r~ 3, PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1965 CLINIC I ON LIBRARY APPLICATIONS OF DATA PROCESSING Graduate School of Library Science University of Illinois PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1965 CLINIC ON LIBRARY APPLICATIONS OF DATA PROCESSING Held at the Illini Union on the Urbana Campus of the University of Illinois, April 25-28, 1965 Edited by FRANCES B. JENKINS Distributed by The Illini Union Bookstore Champaign, Illinois Copyright 1966 by The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois FOREWORD The University of Illinois Graduate School of Library Science in cooperation with the Division of University Extension sponsors an annual Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing. This volume presents the papers given at the third of these clinics which was held in the Illini Union Building, on the University of Illinois campus, on April 25-28, 1965. As Herbert Goldhor pointed out in the preface to the proceed- ings of the first of these clinics, in helping to meet the challenging problem posed by a mounting volume of publication combined with the increasing demand for factual information: "the Library School's role in this area is seen as half-way be- tween the theoretical work being done by those at the frontier and the needs of the practitioners in the field. It would be un- fortunate if there were no one doing the difficult and necessary exploration of new ideas and of possible solutions; it would be equally unfortunate if there were no one next in line to inter- pret this work and to pass on its results to those who will have to apply them in practice. The enthusiastic response of those who came to this Clinic would bear out the correctness of the position.* The attendance at the third Clinic continues to reflect the grow- ing number of doers in library automation. Approximately sixty colleges, universities, public, state, and special libraries were rep- resented by one to four librarians at this Clinic. These libraries are either already using a computer or are planning to use one in the near future. As in other Clinics, representative types of libraries were selected which were thought to have automated sufficiently to make their experiences of value to other libraries. An appropriate person from each of the selected libraries was invited to present a report of the library's activities in this area. In addition to the papers recording the experiences of individual libraries there are three general papers, one by C. Dake Gull on the present state of the art, one by Arthur Brody on the application in a library-oriented industry, and one by William Greiner on library applications of UNIVAC equipment. iii Responsibility for planning the Clinic rested with a committee of the Graduate School of Library Science faculty composed of Direc- tor Herbert Goldhor, chairman, Professor Holland E. Stevens, and Professor Frances B. Jenkins. This committee had the able assis- tance of Mr. Hugh Davison, Clinic Supervisor, Division of University Extension, and Mrs. Bonnie G. Noble, Graduate School of Library Science. The progress and conduct of the Clinic was the work of many hands. First a word of thanks from the committee to the other members of the faculty of the Graduate School of Library Science with special thanks to Mrs. Barbara Donagon and Mrs. Nancy Works for the preparation of these papers for publication; and a word of grat- itude to the staffs of the Division of Extension and the mini Union for their cooperation. But most of all a word of appreciation to the speakers and registrants, those librarians who are making library automation a reality in their institutions, without whose eager and enthusiastic participation the clinic could not have been a success. Frances B. Jenkins, Editor iv OTHER VOLUMES IN THIS SERIES Proceedings of the 1963 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Pro- cessing. Pp. 176. Proceedings of the 1964 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Pro- cessing. Pp. 117. Order from the Illini Union Bookstore, 715 S. Wright St., Champaign, m. 61803. $2.00 in paper covers, $3.00 in cloth covers. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page FOREWORD iii THE PRESENT STATE OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION C. Dake Gull 1 THE DATA PROCESSING PROGRAM IN OPERATION AT THE SUFFOLK COOPERATIVE LIBRARY SYSTEM, PATCHOGUE, NEW YORK Walter W. Curley 15 870 DOCUMENT WRITING SYSTEM OF IBM CORPORATION IN THE LIBRARY SECTION, LOS ANGELES CITY SCHOOLS Mary Seely Dodendorf 43 BRO-DART INDUSTRIES' EXPERIENCE WITH ELECTRONIC DATA PROCESSING Arthur Brody 65 HOW TO DESIGN DATA PROCESSING INPUT RECORDS FOR OPTIMUM RESULTS John P. Kennedy 79 FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Edward Heiliger 92 THE ONULP BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTROL SYSTEM. AN EVALUATION Ritvars Bregzis 112 COMPUTER INDEXING OF THE PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS George R. Perreault 141 LIBRARY APPLICATIONS OF DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT AT ABBOTT LABORATORIES Walter