. CAVANAUGH, Chairmarl, lnternational Relations Committee. ALMA C. MITCHILL, Editor Some Libraries and Library Problems in Finland

Dr. Olsoni is Director, Publication aware of the importance and indispens- and Library Department, State Insti- ability of libraries. Industry was taxed tute for Technical Research, Helsinki, especially by war demands, and after Finland. the war, by production problems to sat- isfy reparations and to serve reconstruc- LL FINNSREAD, as should be ex- tion. Finland had to change its indus- A pected in a country which is one trial structure to new fields, especially of the oldest democracies of the world as heavy industry expanded. Finland and where the educational standard is discovered through costly experience very high. In total book production, how important libraries are. During the Finland stood thirteenth among the na- war libraries had to be evacuated to tions, while the United States was safer places and the principle important eighth in 1940. (See Union Catalogs in technical library was lost through bomb- the United States edited by Robert B. ing. This was the Library of the Fin- Downs, Chicago, ALA. 1942, pp. 79- land Institute of Technology in Hel- 82.) This fact is an impressive one for si~kiwith about 80,000 volumes, con- a country the size of Montana and with sisting mainly of irreplaceable scientific the population of Massachusetts. The and technical periodicals and serial sets. present production is about 3000 new It was the only technical library of im- titles, 1200 periodicals and 500 news- portailce in Finland. Only 800 volumes papers a year.l were saved. It was a nerve-racking and Fundamentally, library problems are most difficult problem to evacuate books universal. The amount of knowledge to in such a way that they would still be be mastered and brought to library accessible. patrons is practically the same every- Replacement sf Losses where. But in a small country like Fin- land the problems are sometimes more The second great problem was the acute and more pressing. replacement not only of the losses, but The war and reconstruction after the of the great gaps resulting from the fact w2r brought the problems of libraries that very few foreign books could be into focus with the sharpness of an acquired since 1939. This is a difficult emergency and made wider circles task as every librarian well knows, but it is especially so when funds are lack- ing and when currency difficulties and 1 Recent articles about Finnish libraries in other restrictions complicate it. There English : Tudeer, L. 0. Th., The Scientific Libraries is a feeling of optimism in Finland at of Finland, 1939-1946. present since the situation has steadily Kannila, H., The Public Libraries of Fin- improved since the war. The lack of land, 1939-1946. space is probably the number one prob- Nierni, Taisto John, reviews in the Library lem now. Finland has been very fortu- Quarterly for January 1949, p. 75, the presmt situation, on the basis of Finnish library re- nate in receiving generous gifts from ports. the United States through the Ameri-

CTCClAL LIBRARIES can Book Center and other agencies, as mense value. This cooperation between well as through individuals. This kind the Scandinavian countries makes all of help is most encouraging to a coun- Scandinavian material available to all. try which has decided to cope with its The development of microfilm and difficulties as it has coped with its debts. photostat has made this intercountry The Library of Congress and the New use of material still more effective and York Public Library, to mention two the airplane has made it quick. The use individual institutions, have played an of photostat and microfilm is propor- important role in this work. tionately very great and is increasing. However, the lack of literature, espe- The national bibliographies are of high cially in the field of science and tech- quality. The published catalogs of ac- nology, is still enormous and the needs cessioned books make it easy for small are great. As an example of existing libraries to locate books. The main dif- gaps it may be mentioned that the En- ficulty, as always with current bibliogra- gineering Index is available only from phies, lies in getting them published in 1946 to date in any Finnish library. time and at present, of course, in cov- The American Information Centre in ering the backlog accumulated during Helsinki, a most useful and excellent wartime. To cover this gap and to as- institution and a library of great impor- sist the patrons, all the major scientific tance, has the 1945 volume. But that is libraries and special libraries publish all in the whole of Finland. The tech- weekly or monthly accession lists of the nology of Finland must work at pres- same type as the ones issued by the ent without this fundamental tool. Science Museum in London. These lists Interlibrary Cooperation not only assist the patrons but aid librarians in their acquisition work, where Since Finland is a small country, it is the great problem is to decide what absolutely imperative that the main books to buy and which to eliminate scientific and other larger libraries serve and how to secure the most for the the nation as a whole and not only their money. It is a different situation from paternal institutions such as univers- that in the great American libraries, ities, societies, research institutes, etc.; where the question is: Do we have they do this essentially on a basis of everything worth while? The Finnish equality. Interlibrary loans throughout problem is utmost selectivity, the Amer- Finland are a necessity; every book ican, relative completion. brought- in to the countrv must reach every possible patron. It is a matter of Abstracting Journals economic necessity. This necessity has All the main technical and scientific in practice brought about arrangements periodicals and serials print abstracts somewhat like those established by the or references of their articles generally Farrington Plan. The different branches in English. They are also classified ac- of the sciences and of the humanities cording to the Universal Decimal Classi- are divided broadly between the major fication. They can be ordered in card libraries. The main cooperative tool is form (3 x 5) like the Engineering index the printed catalog of foreign accessions cards from the Teknika Literaturralls- in the most important scientific libra- kapet in Stockholm (Swedish equiva- ries, (Tieteellisten Kirjastojen Lisaluet- lent of the Special Libraries Associa- telo. 1929) published continuously. This tion). These cards cover all material of catalog and the corresponding Swedish importance in technical fields published catalog are the main tools for locating in Sweden and partly published in Fin- materials in the libraries of Finland and land. Both in Denmark and in Norway, Sweden. The generous and extensive in- cards are published in much the same terlibrary cooperation with the excellent way but they include also foreign ma- libraries in Sweden has been of im- terial in those countries. These tools, to-

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 207 gether with the international reference covers the foreign language material ex- material, are the means for struggling cept that printed in Cyrillic characters. with the ever-expanding gigantic flow This material is handled by the Slavic of new knowledge. The abstracting and Department, one of the most important indexing journal, Byglitteratur, serves Slavic libraries in Europe outside of the fields of architecture and building Russia, which is especially strong in all excellently and is operated on an inter- Russian materials for the period from Scandinavian basis. 1820-1917. The University Library re- The printed catalogs and indexes are ceived one copy of every book printed extremely important tools because such in Russia during that time. The fourth a large percentage of the library patron- major department is the Manuscript age is not able to come to the library Department with good collections of to use the catalogs. The service is not academic and scientific manuscripts as centered around the catalogs to the well as letters and papers of important same degree that it is in the United men and scholars. The library has ex- States where the heart of the library is tensive exchange relations with foreign the mammoth dictionary catalog. The countries and a great collection of for- problem is not only one of serving the eign dissertations. patron who is able to come to the libra- The Students' Union has its own very ry but also one of bringing the knowl- remarkable 100-year-old library of edge to the patron wherever in Fin- 100,000 volumes in Helsinki. It is sup- land or in Scandinavia he may be, as ported partly by the state and partly quickly and as effectively as possible. by its own funds. It corresponds to an The library should be considered a undergraduate library in the United medium for the dissemination of knowl- States and provides students with all edge, not an institute to guard and wor- the materials needed in their curricula, ship the book. The educational aspect i.e., textbooks, reference material and of the library is only one of the library recreational reading. It is managed by objectives, and in a scientific and in- a board of students which is a part of dustrial research library not the most the students' self-government as free important one. A research library serves academic citizens, aimed at education people who are using their education for good citizenship. and knowledge for the common benefit In Turku, the old capital of Finland, and for the objectives to which their there are two university libraries which institution is dedicated. The needs are divide the fields of knowledge between so important and so fundamentally dif- themselves. The important scientific so- ferent from educational and curricula cieties have a common central library requirements that separation becomes mainly developed by exchanging their necessary when they clash with each publications with corresponding learn- other, as has also been seen recently in ed societies in other countries. The some institutions in the United States. Commercial Universities, the Pedagog- Libraries of Finland ical University in Jyvaskyla and the The main libraries in Finland are: Civic College in Helsinki, have their The University of Helsinki Library, and own libraries. The Diet has a good li- the National Copyright Library with brary in a fine building which consists nearly one million volumes. This libra- mainly of materials in the social sci- ry has four major departments. The ences, law and government. Several gov- "Fennica" is collecting all Finnish ma- ernment departments and the defense terial, material printed in Finland and forces have good libraries. material dealing with Finland and The Finland Institute of Technology, Finns (e.g., Finns in the United States). whose function is mainly to educate en- The Foreign Literature Department gineers and architects, and the State

SPECIAL LIBRARIES Institute for Technical Research, which tive pattern with its very long history was founded during the War and which does not correspond even remotely to is in charge of technical research, have reality when the majority of the patrons important libraries in their fields. Both are not represented on the board and a Institutes are endeavoring, with great library is governed by a minority on difficulties, to build up their libraries historical grounds. The resulting situ- and both are weak in American mate- ation becomes as great an anachronism rials. The State Institute for Technical as 19th century labor policy applied to- Research has a publication series of its day. This, however, is the real situation own and is trying to develop its ex- of libraries in many fields and many change- relations. countries; as a result, it is difficult for Central Technical Library Committee libraries ' to obtain 'the support and backing they need and deserve. To investigate the problems of tech- The Finland Institute of Technology, nical libraries, the government appoint- together with other institutes, has just ed a committee, under the chairman- been alloted an excellent new site near ship of Baron John PalmCn, professor Helsinki. A plan for this area in which of chemistry, which made extensive stud- most of Finland's technical research and ies in other countries. The report of this education will be concentrated, will be Central Technical Library Committee selected from plans to be submitted by proposed an independent Central Tech- experts in open competition. nical Library directly under the Min- The most important industrial spe- istry of Commerce and Industry and cial library is the Library at Keskus- governed by its chief patrons: industry, laboratorio. which is a central research The Finland Institute of Technology, institute for research in the chemistry The State Institute for Technical Re- of wood and allied problems and is search, all the engineering societies, and owned by the Finnish wood working the librarians of the University of Hel- industries. sinki Library and of the Central Tech- The State Institute for Technical Re- nical Library itself. The committee search is comparable to the British De- stressed that the large national libra- partment of Scientific and Industrial ries are institutes with general national Research and corresponding institutions functions and responsibilities and that in the Dominions. It has an Informa- as such they are used not only by their tion and Publications Department sim- original patrons but 'also by all techni- ilar to the Information Division of the cal research interests in the country. Canadian National Research Council. Statistics in Sweden and Denmark show All inquiries concerning applied sci- that in the fields of technology and ences should be addressed to these in- allied industrial fields 80-90 percent of stitutions; those in agriculture to Val- the patrons are from the field in general, tion Maatalous-Koelaitos; in the pure not staff members of the institutes. The sciences, medicine and the humanities, situation, in most cases, is different in to the University of Helsinki Library; the United States, where both groups and those in the social sciences and in usually can afford their own libraries. law to the Library of the Diet. The experience in cooperation with industry has shown how economical it Technical Periodicals can be for both sides. The central li- In addition to the better-known pub- brary concentrating on more general lications of learned societies there materials and the industry and research should be mentioned the many technical laboratories on their special problems periodicals: Teknillinen Aikakauslehti all avoid unnecessary duplication, with (Technical Journal), Tekniska Foren- relatively complete overall coverage for ingens i Finland Forhandlingar (Pro- each one. However, the old administra- ceedings of the Technical Society of

