San Jose State University SJSU ScholarWorks Special Libraries, 1910 Special Libraries, 1910s 12-1-1910 Special Libraries, December 1910 Special Libraries Association Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1910 Part of the Cataloging and Metadata Commons, Collection Development and Management Commons, Information Literacy Commons, and the Scholarly Communication Commons Recommended Citation Special Libraries Association, "Special Libraries, December 1910" (1910). Special Libraries, 1910. 10. https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1910/10 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Special Libraries, 1910s at SJSU ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Special Libraries, 1910 by an authorized administrator of SJSU ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SpecialI Libraries - . ---- - _ - ___ ___- Vol. 1. DECEMBER, 1910 No. 10 --- -- -- -- . - - - . - -- PIJBLISI-TED nY ~r-lfi; THE LIBRARY SIDE OF THE DEPART- SPECIAL LIDRARIES ASSOCIATION MENT OF LEGISLATIVE REFER- Edilorial Once, State Library. ENCE, BALTIMORE. Indianapolis, Ind. ?.T wr H. \VAI,I.IP.C~~liiln~rr. Appllcatlon pcndlng for. aclmls~ion as sccnnA- Thc mere details of 1ibra1-y routine work clnss matter nt the PosCoRicr. Intl~nnnpolis,Ind m~kera1:lc.r dry ret~dingfor those not es- 1)ecially interested in the kind of work clis- Su11srril)tion. .....$2.00 :L year (10 n~unl~crs)c.uhsctl: but special Ilbraries have little Single copies. .....................2,5 cenls ~)roblenlsof their own ansing, and such in- -. - - --- - formation n.; to ~118~others arc doing to Prcsldent JOIINCOTTON DANA solvo Iheln will 116 welcome lo each one 1a7r& P~ll>licLIIira~y, Newnrlc N 3 in its rleve1ol)ment. As legislative refer- Vlcc-prt'sidrn1 llonmw 'T-I. I\'IIITTBN Pul~llc~ervlce ~olnrnlssion, New Yorlc City. ence librnrles are increasing so ral)idly, we Ser~~c~tn~~v-'l'leas~ilc'i'- - - Gcr 1% MARION may expect 11efore very long an ~nterchange Arthur D. Llttle, Inc., 93 Rrond St., Boston, h1a.s~ of l)il)liogral~l~ies,digests of laws, and die- Executive 1:onrtl : PIWSIUBNT.VICE-PIIESIDI.:NT Sl:rRW~.41lY-'I'IU3,<SCREI1, hfANhG1NO EDITOR SPE- c~issions of romnlon interesl ~)ubllshed by rrAr. T.initanlPs G~ortr;s W. T,m, Slonc thc cle~)a~'tlnenlsthemselves. Some libmv- k \Yclister. Boston. TTER~ERT 0 Bn~orranr, ies arc already doing such valuable service. Statr Lillrr~rv,Piol'l~lcnce, P,. I. Mnling~ngl~rliibr of Rnerinl T~lhr~~Irs: TL woultl 11c well, tiowever, to have no re co- JOIIN1\ LAW, Sta~cIlilir.my. I~icllanapnl~s,Incl olieration in Lhc organization nncl methods - - . - - or such libraries; and the freer thc discus- CONTENTS. sicns. Ihc 11~11er Tor thc libraries. The Library of the Department of Legis- The Raltimore clclmrtment. occupies three lative References, Baltimore, hIary S. small rooms acl.jncrn1, lo lhe second branch Wallis ...........................73 council cllanlber. It is in no wav connecled Sources of Municipal Information, Fwd- wit11 the stnte, city 01, 1)ublic library, and 7- all Ihc malerial required for ils use musl be ericlr Rex. 1.1 ....................... colleclacl and kept on Ale by .the delx~rl- State Legislation ................... 76 Public Affairs, Yotes and References.. .. 78 nlent Itself. As quite as much atlention B~bl~ographies 79 IS given to state as to municipal matters, .................... I he constant accmnulation of matcrial along l~olll lines gives me to the problc~n of The meeting of the Si,ecial I~il~rnriesAs- shel\>ingroom and slorage. New sections sociation in I3oslo11, Sovember 11, adds fin- of six FIIBIV~S each have just been 01'- dered, which will require a shifting of al- other clialller to the significant progress no st the whole library, colisist~ngof 1,315 wllicll the association is making. The pro- l?oolrs and G,I.IG ~)ampl~lets,excluding bills, gram was practical anrl coml~reliensive,Lhe clil11)ingh and articles of four pages nncl attendancc was good; and the l~ul~liciiv less. At lhe same time an inventory will he taken and there will I)e a careful weecl- given to the meet~ngsby lhe press shows in.: out process, for atl yet nothinq has the lively interest being lnlren in the work. hen cliscardecl hul 1mirn1)ortanl dul~llcates. A fuil d~zestof the pal)ers and adclrcsses Some of our volumes lo which refe~wxeis will be 11ul)lislied in (he January issue of seldom made, such as out or chle financial reports, TTnited States labor ~.cl)ortsand Special IJbraries bullelins, hnvc been stored away in a cor- The conslitution of the association was ner of a council committee room, arranged amended to ~nakethe clues one dollar per syst,ematicnlly, and the ])!ace of each vol- year. The subscril~tion pisice of Spec~alLi- ume