College and Research Libraries By A R T H U R M . M c A N A L L Y Recent Developments in Cooperation Dr. Mc Anally is assistant director in charge of Public Service Departments, Uni- versity of Illinois Library. THE FEW short years since the end of the war have witnessed a quickening of in- terest and activity in library cooperation, especially in the provision of information -for research purposes. T h e reasons for this growing interest are apparent. Nearly every library want$to improve its services or at least to hold its own, yet all have been faced with higher costs brought about in part by general increases in the cost of living and in part by an ever-growing - volume of publications reflecting a tre- mendous amount of increasingly specialized research. T h e fact that library operational costs increase roughly in proportion to the growth in size of library collections also has come to be recognized as a factor. Additional impetus toward cooperative ef- fort has been given by technological prog- ress and the rise of new forces or agencies of cooperation, especially those of national and international scope. There also has been a shift of major emphasis since the war as libraries attempted to find new or more effective approaches to basic problems, and have gone back to a re-examination of fundamentals in the hope of finding some short cut to more effective provision of in- formation for research purposes. A t the same time, none of the previous achieve- ments in cooperative effort have been abandoned or decreased at all, and they still remain, at least for the present and in some cases permanently, the most useful and APRIL, 1951 effective means of cooperation for library service.1 Interlibrary Loans Perhaps the most elementary form of li- brary cooperation is represented by inter- library loans and interlibrary privileges. When the national interlibrary loan code of 1940 was adopted, it was expected that the practice was stabilized and that no more problems should arise for some time. But within two years, the code was liberalized among one regional group of libraries, those included in the Pacific Northwest Biblio- graphic Center region.2 A f t e r the war, the value and cost of interlibrary loans in- creased rapidly as transportation costs rose, as graduate college enrolments expanded throughout the country, and as more li- braries began to defray interlibrary loan costs for their own scholars. Within the last three years, a number of proposals have been advanced for a modification in inter- library loans. Charles W . David of the University of Pennsylvania proposed to re- duce costs and simplify practices by substi- tuting direct loans, at least regionally, for formal interlibrary loans.3 T h e problems of the college library are presented ably by 1 An excellent view of the status of library cooperation up to the end of the war is given by three works. The best summary is Robert B. Downs, "American Library C o o p e r a t i o n i n R e v i e w . " College and Research Libraries, 6:407-15, September 1945. The most thorough and systematic is Mildred Hawksworth Lowell, College and University Library Consolidations. E u g e n e , O r e g o n State System of Higher Education, 1942. The third is good on local-regional cooperation: Sidney Butler Smith, "College and University Library Cooperation." Library Quarterly, 16:122-39, April 1946. 2 See Proposed Regional Interlibrary Loan Code in "The Pacific Northwest Bibliographic Center." College and Research Libraries, 8 : 5 7 , J a n u a r y 1 9 4 7 . 3 "Remarks on Interlibrary Loans, Mid-2oth Century S t y l e . " College and Research Libraries, 1 0 : 4 2 9 - 3 3 , October 1949. 10 7 Felix E. Hirsch.4 Within the last year, a question has been raised about restricting use of manuscript materials by visiting scholars or the microfilming of such ma- terials for other libraries.5 A study of loans has been conducted in England. T h e Farmington Plan has as a basic tenet the free interlibrary lending of resources ac- quired on the program. Union Lists Union lists have long been one of the most prolific and useful of all forms of co- operation. Several important ones have been issued since the w a r ; in fact, there are so many that no exhaustive coverage is pos- sible within this space. Among those of na- tional scope have been the Short Title Cata- logue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America, 1641- 1700, compiled by Donald W i n g . T w o of the projected three volumes have appeared so far. It carries on beyond the previous Short Title Catalogue. A second and dif- ferent type is Local Indexes in American Libraries, compiled by N . O . Ireland, list- ing unpublished indexes of resources. T w o other useful guides are Schwegman's News- papers on Microfilm and European Im- prints for the War Years Received in the Library of Congress. T h e Library of Con- gress also has begun the monumental task of editing the some 15,000,000 cards of the American Imprints Inventory. In Eng- land, the British union catalog of periodi- cals apparently is nearing completion and should be noted. A new edition of the Union List of Tech- nical Periodicals in Two Hundred Li- braries of the Science-Technology Group of the Special Libraries Association has ap- peared ; a second supplement to the second 4 "Interlibrnry Loans from the College Viewpoint." College and Research Libraries, 1 0 : 4 3 4 - 3 9 , 4 4 4 , O c t o b e r 1 9 4 9 . 