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 209 Finland), Rakennusinsinoori (The Library as a central agency and store- Building Engineer), Voimaja Valo house. (Power and Light), Arkkitehti (The International Cooperation Imperative Architect), Suomen Paperi ja Puufavar- Finland feels strongly that the prob- alehti (The Finnish Paper and Lumber lems of mastering the masses of knowl- journal) and the publications of the edge are too big for a single nation to State Institute for Technical Research. solve. International cooperation is the All include English abstracts or articles only real solution. Every country has in English and several are published an important duty, not only in produc- both in Finnish and Swedish. ing literature, but also in disseminating The Finnish Association for Docu- it. The acquisition of books and other mentation corresponds to the Special documentation material is a difficult Libraries Association. Its membership problem and a planned and well organ- consists not only of special librarians ized acquisition policy is necessary to but also of research engineers and re- avoid a waste of money by unnecessary search administrators interested in prob- duplication, acquisition of "dead" litera- lems of documentation in the fields of ture, or of literature of secondary importance and literature of compilatory technology, management, industrial and nature, etc. To establish and carry out political economy and commerce. Its such a policy is exacting, but also most purpose is to maintain close contact be- challenging to the librarian and docu- tween research and documentalists, mentalist. When the librarian achieves which is the life blood of real special such a function with reasonable success, librarianship and documentation work. he is no longer a mere keeper of books, A documentalist is an essential part of he actually has introduced a rational the research team and can never be a process of book management. His suc- mere keeper of books. cess or failure in this function will de- A state committee is making a sur- cide the fate of librarianship. To ac- vey of the library problems of scientific, complish this he must live and think university and institute libraries (a with his patrons, so as not to lose the total of 260 libraries) and is developing intimate contact with the research and plans for a complete and reasonable di- other professions he is serving. vision and use of labor, money and ma- Only by close cooperation with the terials among these libraries for the state, industry and commerce can libra- best possible library organization for ries be assured of the necessary finan- Finland. The chairman is Professor L. cial support. But much can be done by 0. Th. Tudeer, Director of the Uni- librarians themselves to make the bud- versity of Helsinki Library. The system get go much further. Cataloging is still will probably have the Helsinki Uni- done fundamentally as it was fifty years versity Library as its center and sev- ago. The problem of classification can eral central libraries for special fields be solved only by international coopera- of academic, scientific and educational tion. The Universal Decimal Classifica- activities as satellites. The libraries will tion is a sound basis in spite of all its remain independent so as to give the shortcomings. It is the only system with best possible service to their patrons. an international organization for its This organization should go far in maintenance and development and is coping with the enormous ever-growing the most generally used of all systems masses of literature. In the technical in Europe. The International Federa- field, as has been shown, cooperation of tion of Documentation, UNESCO, and state and industrial libraries is manda- the documentation associations in dif- tory and should be organized around ferent countries are working for its im- the aforementioned Central Technical provement for the benefit of all.

SPECIAL LIBRARIES The publication and dissemination of A modern information centre and the results of research are at least as library is a pumping station of knowl- important as the collecting and storing edge, irrespective of its location, con- of them. The methods used for publish- sisting of books, pamphlets, films, rec- ing affect the pace of evaluation. A li- ords, cards, samples, specimens and even brarian in a small country probably of knowledge in the heads of men. The feels most keenly the enormous respon- documentalist, together with the jour- sibility involved and how far removed nalist, is practically the only universal- his position is from that of his predeces- ist left in our specialized world. Even sors. The three problems of collecting, in a special library he is expected to storing and communicating, which in- know and to understand what others do cludes publishing, are the great library, or not. The object of the documentalist is documentation, problems of our atomic to lay the pipes where they are needed, age. They are all unsolved, although to keep the pumps going ,to prepare the acute, as can be seen from the results solution and to find the materials for it of the Royal Society of London Scien- and not to wait for the people to come tific Information Conference (London, to the well with their buckets as in June 21-July 2, 1948). A study of the former days. organization of research will furnish the To what extent a library is meeting basis for solving many of these prob- these problems depends on its director lems. With respect to communication and the board of control. The director there are many aspects which need should know to what extent his per- study and solutions. It is well known sonnel, the research staff, and other de- that the process of getting the results partments should be informed, how to of research to the users is far too slow. That the process of publication review- organize the staff effectively, especially ing and abstracting is not only slow but in respect to its main function of sup- very inadequate is felt very keenly in plying information to the users. Finland. Conclusion Modern Librarianship The problems mentioned are only a In most instances, the method of few of the many confronting us today assembling materials for the user is still and they are clearly connected with the quite antiquated. Special librarians and fundamental problems of science and information centers have been compell- society and with the trends of culture. ed, however, to begin thinking of books They are far from having been solved, and their users in more functional and in a small country like Finland terms. Fundamentally, the attitude of they are very keenly felt. The great librarians towards books is the same as leader and pioneer in modern librarian- in the Middle Ages when a book was an extremely expensive and rare thing, and ship, the United States, with its ideals not regarded as something to be used and material resources, and its many for "rational" purposes. Even today the professional associations, is looked up- book is still worshipped in many libra- on with great expectation for leader- ries as it was in the churches and clois- ship in the solution of these problems ters during that period. on an international basis.

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 The Technical Literature Service in Norway

Miss Hannisdal is Librarian, The rapid growth. The D.C. system was Deichmanske Library, Oslo, Norway. ado~tedfrom the start. With about 800 current periodicals, very good biblio- HE SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICALlibraries graphical tools and a book collection Tof Norway are in a state of expan- amounting to about 125,000 volumes, sion and coordination. For years they the library occupies first place in the have worked separately, not realizing technical literature service in Norway. that ccoperation between libraries is About thirty institute libraries ranging the best means of promoting the inter- in size from about 10,000 to some ests of the public as well as the interests 100,000 volumes, are subordinated to of the different libraries. the main library, where all books are The deciding step towards realization purchased, catalogued and classified. of this coordination was taken by the The premises of the main library have Norway Scientific Technical Research been rebuilt, enlarged and modernized. Council (founded in 1946). In a pre- The reading room and the periodical liminary scheme considering the develop- room together contain 180 seats, and ment of scientific technical research in- the photographic equipment is entirely stitutes, each with a research library in new and up to date, with photostat, its special field, the existing technical microfilm apparatus, enlarger for micro- libraries are going to find their place. film and microfilm reader. The scheme builds upon technical Oslo Technical Library: The Techni- library centers in Trondheim, Oslo and cal Department of the Deichmanske Li- Bergen: The Norwegian Institute of brary has for years had a lively circu- Technology, Trondheim; Oslo Techni- lation of technical books. The Deich- cal Library, consisting of the Technical manske Library is the city library of Department of the Deichmanske Libra- Oslo, the capital of Norway. It serves a ry and Blindern Mathematical Scien- population of about 420,000 people tific Library; The University of Oslo; with a book stock of about 420,000 and the Bergen Technical Library. volumes. These are lending libraries and make Founded in 1785 and named after available technical literature to libra- the donator, Carl Deichman, it has suc- ries and institutions, firms and factories cessively won a strong position in the in the whole country. They are in close cultural life of the city. About 1900, cooperation with the research libraries the library was reorganized after Ameri- and other special libraries. can methods. The Dewey system was The Norwegian Institute of Technol- adopted, and since this time the library ogy, Trondheim, is the most important has had a rapid development. From the technical library in Norway. The libra- very start the library has purchased ry was founded 1912-1913, two years much technical literature owing to an after the foundation of the Norwegian urgent need. In 1917-1918 a technical Institute of Technology, and has had a department was planned, and when in

SPECIAL LIBRARIES 1933 the library moved into a new and and other special libraries which dupli- modern building, the technical depart- cate material. ment became a reality. Originally on a The technical literature service in the popular level, it has successively grown Oslo area is at present divided between to greater importance. Through the co- several libraries. An important techni- operation with engineering, industrial cal library, founded 1877, belongs to and archit ect ur a1 societies, a rather the Patent Office. The 300 current pe- large staff of experts has been appoint- riodicals together with rich collections ed who voluntarily give their assistance of Norwegian and foreign patents (more in questions concerning book selection. than 6 million numbers) provide excel- The collections (about 40,000 books lent source material. The library serves and 450 current periodicals) are chiefly as a central library for all questions practical. Mathematics and science have connected with patents and inventions. only been purchased on an elementary Due to the interests of the staff of the scale due to the fact that the University Patent Office it cannot lend its books Library has excellent collections in on a large scale, but serves as a refer- those fields. In addition, rich collections ence library. The library also gives have grown up in the institutes of the photostat service. Mathematical Scientific Faculty of The Trade and economy is best covered University of Oslo. These institute libra- by the library of the Ministry of For- ries form the scientific base for the Oslo eign Affairs. This library was founded Technical Library. in 1905 and later combined with the Bergen Technical Library is still in Information Office of the Trades and the embryo stage. Officially opened in the library of the Ministry of Agricul- 1948, it works in close cooperation with ture. With a collection amounting to the newly-erected University of Bergen, about 100,000 (booklets included) and institutions and private firms. It sub- about 750 current periodicals, this li- scribes to 130 periodicals and stresses brary covers law, politics, economics, periodical indexes and abstract publica- industry, technics, agriculture, forestry, tions. The D.C. system is used. In addi- fishery, history, geography, etc. tion, Bergen has for a few years had a Firms and factories are interested in special textile library of about 1000 providing professional libraries for their volumes and about 20 current peri- employees and laborers, but this devel- odicals. opment has been delayed. It is inevit- Many technical research institutes al- able that such a development will re- ready have been founded in special sult in many unnecessary duplications, fields. They are located in different which could be avoided by a closer contact with the public libraries. parts of the country. The paper indus- The chief technical libraries stress try, the canning industry and the fish- the importance of good bibliographical eries have for years had libraries con- tools and photo reproduction. But the nected with their research institutes. All only up-to-date photographic laboratory of these libraries use their own classifi- is installed in the Norwegian Institute cation system. As yet, they have no lab- of Technology, Trondheim. The other oratories for document reproduction nor libraries are dependent on simpler readers for microfilm. equipment or private firms. There is a The central libraries take special care growing interest in microfilm but to of the fields which are not covered by date only a few readers are in use. research institutes and duplicate litera- The effort to coordinate the libraries ture of broader interest and of more fre- and promote cooperation between them quent use. They also have a record of has resulted in an exchange of catalog the location of the research institutes (Continued on page 235)