desiqnated ulmn the cnlalog carcls by a braries will remain at two dollars, but to sn~allred rross members the price will be one dollar. This The sllennl scheme of tho Dewey cleci- action was necessary lo conform to Ille ma1 clnssification, as devised by the Wis- rules of the postofficc clepartn~ent regarcl- COIIS~II tlej)artment, has bean found lo be a ing second class mail matter. very satisfactory basis, with, oP course, utl- h second meeting will be hold tho first ditions and changes to s111t~ndividual needs week in Jannary in Chicago, the I]rogram of the lil~~~ary.Each s1)ecial lil)rary must and exact date of which mill be Infer nn- devise its own schen~cor else adapt an- nounced. otlle~~wI1ic11 scrves as n bnsis, for the de- SPECIAL LIBRARIES mands of each differ considerably. The ever-growing catalog. Condensation in cer- number for taxation in Baltimore Was ex- tain cases is helpful to the investigator as panded to include tax on city stock, depart- well as a saving of labor on the part of the ment stores, manufactures, taxation in the cataloger; for example, references to laws anqex, etc., as these qu'estions came UP or ordinances on a certain subject are ar- for discussion. The number for Commls- ranged in a list on one or two cards, in- sion governn~entwas changed to take its stead of a separate card for each one. The place before the citv charters in the execu- catalog tells, among its other detailed in- tive's room, where it was in demand. Many formation, what subjects may be found In changes and additional subject headings the letter file: thus the catalog is a key to were made and are being made continu- the whole library, and in minute analyxa- ally, for investigations along new subjects tion scarcely an article of importance, ~f are ceaseless. The aim in classifying is to only a page, is allowed to escape. The hard place all material on a given subject in one and fast rules of cataloging a large public place. Although this necessitates filing or college library may be boiled down or papers, clippings, hills, and pamphlets dispensed with in a library of this kind. among >he books unon the sh~lvns,the con- Thus, the author's full name, date of birth venience in knowing what may be had at a and death are not necessary, and a name glance, justifies the method. Large ma- list is of little value, while a subject list nila cnv~lopesand pamphlet boxes of two is of great value to the cataloger. Accu- sixes are used for the preservation of the racy, hoyever, regarding rules adopted nlust scrappy material. Separate bills from other be observed. states are classifled according to subject During the session of the legislature the and tied with red tane hetween cardboard bills are indexed as fast as they are sent in pamphlet form. Clippings from news- up from the printers. At the last session papers are mounted upon cardboard, tied twelve copies of each bill were received, tog~therwith tape, or, if over size, placed one each for our permanent flle, SIX for in large envelopes, while Dazes cut from coniplete sets to exchange wilh other stales, books and magazines are made into Pam- and the rest for general distribution The ]lhkt~by thc Hotchkiss pamuhl~tmachine. proceedings as printed in the newspapers All these arc classified according to sub- &re clipped and preserved. When the list ject. The clippins method is used freely of bills as signed by the governor nllpeass, ullon magazines, newsnallers and some du- it IS indicated on the cards by the letter glicates, requirinx so much time that out- "P," meaning "passed." In case of amend- sid? help had to be engaged several times ments, notes are added on the cards refer- to get through with the mass of it. The ring to pages in the journal proceedings most useful of our magazines, such as The or perhaps to typewritten copies in the let- City Hall, The American' City, Municipal ter flle. Ordinances are received from the Journal and Engineer aud The Survey will city register soon after they are passed by be sent to the binder's, but cards are made the council and approved by the mayor. for all articles in them to which refe+ence and are a190 indexed under specific sub- may be made. Duplicates are kept sepa- jects. Thus we have four card indexes, rate, classifled and arranged on top of the the regular dictionary catalog, legislatwe shelves, except thoso which are in con- bills, ordinances and the hills of the dif- stant demand, such as the Maryland pub- ferent states received from the Law Re- lic service commission law, which are porting Company. placed with t,he library copy; no record is The checking up of all the cards as pub- kept of them, as they are given freely to lished by the Law Reporting Conlpany is those who wish them.