A. Southern 156 DATA PROCESSING EQUIPMENT AND THE LIBRARY William E. Greiner 175 LIBRARY APPLICATIONS OF DATA PROCESSING: A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY, 1963-64 James Krikelas 193 THE PRESENT STATE OF LIBRARY AUTOMATION A Study in Reluctant Leadership C. Dake Gull This discussion will cover a rapid survey of the various un- dertakings in library automation during 1964-65, a brief sketch of how automation reached our national libraries, and the uses to which it has been put, including this author's views concerning the role these libraries must play in the future of automation in all libraries, and some actions worth considering to insure that national libraries fulfill their central and crucial role in the nationwide system as well as in the process of automating libraries. Library automation in April 1965 affects only a very small part of the activities of libraries in the United States, for attempts to automate have been undertaken in only a very small number of librar- ies in comparison to the total, and only for a limited number of op- erations in those libraries. In spite of this circumstance, the amount of activity directed towards library automation is already so large that accurate information is not available on how many libraries have operative programs, and even less information is available on how many libraries may be considering the automation or mechani- zation of some of their operations. There is not even an organized and continuing effort to gather information about library automation and to publish it for the profession. These conclusions, consequently, are based almost entirely upon secondary sources because it was not possible to visit most of the operations which will be described and summarized. The neces- sity of relying upon written descriptions and conversations and the failure to visit most of the installations should lead to suspicion that there are inaccuracies and misinterpretations in this presentation. Time and careful studies will uncover them. One lesson learned thoroughly from efforts to introduce automation and to provide ob- jective, balanced, and satisfactory consulting and engineering ser- vices to libraries is that the reality of mechanization and automation C. Dake Gull is Professor in the Division of Library Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. in a library, as a direct experience, is likely to be quite different from the impressions gained from conversations and written de- scriptions. In spite of this, and in addition to the warnings about the unreliabilities on which the conclusions may be founded, an attempt will be made to present what the author believes to be a reasonable selection and interpretation of the library automation which exists at the present time. The author is very much indebted to many librarians for the up-to-date information they have sent, because the accounts in our literature are too often out-of-date on publication. There are a few doers who are making library automation a reality in their libraries. A larger number of librarians are de- signing and planning, and an even larger number are interested or are watchfully waiting to see what other libraries, especially our national libraries, will do. It is fortunate that so many of the doers in library automation have prepared papers for this Clinic. The summaries the author has seen and has roughed out him- self show that information retrieval (IR) is the least common of library automation activities. Information retrieval is more common in documentation centers than in libraries, a distinction which ac- curately reflects their greater needs for IR. The operating examples of library automation are found in acquisitions and order work; cataloging, in the production of book catalogs and card catalogs; serials work, in most of its aspects^ and circulation records work. The introduction of automation for ac- quisitions and order work improves those procedures internally and offers better financial control. The ready availability of new catalogs in book form, as yet of less than 100,000 titles, in cumulated series or in new editions, serves our library users better than before, because of their currency and easy distribution in published forms. The use of automation for circulation and serials records has im- proved service to library users, in an area where there is much work to do. Daily circulation lists organized in two parts, one by book call numbers and the other by borrowers' identification numbers, and lists of reserved or otherwise displaced books are invaluable aids, especially when they are in multiple copies and can also be used for immediate inventory control. Weekly lists of newly-arrived serials, showing all the pertinent facts about individual issues, are a great help in serving users, especially when supported by updated holdings lists of all serial titles. The following equipment is currently being used: 1. Most of the standard units of punched card equipment. 2. Paper tape typewriters as peripheral computer components, or as independent units for catalog card production.