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 2 13 Business Libraries in the Netherlands

Miss van Andel is Librarian of the world, had important consequences. Economic Inf orma tion Service, The Keeping in close contact with trade and Hague. industry enabled the Service to gather information and documentation to meet N ITS PRESENT STATE of develop- the manifold demands. In addition, its I ment, the business library in the official character made it possible to Netherlands is, comparatively speak- collect information from abroad through ing, of recent date, due mainly to the the Netherlands Foreign Service. conditions of the Dutch business world There are, of course, a few separate itself as well as to the organization of libraries for some special branches of Dutch libraries. trade, such as those of the Netherlands Until quite recently Dutch trade and Transportation Association, the Asso- industry failed to recognize the great ciation for the Building Industry, the value of literature research. This lack Indonesian Institute, etc., and it is al- of recognition was much more evident ways possible to secure local commer- in the economic and commercial than cial information through the various in the technical field. Businessmen re- Chambers of Commerce and Industry. lied in this respect mainly on their own Most of these libraries as well as knowledge, experience and intuition many of the company and technical li- and therefore had no conception of the braries are affiliated with the Special valuable data hidden in books and pe- Library Section of the Netherlands As- riodicals. Accordingly, company libra- sociation of Librarians. This Section ries were, generally speaking, poorly displays great activity, holding regular equipped with economic literature, while meetings and organizing programs for attempts to add business and economics the training of special librarians. departments to public libraries, such as Business and the Public Library in the Amsterdam Public Library, met As said before, the public business with little financial support on the part library, as it is widely known in the of trade and industry. United States and England, does not Dutch libraries primarily served sci- exist in the Netherlands, with the one entific, cultural and recreational pur- exception of the Commercial Library at poses and with regard to these aims, Amsterdam, which was founded in 1919 they have indeed played a very impor- after the English model. Although com- tant role in Dutch public life. But as a parable with the English system this whole, the businessmen's need for up- library is unlike the English libraries, to-date information was little under- which are mostly fitted for quick refer- stood by them. Therefore, the reorgani- ence, in that it devotes most of its space zation of the Economic Information to studies on business problems and to Service of the Ministry of Economic books on commercial education. Affairs, involving as it did the supply of The financing of the Association for factual information to the business a Commercial Library depends almost

SPECIAL LIBRARIES entirely on its membership and to a brary, namely, the Economic Informa- small degree on a subsidy given by the tion Service. With the reorganization of Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce and this Service in 1936, its library was Industry. The City of Amsterdam also made entirely subservient to the re- puts at its disposal a specified amount quirements of business. It originated of money for purchases of books for from the Economic Library which,though the Economic Faculty of the University equipped with a public reading-room, of Amsterdam, which are housed in the was chiefly designed to meet the re- Commercial Library. quirements of the Ministry's officials. As the Dutch business world, until After the reorganization of the Eco- recently, was not very "documentation- nomic Information Service, which had minded," it has been very difficult to come into being partly at the instance obtain sufficient financial support for of the business world, the library thor- the extension and even maintenance of oughly changed its character. The aim the library. According to its 1948 re- was to create an all-around business li- port, the library has 465 subscribers; brary on the same principles that under- the sustaining membership (i.e. institu- lay the public commercial libraries. It tions contributing from Flos. 25 (g10.--) was obviously impossible to achieve this upwards annually) numbers 35. The all at once; the library has grown grad- total income amounts to Fls. 8,000.-- ually into its present shape. Much pre- ($3200) a year, which is far from suf- liminary work in the field of organiza- ficient to build up a library. These fi- tion and administration was done dur- nancial difficulties have prevented the ing the war, so that when the liberation library from attaining full maturity. came, the library could devote itself This lack of interest, however, concerns fully to its task. In its present form the only the financing of the library as the library is organized broadly as follows: number of visitors in 1948 was about Contents of the Library 13,000, and nearly 6800 books and pe- The library now owns over 800 riodicals were loaned for home reading. Dutch and foreign trade directories, in- Since 1946, there have been several cluding general business directories from attempts on the part of some public almost every country in the world as libraries to interest local business in a well as those concerned with special commercial library. And at Deventer branchss of industry. In addition, the and Zwolle, these attempts have to a reference library contains a fairly com- certain extent been successful. Funds plete collection of economic yearbooks are being collected among trade and of cll countries, encyclopaedias, diction- industry in order to set up a small refer- aries, codes, atlases, economic hand- ence library and a collection of peri- books, etc., totaling approximately 2000. odicals within the public library for the The number of current periodicals in benefit of the business community. In May 1940, amounting to 900, has now 1949, a committee was organized to been increased to over 1800. The peri- act as a contact between the public li- odicals deal mainly with economic sub- braries and the business world with the jects, but a rigid line of demarcation object of propagandising the establish- between economic and technical jour- ment and use of commercial libraries. nals often cannot be drawn. The Libra- Business and the Government' ry strictu sensu consists of 45,000 books, The supply of business literature in reports, etc., on social-economic sub- this country, however, is mainly in the jects. All these publications have an in- hands of the government business li- ternational character; they can be kept up to date thanks to the Netherlands 1 This section was partially published in SPECIALLIBRARIES in the July-August 1949 Foreign Service. issue. Finally, there are at the disposal of

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 2 15 the library the most important Dutch guilders (£10) a month, the price is re- and foreign trade statistics and a record duced to 9 Dutch cents (3% American of government economic measures tak- cents). Subscribers to the complete en both in the Netherlands and abroad. classification pay 6 Dutch cents (217'4 These collections, however, form a sep- American cents) per card. The original arate department, the Legislation and literature can be borrowed free of Statistics Section. charge or a photocopy can be obtained Subject-Indexing at cost price. A bibliography of the most important The aim of the library is to classify articles is published weekly in the daily as soon as possible the economic infor- Economische Voorlichfing. A list of ac- mation contained in this material. Care- quisitions is published separately every ful compilation, indexing and filing are month. This list contains the new books, therefore necessary to make sure that directories, reports and reference books documentation is always up to date and but no abstracts of articles are given. easily accessible to the public. The success of the library lies in its Information Section being adequate to assist readers to ob- The Information Section supplies, tain accurate, satisfactory answers to free of charge, any information in the their questions; to serve the needs of field of economic literature. Its efficiency those reporting on the present and of is measured by quick and correct an- those speculating about the future. Con- swers to inquiries, whatever they may sequently, the classification of periodic- be. For this reason extensive reference als is of the utmost importance. material which is as up to date as pos- Of the 1800 current periodicals the sible is essential. A thorough acquaint- library regularly receives, 80 per cent ance with this material is a first requi- come from foreign countries. The prob- site for those who regularly answer in- lem was how to index the numerous quiries. To meet this requirement, a cer- subjects in such a way that visitors tain specialization among employes was could find at any moment the latest in- initiated last year. formation in their field of activity con- In 1948, 14,320 inquiries were an- veniently arranged. swered by telephone and 12,224 read- Mention of merelv the titles of the ers were given direct information. More important subj ect s was not enough. than half the visitors and inquiries Short abstracts had to be prepared and ccme from outside the Hague. different subjects and aspects treated Bibliographical Research in the various articles had to be indexed. With the help of the Universal Those seeking information on a par- Decimal Classification and photographic ticular subject, may apply in writing or reproduction, the difficulty has been by telephone for a bibliography so as solved. to make a choice from the sources list- Every week some five hundred arti- ed. The number of such inquiries last cles are classified, which means an ad- year amounted to 2,115. Naturally, not dition of about 1500 new titles to the each of them referred to a different sub- catalog. Patrons, who wish to be reg- ject, and therefore the same bibliogra- ularly informed about the new articles phies, supplemented if necessary, could and books published on a special eco- often be used again. In anticipation of a nomic subject, can subscribe to the va- demand for literature on subjects of rious groups or subjects entered in the current interest, it is contemplated to catalog. They receive copies of the bring out a non-periodical publication catalog cards. The price of one "card" next year following the pattern of the is 12 1/2 Dutch cents (5 American cents). American Business Literature. For subscribers who pay more than 25 (Continued on page 234)

SPECIAL LIBRARIES Special Libraries in Australia

Written under the direction of P. firms. Demand for trained staff far out- Mander Jones, Librarian, The Mitchell ran the supply and many inexperienced Library, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia. people, some from professional and some from clerical staffs, some young EFORE 1939, special libraries as untried graduates, were pressed into li- B such existed in Australia but they brarians' jobs. It was new blood with a were not selfconscious. They thought of vengeance. Some acquired a standard themselves as particles thrown off from training subsequently while some sim- general libraries or often as rather neg- ply exercised their native intelligence lected subdepartments of firms and in- to good effect. stitutions. In most cases their staffs had Most of these libraries were, and still no specialised training; they had no dis- are, of the one man, or more often, one tinctive organisation, no esprif de corps, woman, type. They are scattered geo- save through the all-embracing Austral- graphically and are a most heterogene- ian Institute of Librarians, a body which ous collection in which standards and certainly could not see its way to accept remuneration differ widely. But they as full members all the assorted person- are the product of a genuine need, a nel of the small libraries. This condition need driven home by emergency. Be- was due not only to the inevitable lag in cause of their diversity and frequent a young country incompletely indus- lack of standard training, special libra- trialised but also to the strong and ac- rians are today very aware of their spe- tive leadership of the state public libra- cial status and of their peculiar prob- ries. In New South Wales, for example, lems. They are educated by difficulties the only library school is attached to for which general library practice would the public library and it is strongly im- not have prepared them, the difficulties bued with the ideal of a liberal profes- of adapting their techniques to the spe- sional education. The special libraries cialised needs of a group of research attached to state government depart- workers, of creating machinery and ser- ments and institutions are all staffed vices, of handling reports in all their from the public library. Similarly in the waywardness, often with the complica- academic world, departmental libraries tion of security grading, of pursuing ob- at the University are staffed from the scure but critical references through a Fisher Library which is not special but world entangled in war. These problems general. In both fields interchangeabil- emphasised the specialness of the spe- ity of staff seems to have been and to cial librarian and demanded a very high be an accepted principle. degree of adaptability seasoned with When a world war made higher de- judgment. mands on Australian research and in- Something has been achieved towards dustry than ever before, whilst cutting solving the problems of the training and us off from many of our former over- status of special librarians. The Austral- seas sources of supply, information was ian Institute of Librarians has acknowl- suddenly at a premium. One of the re- edged special libraries as a class within sults was the setting up of many small the whole by including in its qualifying specialised libraries in institutions and examination an optional special libra-

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 2 17 ries paper. The New South Wales Branch plorers and scientists, as well as many has canalised the spontaneous impulse thousands of smaller volumes, packets to mutual help among special librarians and single items. The departments of by nominating a Special Libraries Com- the Government of New South Wales mittee whose most important work is have deposited large quantities of non- interlibrary liaison. current records, forming an archival The special library movement in Aus- collection of the greatest value to his- tralia is strong and irregular and since torical and social students. The collec- not only many of the individual libra- tion of maps, engravings and other pic- ries but the whole system is in the mak- tures supplement the printed books and ing, it is the least stereotyped branch manuscripts, and there are also gal- of library work and offers many oppor- leries where paintings and exhibitions tunities for creative work. of other material are displayed. Regional Special Libraries in Australia Much of the time of the staff is de- The special library or collection with- voted to research work to answer the in a library of the regional historical historical and bibliographical questions type is rather highly developed in Aus- which are received from all parts of the tralia. From the early days there have world, as well as from readers on the been private collectors interested in mot. An endeavour is made to train Australiana and some of their collec- officers to become experts in one sub- tions have formed the basis of the most ject such as pictures, maps, periodicals, important libraries. The following are in addition to their general knowledge the chief libraries which can be con- of the library. This is necessary as the sidered as area collections which are collection is so large and varied that it available and free to all students. can be regarded as a number of special Mitchell Library, Sydney collections forming a large library limit- The Mitchell Library is named after ed to a geographical area. its founder, David Scott Mitchell, who Commonwealth National Library, Canberra devoted his life to the building up of a From its inception in 1902, the Li- library of Australiana. His collection brary of the Commonwealth Parlia- with a large endowment was left to the ment was conceived as a national li- New South Wales Government for the brary, to be modelled after the Library use and benefit of the people. The build- of Congress, and from the first, special ing in which it is housed, known as the attention was paid to the collection of Mitchell Wing of the Public Library of material relating to Australia, New New South Wales, was built by the Zealand and the Pacific Islands. A government and opened in 1910. It is foundation had already been laid when, administered by the Trustees of the in 1909, the library of E. A. Petherick Public Library who appoint a Mitchell was acquired. He was a pioneer of Aus- Committee to deal with all matters re- tralian bibliography who, as a book- lating to the acquisition of material and seller in London for over thirty years, service to readers. It is free for the use had enjoyed special facilities for col- of students under regulations similar to lecting in his chosen field. This collec- those of the British Museum. tion, now shelved as a separate unit This library has one of the greatest within the library, is rich in early voy- regional collections in the Southern ages, maps and prints relating to the Hemisphere. Its sphere of interest is Pacific and in lesser and ephemeral from the Antarctic to the Equator and works of early Australian history and from the Hawaiian Islands to the In- literature, mostly in their original bind- dian Ocean. It is particularly rich in ings. The gaps in this collection have manuscripts which include the papers been steadily filled as opportunity of- of governors, statesmen, pioneers, ex fered. Since 1912, the library has been

SPECIAL LIBRARIES entitled under the Copyright Act to re- South Australia was the first state to ceive a copy of every book and pamph- make special provision for regional his- let published in Australia, and this pro- torical research. The South Australian vision, though at first somewhat laxly Archives, established in 1921 as a de- enforced, has resulted in the preserva- partment of the Public Library, has tion of an ever-widening range of cur- been built up as a working centre for rent material. In 1923, following the historical research in that state, and its purchase of important Cook manu- collections which embrace every kind scripts, the title, Commonwealth Na- of historical material' are widely and tional Library, was officially adopted increasingly used. Legislation has been for this section. In 1935, the Pacific passed forbidding the destruction of Discovery Section was rounded off by government documents without refer- the acquisition of the large collection of ence to the Libraries Board and by books and charts made by Alexander 1940. the archivist could claim that as Dalrymple, and in 1940, Gregory a result of this organisation, "historical Mathews presented his unique ornithol- research in South Australia can now go ogical library, comprising almost every forward on sound lines. with a mini- published work recording observations mum of wasted effort and a reasonable of Australian birds. amount of comfort." In manuscripts, apart from the Cook Victorian Historical Collection, Melbourne documents, the library is less strong. The Public Library of Victoria con- There is a collection of manuscripts of tains the Victorian Historical Collec- Sir Joseph Banks and other documents tion. It has been built up over a period relating to early exploration, and sev- of eighty years, and deals mainly with eral important groups of papers dealing the history of the state. It contains with federation and the political his- manuscripts, maps and pictures, as well tory of the Commonwealth, a field as printed material from the first press which is of 'paramount interest to the onwards. library. Since 1929, the collection has been housed in a special gallery in which a While the historical collections are selection of material is always on ex- open to all research workers and are hibition. increasingly used, the library has ac- The Oxley Memorial Library of Queensland, cepted a special responsibility for bibli- Brisbane ographical publication. Its most am- The main historical library of Queens- bitious project, The Historical Records land is the Oxley Memorial Library of Australia, had reached thirty-four vol- which was opened in 1934 and is hous- umes when publication was suspended ed in the Public Library of Queensland. temporarily in 1926. The Annual Cat- It is named after John Oxley, the ex- alog of Australian Publications, based plorer, who discovered the Brisbane on the copyright deposits, has since River in 1823 and suggested the site 1936 listed all books and pamphlets of Brisbane as suitable for settlement. published in Australia each year, to- The library collects material of all gether with books about Australia pub- types dealing with Queensland history lished abroad. Since 1937, it has listed and literature and is gradually becom- official publications of the Common- ing very useful for students of these wealth and of all states, while the Aus- subjects. tralian Public Affairs Information Ser- Historical Societies vice indexes monthly articles of current In each state of Australia there exist Australian interest in a wide range of one or more historical societies. The periodicals. main societies publish journals contain- South Australian Archives, Adelaide ing papers written by their members or Apart from the Mitchell Library, (Continued on page 234)

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 2 19 Australian Institute of Librarians

Miss Sims is Librarian, N.S.W. Tech- of no more important work for the In- nical Education Department, Canberra, stitute than that "it should formulate a Australia. system of training for librarians in all classes of libraries which would be HE AUSTRALIANINSTITUTE OF LI- recognised by employing authorities in TBRARIANS, the leading association of Australia." In January 1941, the Insti- professional librarians in Australia, was tute appointed a Board of Examination formed at Canberra, the federal cap- and Certification to conduct examina- ital, on August 20-21, 1937, with more tions and to recommend to the Council than 150 foundation members. The need of the Institute the issue of certificates for an association of professional libra- to successful candidates, and thus took, rians had been felt for some years prior as it states in its fourth annual reporti to 1937, but their numerical weakness "one of the necessary first steps towards and the great distances separating the raising the standards of librarianship in capital cities of the states in which the Australia and achieving one of the majority of the professional librarians principal objects of the Institute." The were working, had prevented its estab- first examinations were conducted in lishment earlier. Whilst it was the first 1944. Today, the possession of a cer- association of professional librarians in tificate from the Institute is a condition Australia, it was not the first Australian of the employment of librarians by library association. Federal and state most authorities in the federal, state and associations with a wide range of mem- local fields, as well as by many private bership, including not only librarians, employers and employing bodies. but persons interested in the library The Constitution of the Institute movement, had existed as far back as makes provision for three kinds of mem- 1896, but none had had a long history. bers : members, student associates and Their failure was largely due to the honorary members, and for a governing fact that their memberships included council elected by members. The mem- too few professional librarians and too bers in each state and territory consti- many representatives from the sub- tute a Branch of the Institute and each scription libraries. Branch has the power to make its own It is not surprising, therefore, to find constitution and by-laws, subject to the the objective of the Institute to be "to approval of the Federal Council, and to unite persons engaged in library work elect its own officers. Members of each and to improve standards of librarian- Branch elect one or more councilors to ship and the status of the library pro- the Federal Council, according to the fession in Australia." The first presi- numerical strength of their member- dent, W. H. Ifould, O.B.E., in his in- ship. augural address on the future of the The area of Australia is only slightly Institute, delivered to the first confer- less than that of the United States, but ence, stated "that one of the causes of its population is less than that of New the backwardness of the library profes- York, and the old difficulty of bringing sion in Australia is the lack of trained together at one time a large body of librarians" and that he could conceive librarians was not easily overcome. It

SPECIAL LIBRARIES was wisely decided at the inception of From January-March 1947, it gave an the Institute to hold annual conferences evening course in library methods to in conjunction with the annual meet- 42 special librarians. Of these, one can- ings and whenever possible to hold didate passed in section one of the them in a different capital city each qualifying examination of the Austral- year. With the exception of the war ian Institute of Librarians and 14 out years, it has been possible to hold an- of 19 were successful in the preliminary nual conferences in Sydney, Melbourne, examination, all passing with merit. It Adelaide, and Hobart, and also to pub- has issued since January 1944 a Special lish the Proceedings of the past five Libraries leaflet to keep special libra- conferences. rians in touch with each other, to share Much of the real work of the Insti- information on special library matters tute is done through committees of the and to provide a clearing house for the Federal Council and of the Branch exchange of duplicate periodicals and Councils. A Committee of Reference serials. It is being sent to the 87 special and Research, later reconstituted as a libraries with which the committee is Special Libraries Committee, was one in touch. of the original committees of the Fed- Special librarians in the remaining eral Council and functioned until 1945, states are few in number, and projects when it was found that its functions of their Branches designed specifically could be carried out more successfully to assist them, have been unnecessary. by the Branches. The South Australian Branch recently The Victorian Branch early in 1948 appointed a committee to consider what appointed a Technical Committee, with might be done for special and school a special librarian as convenor, to ar- librarians, but so far the committee has range monthly meetings and discussion dealt only with the latter group. groups to aid people in special and mu- In addition to the Special Libraries nicipal libraries, and this committee is Committee. the Federal Council has still functioning. There are 65 special appointed, from time to time, commit- librarians in this Branch and many have tees to investigate such matters as sal- attended the evening classes held to ary and status of librarians; the cover- prepare candidates for the preliminary age in Australian libraries of periodicals, examination of the Institute. Special particularly in the scientific and tech- librarians are well represented on the nical fields; Australian bibliography; as- Victorian Branch Council and the Fed- sistance to damaged libraries overseas; eral president for 1949-1950, Miss M. and cataloging and classification. The E. Archer, MSc., Librarian of the Coun- general shortage of staff during and cil for Scientific and Industrial Research, since the war has prevented these com- is a member of the Victorian Branch. mittees from meeting and functioning Whilst New South Wales cannot yet fully. boast of a Federal president drawn from Branch Activities its special librarians, its Branch presi- In the Branches, however, more ac- dent for 1949-1950 is Mrs. McKay, tive work has been possible. The New B.A., Librarian of the Commonwealth South Wales Branch has formed in re- Industrial Gases Ltd., and for some cent years a School Libraries Commit- years convenor of its Special Libraries tee and a Municipal and Shire Libra- Committee. This committee has been ries Committee. The School Libraries very active since its establishment in Committee issues regular bulletins on 1944. It has held several meetings each school library work to school librarians year for general discussion of special and teachers and has endeavored by library problems and has arranged visits holding general meetings throughout to special libraries in the Sydney area. (Continued on page 232)

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 Banco de

Miss Baugh, now Librarian of the in the capitals of all fourteen provinces Maude Longhorne Nelson Library, and in nine important towns. It has Hopewell, Virginia, was recently con- the exclusive privilege of issuing bank nected with the Institute Cultural Peru- notes, and it controls the government's ano-Norteamericano as Librarian and mint. The newest and smallest denomi- Library Consultant for the Cultural nation note, fifty centavos, was first Center Libraries in Colombia, Ecuador printed in December 1948. One, two, and Bolivia1. and five centavos coins are in copper and the ten, twenty, and fifty centavos OSSIBLY THE MOST UNIQUE BANK pieces are of silver. Pin the Americas is the Banco de la In addition to the conduct of its RepGblica in Bogota, Colombia, South normal banking business, the Banco America. has developed at its own expense, and On August 6, 1538, Lieutenant Gen- houses within its own walls, a library eral Gonzalo JimCnez de Quesada and valued at one million pesos (nearly a his 166 followers built a small church half-million dollars); an emerald mu- and twelve thatched huts under the seum; a gold museum; and a printing shadow of the towering Andean peaks and binding establishment. The Nation- Monserrate and Guadalupe. Each hut al Museum also at one time occupied was dedicated to one of the twelve quarters on the fourth floor of the Apostles. He named the settlement handsome Banco building at the corner Santa FC de Bacata, City of the Holy of Avenida JimCnez de Quesada and Faith, later to be called Bogota, and the Carrera 8. surrounding territory Nueva Granada, By government decree, the Banco de New Spain, in honor of his native land. la RepGblica also controls and operates Here, three hundred and eighty-five Colombia's fabulous Muzo emerald years later, in the "Athens of America", mines from which comes approximate- as Bogota has been called because of its ly ninety per cent of the world's sup- intellectual atmosphere, the Banco de ply of emeralds. Exquisite specimens of la RepGblica was established as Colom- these precious stones are on display in bia's national bank. Vigorous and vital, what may well be the only emerald mu- it has made notable contributions to the seum in existence, that of the Banco intellectual atmosphere and cultural de- de la RepGblica in Bogot5. velopment of the city. On July 20, 1923, the Banco opened for business with a In the gold museum, as spacious as it capital of 10,000,000 pesos, fifty per is, only a comparatively small part of cent of the stock being owned by the the Banco's brilliant and invaluable col- government and fifty per cent by pri- lection of Colombian ancient gold arti- vate interests. There are now branches cles can be displayed at once. Sefior Luis Barriga, Director of the museum, 1 Miss Baugh's report on her work of re- studied the art of exhibition and dis- organizing the Cultural Center Libraries was play abroad and has made an outstand- considered so significant that copies were dis- ingly attractive arrangement of the mu- tributed to key officials in the Information and seum pieces. Educational Exchange Program, U. S. Depart- - ment of State. The National Museum, founded in

SPECIAL LIBRARIES 1823 by Vice-president General Fran- is five hundred thousand dollars. cisco de Paula Santander, was removed The library does not have a set bud- from the Banco building early in 1948 get. It purchases "everything useful", to its present location in the Antiguo primarily in the field of economics and Panoptico. This is a large brownish banking of course, but also art, history, stone building whose three floors and science, philosophy and some fiction; many corridors are well suited to its therefore it may be called, in a sense, a present use. Formerly it was a prison, special-general library. a kind of Alcatraz, located near what is In 1944 Senorita Blanca Barberi was now the Parque de Independencia and employed to combine the several col- not far from the heart of the city. lections and organize the library. She, The best has been saved for last- with her two assistants, Sefiorita Leonar the Banco's 50,000-volume library. In Serrano and Seiiorita Ina Garcia, have 1931, the Banco de la Republica now completed approximately one-third received from the Junta de Conver- of the cataloging using the Dewey Deci- sion (Board of Monetary Exchange) its mal classification and a simplified Cut- collection of 300 books, more or less, ter system. Seiiorita Garcia is a daugh- consisting primarily of material on ter of the late Dr. Garcia Ortiz. banking and economics, and govern- Until June 1948 the library occupied ment publications. To this small group quarters on the street floor; it was then were added about 10,000 new books of moved to a large basement room where more general character until in 1944 it now is with its shelves of beautifully the valuable 25,000-volume private li- bound books reaching almost to the brary of Dr. Laureano Garcia Ortiz was ceiling. Bound with leather spines, most- bought. It is said to have cost the Banco ly in reds, and marbled paper-covered 160,000 pesos. The collection includes cardboard sides they are at once pleas- among its priceless items complete sets ing to the eye and practicable. This of Colombia's first newspaper, the Papel work is done in the Banco's printing Periodic0 de Santa FQ, 1780-...... pub- and binding offices, which not only take lished by Manuel del Socorro Rodri- care of all needs in connection with the guez, first librarian of the National Li- bank's monetary matters, but also those brary; and its second, La Bagatela, of the library and of its two museums. 1811-, published by Antonio Narifio, Also in 1948, a 30- by 60-foot read- whose likeness now appears on the new ing room was planned for the second fifty-centavos paper note. floor, with books to be sent by elevator A unique feature of Dr. Garcia Ortiz's between the" book stacks in the base- collection was its concentration on books ment and the reading room. On Janu- in Spanish, French and English on the ary 3, 1949, this room was opened to discovery and founding of North and the public for reading on the premises. South America and travels in these con- It is elegantly furnished in red carpet, tinents. Unique, though not surprising, red leather-covered chairs and sufficient since his biographers tell us that Dr. table space for sixty readers, each pro- Garcia Ortiz, 1867-1946, was a scholar, vided with his own fluorescent light for agriculturist, historian, diplomat, bank- dark days. Its public card catalog con- er, journalist and secretary of state. sists of three 30-drawer sections. Al- The library's holdings were not cata- though almost anyone may be admitted loged but only itemized in longhand on to the reading room, books are loaned large sheets of paper. only to the bank's officials and its four Within the past four years, the Banco hundred employes in Bogoth. Thought has added another 15,000 volumes to is being given however to the setting bring its holdings to the impressive aside of certain books for public circu- figure of some 50,000 books whose value lation in the foreseeable future.

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 223 Training for Democracy in the United States Information Centers

Miss Schmidt is Librarian, Republican so that the libraries would actually pre- National Committee, Washington, D. C. sent a true picture of democracy in action. HE LETTER FROM THE War Depart- Three weeks later I was in Vienna. Tment dated 7 April 1947 lay open I located the Amerikanisches Auskunfts- in front of me. "The War Department biiro (American Information Office) by desires to employ a librarian to serve a large sign over the entrance of the in Austria for a period of approximate- corner building directly behind the ly sixty (60) days about 21 April 1947 Opera at Karntnerstrasse, Vienna's . . . The purpose of this mission is to Fifth Avenue. Several people were look- conduct a two months' course in library ing at the attractive window displays. techniques to a selected group of twenty I entered and was taken upstairs to Austrians who will be placed in charge meet Captain J. B. Wilson, who was of the United States Information Cen- the able director of the United States ters throughout Austria . . . The suc- Information Centers in Austria at that cess of this vital program is dependent time. Because of Austria's status as a upon assistance from selected individ- liberated country, these Centers were uals such as yourself, and it is sincerely being directed by the Army rather than hoped that you will reply stating your by the State Department. interest in this important project at Captain Wilson's title was Publica- your earliest convenience . . ." tions and Graphic Display Officer. In A feeling of pride and honor swept addition to directing the Center Libra- over me, but it was quickly followed by ries in Vienna, Salzburg and Linz, he a feeling of responsibility &d humility. had charge of displays in them, of small In the first place, a course such as out- exhibits which travelled throughout lined above normally takes nine months Austria, of lectures about America, and here at home where no language diffi- of the translation program. The latter culties have to be considered. In addi- was a cooperative effort with Austrian tion, if the United States Information publishers to secure publication in Ger- Center Libraries were to fulfill their man of certain worthwhile American real purpose of acquainting the Aus- books and articles. The main headquar- trian public with a true picture of ters for all this work was at the Vienna American life and customs, they should Center. do more than offer a collection of books Captain Wilson introduced me to the and magazines correctly arranged and librarian, Theresa Druml, a former Wis- properly indexed. They should present consin school teacher, who took me a living example of democracy at work. through the library, explaining the ex- This would mean that the Austrians isting set-up. who were to staff these libraries must Library of the U. S. information Center learn to act as Americans while on duty, On the ground floor was a large in-

SPECIAL LIBRARIES formation and reading room. Scattered volumes, purchased by the Army for on the tables were German language all the Information Centers under its publications of the U. S. authorities, control in occupied territories, was ex- such as the weekly Heute (issued by pected to arrive momentarily. Today U. S. Military Government in Ger- there are about 6500 volumes in this many) and the daily newspaper, Wiener collection. Kurier (issued by U. S. Forces in Aus- The room was filled with long read- tria). Around the walls were photo- ing tables closely placed together. graphic and poster displays. This was Usually these were crowded with read- the room where the casual inquirer ers, young and old, with interests vary- came to consult the telephone books ing from fashion magazines to technical for the addresses of friends or relatives engineering and medical journals. The in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, file set of magazines was kept in the and other cities, to inquire about emi- rear of the reference room, with dupli- grating to the United States, or to bor- cate copies of the more popular ones row a recent issue of Life,Time, or the being available in the downstairs read- Saturday Evening Post to read in the ing room. room. Off the reference room were the Directly behind this room, but with various work offices including the libra- a separate entrance from the street, was rian's, and a mall office which I used the lending library. This collection was for the duration of my stay. largely American fiction although a Organization of the Training Class small group of popular non-fiction was Shortly after my arrival we started kept behind the charge desk. While I organizing the class. Miss Drum1 and was there an interesting group of Ger- Captain Wilson selected eight members man language books printed in Switzer- oi the Vienna staff who, in their esti- land and Sweden were placed in circu- mation, would benefit most from the lation. These were the first books to ar- course. Two Salzburg members at- rive in Vienna by authors forbidden tended, but none from Linz, although during the Nazi regime, and they made both the Salzburg and Linz Centers quite a stir. At this time the collection had been asked to participate. The re- totaled about 2500 volumes; it now mainder of the class was selected from has 40,000 vohmes of which a large interested applicants, most of whom portion is American fiction in transla- came from the local universities. Mini- tion. The books in the lending library mum pay was offered those attending, were so popular that many of them re- and upon the successful completion of mained in constant circulation. Often, the course they were to be employed in fact, people would wait in the CKW~- at the Information Center Libraries. As ed room to snatch UP the finally composed, the class had nineteen books being returned by the latest ar- students. Although their education and rivals. age varied greatly, almost all of them Upstairs, with a separate entry from proved to be exceptionally able. the street, was the reference room. The class was formally opened on Bookcases, made partially from old May twelfth. The lectures themselves storage boxes, lined the walls. Here the lasted five weeks, although an addition- reference books were arranged rough- al week was required to give final ex- ly by subject. They did not circulate aminations and complete individual in- but were available for use in the room. struction. I lectured in English at the At this time there were about 1000 vol- suggestion of the Army personnel. They umes in the room, and an equal number felt that anyone working at the Center waiting to be cataloged. In addition, Libraries should be able to understand the basic reference collection of 3000 spoken English. This was a decision in

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 225 which I heartily concurred, not only tion, Branches of Public Libraries, Chil- because of the principle involved, but dren's Work, Adult Education, Book also because, in English, I knew I was Selection, and Publicity. Whenever there saying what I intended to say. In Ger- was a topic not adequately handled in man, I might unintentionally have ex- my collection of books, I lectured on it, pressed myself incorrectly. as for example, Legislative Reference In the morning the class was con- Service. ducted in the reference room; in the The remainder of the afternoon I afternoon a lecture hall was rented lectured in English on subjects essen- from the Austro-American Institute of tial to the proper conducting of the U. Education, which was located just a S. Information Center Libraries. The block away. The Army supplied a first week was devoted to the pro- blackboard for use in this hall. cedures followed from the time a book The class work was so organized that was received at a library until it was cataloging and classification was taught made available to the reader and in- in the mornings. I lectured for the first cluded accessioning, labeling, shelving, hour on the proper method of catalog- etc. The next two weeks were concerning and classifying, demonstrating with ed with circulation work, including rec- large sample cards, after which each ords made for the books and statistics student was given four books to be cata- kept, while the final two weeks were loged according to the instructions re- devoted to reference work. ceived. These books came from a col- One examination was given when the lection recently acquired from the Army study of circulation work was completed camp libraries, and, as the work pro- and another when we finished reference gressed, the books thus cataloged gnd work. For the final examination in cat- classified came to form the nucleus of aloging each student received six books the reorganized reference library. I re- which he had to catalog and classify, vised each student's work individually. typing the shelf list and the main cat- By having the students bring their com- alog card with tracings for each addi- pleted books to my office it was possi- tional entry. ble to have our discussions outside the It was impossible to get regular reference room. Thus as the morning textbooks to Austria in time for the wore on and more people came in to course. I had brought with me copies use the library, more space was avail- of Dewey's Classification Scheme, and able and fewer disturbances occurred. the subject heading lists of the Library The afternoon sessions opened with of Congress and of Minnie Sears. The a lecture in German discussing a broad catalog rules were based on Susan aspect of American librarianship. These Akers' Simple Library Cataloging modi- lectures were given by the students fied by some of the Library of Congress with each assigned a specific subject. I rules. The Army arranged to mimeo- had brought over a collection of seven- graph these cataloging rules and also ty-five books which contained almost Mrs. Winifred L. Davis' Pictorial Li- all the necessary material for these brary Primer with photostatic reproduc- studies. Topics covered included the tions of most of the illustrations. Copies following: Library of Congress, State of these publications were made avail- and County Libraries, University and able to each student. College Libraries, School Libraries, Gov- As previously mentioned, I was great- ernment Departmental Libraries, Spe- ly interested in having my students cial Libraries, Training for Librarian- gain an understanding of democratic ship in the United States, Professional principles as well as a desire to incor- Activities, History of American Public porate them into their official duties at Libraries, Public Library Administra- the Information Centers. Before leaving

226 SPECIAL LIBRARIES for Vienna I discussed this problem pointing a class librarian, I selected one with my father, Alfred F. W. Schmidt, of the more bashful students who had Professor Emeritus of Library Science had a particularly trying time during at George Washington University, and the war and post-war years. It was a we decided it was essential that I con- real pleasure to see her develop and duct the class along democratic lines so gain confidence in the next few weeks. that the students would participate In conjunction with our class work we jointly in the work and would come to prepared book cards for each of these feel a mutual interest in the success of volumes, and everyone, including the the project. This was done by a combi- teacher, was required to sign for any nation of the university seminar tech- book he borrowed over night. All books nique and the simplest methods used in were to be available in the classroom primary schools to secure class partici- each afternoon. pation by all. These books were used, as previously The very first day I started out by mentioned, by the students in prepar- introducing myself and giving a bit of ing their lectures, or term papers. This my background and experience. Then experience of addressing the class was I had each student introduce himself entirely new to them. The Austrians and hand in a written biography cover- follow the Germanic lecture system, in ing such details as travel, education, which the professor knows and tells all, language background, experience with and the student does not "question books, and reason for joining the class. why". In order to make the experience While this is quite customary here, it less difficult, I suggested they speak in is very unusual over there. In fact, I German. Since the books were in Eng- found out later that it is not customary, lish I still had an excellent opportunity even when introducing a speaker, to ex- to see if each had a working knowledge plain anything about his background. of the English language. After each talk Apparently the mere fact that someone we had a discussion period. For exam- was speaking was evidence, per se, that ple, after the talk on publicity, we dis- he was an authority on his subject. cussed the various methods of publicity The next morning we went on a tour the Centers were using in Austria, such of the Vienna Information Center. as articles in the newspapers, brief Those of the class working at the Cen- radio talks and displays. We particular- ter explained their work as we went ly noted the excellence of the display through. Each student was urged to ask windows at the Vienna Center where questions, and by asking a few ques- passersby were always crowded in front tions myself at strategic moments, I of the windows. One of the boys from was able to see that the class really the lending library commented that participated in the discussions, and that just as soon as certain books were they understood the work and function shown in the windows by the entrance of the Center. This was followed by a to their library every copy of the books description of the Salzburg Center by displayed was immediately circulated. the two members of its staff. Thus we In lecturing, I always emphasized established an informal tone in the class how individual Americans handled giv- before formal instruction was begun. en problems and demonstrated what In the first week we organized our each of the students could do in handl- own small library. This consisted of the ing similar situations. I encouraged collection of seventy-five books on vari- them to ask questions and to discuss ous phases of library science which I any of their problems. By having peo- had brought over with me. We arranged ple from two different Centers present to keep these books at the Austro- it was often interesting to hear the dif- American Institute of Education. In ap- ferent methods used in each place. One

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 problem that never failed to bring on the informal reading habits of his reg- discussion was the question of "open ular customers. This extends to a feel- shelves". It was extremely difficult to ing of personal responsibility to broaden persuade the students that a policy per- and develop the reading of each indi- mitting loss of books was a correct one. vidual by selecting the proper books The libraries of Austria, in common for him to read. Such an approach is with those of most of Europe, shelve considered much better than letting books, chronologically, by size. This him make his own choice from the open system is a great space saver, but it shelves. As a whole, Austrian libraries also prevents readers from having any give more the impression of museums interest in going to the shelves. In Eu- than of centers of informational activ- rope the librarian is literally the "keep- ity available to everyone. er of the books" and in some libraries The individual instruction following he actually keeps them under lock and the cataloging demonstrations was also key. Quite naturally, books do not dis- exceptionally fortunate. I had an op- appear. At a time when books in Eng- portunity to know each student per- lish were very rare and replacements sonally, to know what his particular took at least a year to arrive, it was not difficulties were, and to assist in clarify- strange that the Austrians were op- ing them. The student, on the other posed to a system which seemed to hand, had an opportunity to learn that encourage petty thievery. To enliven in America the teacher is not one set the argument we found that Vienna apart, but is interested in helping each was experimenting with open shelves individual in whatever way he can. while Salzburg had all books behind Thus a spirit of "camaraderie" develop- the charge desk. I really think the Salz- ed. Before I left, several told me they burg students would have persuaded had stood in great awe and fear when the others of the superiority of their they first heard that an American ex- system if I had not constantly inter- pert was coming to give instruction, but vened. I never was sure that I had that, in addition to learning a great really convinced them that the advan- deal, they had also come to feel at ease tages of free consultation with the and to enjoy the class periods. books was worth the loss of an occa- Results of Training- Class sional volume. In conducting the course my real aim I also emphasized over and over was to explain broad American princi- again the idea of personal service: that ples as well as American technical pro- an attendant must not only make every cesses. More than two years later, I effort to comply with a patron's re- was interested in knowing to what ex- quest but must also attempt to clarify tent these principles and processes had what was in the reader's mind, if his become an integral part of the U. S. request was vague; and that the libra- Information Centers in Austria. As it rian should try to anticipate what was was impossible for me to make an in- likely to be wanted so as to have it spection tour at this.time, I wrote some available by the time it was requested. of my former students outlining what Personal service is an aspect of library I had considered to be the high points work practically unknown in Austria of the course and asking their opinion and Germany. Formal training there on how much of the program was ac- emphasizes administration and research tually in operation at the present time. rather than a personal relationship be- The following outline incorporates the tween the librarian or library attendant tenor of their comments: and the reader. The only exception to 1. Courteous, prompt service to all readers, not only answering all demands, but also this that I noted is that a public libra- anticipating them insofar as possible. rian in Austria does take an interest in Yes-this is emphasized.

228 SPECIAL LIBRARIES 2. Open shelf system. lowing statistics: Yes, it is in use. 1. Number of users per month. 3. Circulating books to all free of charge. 2. Numbers of items read per month, There is no charge for circulation, divided in the lending library as to though a deposit of ten shillings per type of material read. reader is required and entitles him to 3. Number and names of new titles take two books out at a time. added per month. 4. Organization of vertical files for eph- The lending library should also re- emeral material. 4. port number of new registration~ There are no vertical files as yet. per month. 5. Establishment of periodical reading room. There is a special periodical room Yes to all of "d". where the magazines are arranged by Thus it can be seen that the vast subject on the shelves. This room is majority of what we studied together not large enough for tables and chairs, therefore readers are served in the has been put into practice; the excep- reference room. There is a separate tions, in most instances, are due to lack shelf list for the periodicals, and the of equipment or space. main catalog has cards for the periodicals as well as subject reference The preceding information applies cards reading "For further material on specifically to the Vienna library. I no this subject see also the periodical col- longer have contacts with either the lection." Salzburg or Linz staffs, my two students 6. American methods of operation. from Salzburg having since resigned. a. Full dictionary catalog for public use. To what extent the other libraries are Yes, there is a complete catalog in the reference room with a separate uniformly established with the main one in the lending library. Center in Vienna, I do not know. How- b. Shelf list catalog and subject heading ever, since it is the directing Center and authority file for staff use. since there has been some interchange Yes. of personnel, I feel confident that all c. Circulation: registration and charging the Centers in Austria have benefited systems. from the course given in Vienna in May 1. Registration cards, filed alphabetic- ally. and June of 1947. This in turn means 2. Book cards, to be filed by date due that the Austrian public has a better when book is in circulation. understanding of American democrecy, 3. Borrower's card, giving a complete r,ot only because of the books, mag- record of all books borrowed by the reader and to be retained by him. azines, and displays at the Centers Yes to all of "c". showing life in America, but also be- d. Statistical records. The reference cause of personal participation in a room, periodical reading room, and democratic procedure -the American lending library should keep the fol- library.

Expert Service on Magazine I BEILSTEIN'S HANDBUCH DER Subscriptions for Special Libraries ORGANISCHEN CHEMIE Write for a free copy of Faxon's Librarians' Guide. Second Supplement Volume 11, Also odd numbers of magazines, Bound. Published May 1950 volumes, or complete sets. $24.50 F. W. FAXON COMPANY 83-91 Francis Street WALTER J. JOHNSON, Inc. Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts 125 East 23rd Street New York 10, N. Y.

JULY - AUGUST, 1950 OUR NEW PRESIDENT Elizabeth W. Owens

o SPECIALLIBRARIES ASSOCIATION In 1942 she entered the special li- Tthis year comes a president from brary field as librarian of the Mercan- the wide-open spaces of the Middle tile-Commerce Bank and Trust Com- West and Southwest. To those who pany of St. Louis, Mo. She immediate-( know Elizabeth Owens, she is the em- ly became associated with the Greater bodiment of one who has spent many St. Louis Chapter of SLA and served years in a country where friendliness, as membership chairman, 1943-44; pro- sincerity and straightforward simplicity gram chairman, 1944-45; vice-president, are the by-word. She brings to SLA a 1945-46; president, 1946-47; and mem- native ability to work harmoniously ber of the Executive Committee, 1947- with her associates and to gain their 48. On the Association level, she has highest respect and admiration. served as chairman of the Financial Her professional career has many Group, 1945-46; subject chairman, Na- facets which have broadened her out- tional Book Center for Devastated Li- look and will enable her to approach braries, 1945-47; membership chair- her administration with wisdom and man, 1947-48; Chapter Liaison Officer discernment, plus a practical knowledge and chairman of the Chapter Relations of library problems. Her library train- Committee, 1948-49. In 1949 she was ing was obtained in the St. Louis Li- elected first vice-president and presi- brary School in 1919, following which dent-elect. she held the position of children's li- In her capacity as membership chair- brarian in the St. Louis Public Library. man and Chapter Liaison Officer, Mrs. She left active library work to marry Owens visited and helped with her an oil man who took her on a "tour of counsel and encouragement the Kansas duty" through the Southwest, from City, Louisiana, and Texas Chapters in Texas to California. Everywhere she their organizational stages. Her profes- went she kept up her library interests, sional interests include memberships in becoming a travelling librarian. She was the American Library Association, Mis- consulted on library organizational souri Library Association, and the St. problems, on book buying, and did con- Louis Library Club. siderable book reviewing. As a hobby Two daughters, one a senior in col- she set up a private petroleum library lege and the other a senior in high which was kept in her husband's office school, constitute her main hobby. The for his personal use and that of his duties of homemaking provide keen associates. During these years she re- enjoyment, particularly such tasks as ceived her B.A. in history from the whipping together formal gowns for her University of Wisconsin. In 1947 she offspring and making preserves and jel- obtained her M.A. in historv from the lies for their hungry appetites. For their same school. At one time she taught amusement, she has built up a collec- history and was librarian in the Rolla tion of dolls from all countries. Gamma (Missouri) High School. Later she be- Phi Beta claims her as a member and came children's librarian and branch li- she has been most active in local and brarian of the Long Beach (California) national affairs. In 1948 when its na- Public Library. tional convention was held in St. Louis,

SPECIAL LIBRARIES she was its co-chairman. Besides these assigned all social and extra-curricular pursuits, Mrs. Owens has maintained a bank affairs, such as planning dinner vivid interest in history, especially any- parties and coaching melodramas. She thing pertaining to St. Louis, and has edits the house organ, Mercantile-Com- written as her master's thesis a history merce News. Simultaneously with the of the Mercantile-Commerce Bank and presidency of SLA, she has been ap- Trust Company. With an already full pointed director of the Women's Fi- program, she also is in demand as a nance Forum, a brand-new undertaking book reviewer. of the bank, providing a course in finan- In the bank her talents have been cial planning for women. recognized and to her charge has been C.A.P. - M.E.W. Have You Heard . . . Attention, Please All SLA members, and especially Chapter presidents, are urgently requested to send to The Transactions of the 1950 Convention the chairman or any member of the Nominat- held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 12- 16, will be published sometime early in the ing Committee their suggestions for the elec- fall, and will contain both papers and annual tive positions. Prospective names for these offices should be mailed to the Committee as reports presented at the Convention. This pub- soon as possible since, in accordance with lication will be self-sustaining and will, there- By-Law IX of the SLA Constitution, the fore, not be sent gratis to Institutional members. The cost will be not more than $5. For Committee must present the 1951-1952 slate your convenience, an order blank was included to the SLA Executive Board at its Fall Meet- in the May-June issue of SPECIALLIBRARIES ing. on page 197. Orders should reach SLA Head- quarters not later than September 1, 1950. SLA Board and Council Meetings The regular Fall Executive Board and Ad- SLA Ofkers 1950-195 1 visory Council meetings will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, October 19-21, 1950, at the The result of the general election of officers Hotel Statler. The membership is urged to was announced at the Annual Business Meet- make plans to attend these important con- ing in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on June 15, ferences. 1950, as follows: President, Mrs. Elizabeth W. Owens, St. Louis, Missouri; First Vice- President and President-Elect, Grieg Aspnes, SLA Membership Gavel Award for 1950 St. Paul, Minnesota; Second Vice-president, The Membership Gavel Award for 1950 for Mrs. Ruth Parks, Chicago, Illinois; Treasurer, the largest percentage of increase in paid-up Donald Wasson, New York, N. Y.; Director to members was presented to the President of sxve for three years, Robc,rt Grayson, New the Connecticut Valley Chapter, Muriel Wil- York, N. Y. Margaret Hatch and Estelle liams, at the Annual Business Meeting held in Brodman remain on the Executive Board as June at Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Chap- Directors, as does Mrs. Ruth Hooker, Imme- ter showed an increase of 26.7 per cent. The diate Past-President. next largest increase was shown by the Mon- treal Chapter with 11 percent, and the Wash- §LA Nominating Committee ington, D. C. Chapter stood in third place with 8.9 per cent. The members of the 1951 Nominating Com- mittee appointed by President Owens are as follows: Anne Nicholson Recipient of SLA 1950 Phyllis J. Anderson, San Francisco Bay Award for Work on PB Index Region Chapter Anne Nicholson, librarian of Whitmarsh Re- Hazel K. Levins, New Jersey Chapter search Laboratories, Pennsylvania Salt Manu- Mrs. Martha H. O'Leary, New York Chap- facturing Company, Philadelphia, was awarded ter the 1950 SLA Award of $100 for a notable Marion E. Wells, Illinois Chapter and outstanding contribution in the field of Dr. Jolan M. Fertig, Chairman special librarianship. The award was pre- Westinghouse Electric Corp. sented to Miss Nicholson by SLA President Westinghouse Research Laboratories Owens at the Annual Business Meeting held East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in June at Atlantic City.

JULY - AUGUST, 1953 23 1 In the words of the Awards Committee re- Donald Wasson Completes Assignment port, which Mrs. Owens read for Mrs. Irene for Japanese Library M. Strieby, Chairman of the Committee, who Donald Wasson, editorial consultant to the was unable to be presmt: "It is the feeling of Library Journal on United Nations Documents the Committee that the person chosen fulfills and assistant librarian of the Council on For- the stipulations agreed upon and 'has played eign Relations, New York, has recently com- a decisive part in a n~teworthy professional pleted a selected list of 3000 titles in the social contribution' by displaying imagination, stimu- sciences for purchase through a Rockefeller lation and leadership necessary to prepare for Fund Grant for the National Diet Library in publication the Numerical Index to the Bibli- Tokyo. Mr. Wasson is the newly-elected ography of Scientific and Industrial Reports, treasurer of SLA. Volumes 1-10, 1946-1948, a reference tool of enduring value. The Committee names as the winner of the SLA Award for 1950, Anne SLA Represented at Session of Nicholson, the individual responsible for see- American Chemical Society ing this project through to completion." In the account of the program of the Gen- eral Session of the Division of Chemical Lit- erature of the American Chemical Society Some Important Decisions Made at the held in Detroit in April 1950, which was 1950 SLA Convention printed in the May-June issue of SPECIAL LIBRARIES,our information was incomplete at A number of important changes in the Con- the time the magazine went to press. Beside stitution and By-Laws were voted at the An- Miss Lewton and Miss Power who contributed nual Business Meeting held in Atlantic City papers, Ernest F. Spitzer, librarian of Chas. on June 15, 1950. In order that all SLA mem- Pfizer & Company, was also represented on bers may be informed of these changes, the the program. Mr. Spitzer presented a paper entire Constitution and By-Laws as amended on "Searching the German Chemical Litera- will appear in the September issue of SPECIAL ture." LIBRARIESand reprints will be available on request. Several of the more important changes Correction are listed briefly herewith. On page of the April 1950 issue of It was voted to change the designation, 146 SPECIALLIBRARIES, an item appeared concern- Group, to Division. Life, Institutional, Active ing the publication of the CHECK LIST OF and Associate members may now affiliat-? with U.S.A. AND CANADIAN OF GERMAN only one Division without further payment. HOLDINGS MEDICAL AND DENTAL PERIODICALS,1938- Additional affiliations are permitted at 50 1948. It was erroneously stated that this publi- cents each for the calendar year. Student cation was issued by the American Medical members will be allowed a Chapter affiliation Association whereas the Medical Library As- only. sociation is the publisher. A double postcard has been sent to all members with more than one Division affiliation requesting that the card be marked to show their preference and returned to Headquarters not later than August 15. New Division lists Australian Institute of Librarians will then be prepared for all Division chair- (Continued from page 221) men and the allotment, based on 15 cents per member plus extra affiliation fees, will be sent the year to establish a liaison between to the Divisions automatically. It is hoped the Institute, the teachers and librarians that the first payment can be made by Sep- and others interested in children's li- tember 15, 1950. brary work. A recent bulletin on Book The fiscal year was changed back to the calendar year. Repairing was so popular that 500 ex- The Constitution and By-Laws Committee tra copies were duplicated for distribu- was charged with studying the sections of the tion to schools and libraries throughout Constitution pertaining to membership quali- New South Wales. The Municipal and fications and to present their report at the Shire Libraries Committee was not ap- 1951 Convention scheduled for June 18-25 in St. Paul, Minnesota. pointed until March 1948, but the rap- The membership voted to terminate the idly expanding public library services University and College Group since this Group in New South Wales make it an impor- has been inactive for the past two years. tant committee. It is following the pat- It was also voted to disaffiliate SLA from A.L.A. and to cooperate in the movement tern of other committees and is holding towards a federation of library associations. meetings of municipal and shire libra-

S?ECZAE LIBRARIES rians, issuing a municipal libraries leaf- public informed of what librarians are let giving news items and general infor- thinking and doing about library de- mation. This committee was able to go velopment in Australia. Despite im- a step further than the School Libraries provements in transport, the distances Committee and in September 1948, which separate the capital cities and held a five-day class on book repairing. the country towns from the capital Starting in 1937 with a membership cities prevent the flow of ideas through of 150 and a conviction that it must be personal contacts with other librarians, established on a foundation of profes- and regional conferences to supplement sional training, the Australian Institute the annual conferences seem to many of Librarians has succeeded to the de- members to be desirable. gree that it has proved the need for its These and many other matters con- existence and justified its continuance cerning the future of library develop- either in its present or in some other ment in Australia have been the sub- form. Much still remains to be done. ject of considerable thought and dis- Training facilities as distinct from cussion by the Federal and Branch Coun- standards are still inadequate and there cils and members generally over the is little provision in any state for train- past two years, and it has now been ac- ing at a higher standard than the pre- cepted that the Institute is sufficiently liminary level or for specialized fields strong professionally to widen its mem- of library work. The success of the bership to include corporate bodies and news-sheets and leaflets issued by the persons interested in library develop- Branches indicates the urgent need for ment and that the time is opportune to a professional journal to keep members, do so. The revised constitution will be employing authorities and the general put to the members this year. Whether

FOREIGN PERIODICALS covering the war years

143 Titles, mostly German, are now Available

Write for our FINAL PERIODICALCATALOG J. W. EDWARDS Ann Arbor, Mich.

------Please Mention Special Libraries When Answering Advertisements JULY - AUGUST, 1950 233 members accept or reject the revision, there are no signs that the Institute will follow the earlier associations into ob- UNITED STATES livion. The indications are rather that it will continue to grow and shape itself to meet the special needs of librarian- GOVERNMENT ship and libraries in Australia.

Special Libraries in Australia PUBLICATIONS (Continued from page 219) others and some of the societies have Boyd and Rips libraries which are important for stu- 3rd ed. rev. & en1 627p. $6.50 dents of local history. The Royal Australian Historical So- Familiarity with the publications ciety, Sydney, founded in 1901, pub- of the US. Government is an essen- lishes a quarterly journal and has as tial feature of any adequate refer- one of its main objects the collection ence service. But the U.S. Govern- and preservation of material dealing with Australian history. ment is the world's most prolific pub- The Royal Geographical Society of lisher. Its annual output of different Australasia, South Australian Branch, publications is numbered in the was founded in 1885 and publishes pro- thousands. Included are many re- ceedings which include articles of his- liable, up-to-date, inexpensive sources torical interest. It has a valuable library of information on practically every made up of three collections: subject: invaluable data for the re- 1. The York Gate Library, a famous search worker and technical special- London collection, specialising in ist in III~II~fields. The problem is geography, travels and colonisa- one of: tion. 2. The Gill Library, specialising in SELECTION the history of South Australia. 3. The Benham Library, a general and the solution to this problem is collection on travel and history. largely to be found in this new re- Other societies which publish jour- vision (after ten )ears of drastic ,lals and have libraries are the Histori- changes) with its fifty-seven page cal Society of Victoria, the Historical subject and title index, and sections Society of Queensland, the Royal Geo- devoted to the organizations and graphical Society of Australasia, functions of all principal agencies Queensland Branch, and the Western that distribute material. United States Australian Historical Society. Governnaent Publicatior~s is a valu- Business Libraries in the able guide to much material in dan- Netherlands ger of being buried in its own mass. (Continued from page 216) Some Other Statistical Data In 1948, 4,128 volumes were added to the collection of books, among which THE H. W. WILSON CO. were a considerable number of new for- 950 University Ave. eign business directories. After the war New York 52 the policy of acquisition was changed. Before 1945, some emphasis was placed - - Please Mention Special Libraries When Answering Advertisements 234 SPECIAL LIBRARIES on theoretical economics. It was, however, expected that after the war readers would be more interested in the economic situations of foreign countries, the market situation, the consumer mar- Incwrpfimtiny The Asaoeiation 01 Sperial Libraries and Information. kets and technical-economic literature. Birrraux and The 8ritish b'ocietu Therefore, a change was made in this for International Bibliography direction. The outcome has shown that the new policy is a good one. As a matter of fact, Current Publications the library of the Economic Informa- tion Service now has the best documen- The Journal of tation on foreign countries in the Neth- erlands. Much literature on topical sub- Documentation This quarterly is devoted to the record- jects, such as nationalization, planning, ing, organization, and dissemination of reconstruction, international commerce specialized knowledge, and methods of and finance, has also been added. presenting information. 25s. a year The number of items loaned in 1948 was 77,174, of which 23,631 were books Aslib Proceedings and 53,543 periodicals; 18,564 abstracts Quarterly reports and papers of Aslib conferences and meetings, and findings of periodicals were made, which will of committees on documentation and mean an addition of about 60,000 new information work. 25s. a year cards to the catalogue. About 9800 letters and 29,000 packages of books and Aslib Booklist pamphlets were forwarded on request. Monthly recommendations by experts of This work was done by a staff of 38. scientific and technical books published in the English language. The above is a brief sketch of the 17s. 6d. a year develo~mentof commercial libraries in this country, a development which is Agriculture and expected to advance considerably in Allied Interests the years to come; as Dutch trade and This second of the new Aslib Guides de- industry are becoming increasingly tails relevant British libraries and loan aware of the significance of literature services, periodical publications, and other sources of information. 16s. research in the field of commerce and economics as an aid in studying the pos- ,Beverages and Food sibilities on the world's markets. Part 3 of the new Aslib Guides contains - reference material invaluable to organi- The Technical Literature Service in zations interested in the British food and Norway drink industry. 12s. 6d. (Continued from page 213) cards, but a more complete union cat- Heraldry, Flags and Seals An annotated catalogue by S. T. Cope of alog is needed. publications in English. It has consider- An effort is also being made to build able intrinsic interest, and its 443 items better collections of popular technical cover all aspects of heraldry. 78. 6d. Reprinted from the Journal of Docu- literature in the regional libraries. mentation. These efforts and the numbers given may seem small, but they must be regarded against a background of a wide- Bloomsbury St., ,= spread country with a population of - about 3 million people, a-fact that ne- cessitates the utmost cooperation and economic coordination. Please Mention Special Libraries When Answering Advertisements JULY - AUGUST, 1950