5 "Brief of Minutes, Association of Research Li- braries." College and Research Libraries, 11:267-68, July 1950. edition of the monumental Union List of Serials is in process, and a new edition of the main list is being considered for publica- tion seven to ten years hence, perhaps in a different form. Regional or local union lists have been published of serials holdings in Hawaii, Greater Cincinnati, Metropolitan Detroit and Winnipeg. T h e series of three state imprint lists, sponsored by the Bibliographi- cal Society of America, have now appeared for Rhode Island (1727-1800), Arkansas (1821-1876), and Dakota (1858-1889); other state imprint lists were issued for Oregon, Texas and Virginia. As already noted the eventual disposition of the im- mense collection of the American Imprints Inventory cards may have some bearing on the state imprints field. Interest in union lists certainly has not abated, though increasing labor costs are making such publications more difficult. Union Catalogs and Bibliographical Centers These two topics have been treated separately in previous studies, but changes since 1945 make it desirable to combine the two for discussion. N o new union catalogs have been undertaken since the war, per- haps because of rising labor costs and un- certainties about size of regional units or other such factors. One has been proposed for the Richmond area, but the suggested program is so broad that it should be con- sidered instead as a proposed regional center. T h e recommendations given in the report on this project are an excellent sum- mary of the values of a union catalog and bibliographical center in terms of one spe- cific region.6 T h e most striking fact about these exist- ing union catalogs and bibliographical cen- 8 Downs, R. B. "Opportunities for Library Coopera- tion and Coordination in the Richmond Area: Report of a Survey, with Recommendations." [n.p., 1947] ( Mimeographed) 124 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES ters is that they have all continued a steady growth and in many instances have ex- panded their services beyond the more ele- mentary phase of being solely a union cata- log. A l l have tended to become more truly bibliographical centers. T h e problem of financial support has been met successfully if not liberally. Summaries of these in- creased activities and of progress are con- tained in the three symposia on regional library centers in College and Research Libraries for 1947 and 1948. Their useful- ness undoubtedly is continuing to increase as their services become more varied. Professional attention has been directed recently to regional interlibrary centers em- bodying some of the features of the regional bibliographical center plus storage—co- operative acquisitions features. Revolution- ary proposals in bibliographical service and advances in bibliography and technology also may produce still further changes' in bibliographical centers, but most of these proposals are still in the theory, study and experiment stage. However, if some of them are achieved, this would relieve the regional centers of the burden of maintain- ing union catalogs and allow them to devote more attention to policies and planning. Most of the ferment in the union catalog field concerns the National Union Catalog of the Library of Congress, which nearly every research librarian would like to see published and made available. T h e task is no mean one, and the results would be valuable indeed. It has been proposed that it be tied in with cooperative cataloging and bibliography-making and be a by-product of these activities,7 that it be issued in nu- merical form using Library of Congress card numbers,8 and that it be put on punched cards.9 A more comprehensive plan which 7 Ellsworth. Ralph. "Centralized Cataloging for Scholarly Libraries." Library Quarterly, 15:237-43, July 1945. s Dewey, Harry. "The Numerical Union Catalog." Library Quarterly, 18:33-44, January 1948. considers the Union Catalog in relation to other bibliographies of national scope rec- ommends publication in reduced facsimile from cards.10 Various other proposals have been made, but so far no decision has been reached. Incidentally, in response to re- quests, the Library of Congress has con- tinued to supply copies of its printed cards to union catalogs and selected other libraries which serve as regional research centers. T w o new developments that might be considered in the area of union catalogs should be noted. First, clearinghouse func- tions have been assumed by the Library of Congress for microfilming projects and for translations from the Slavic by federal agencies. T h e Special Libraries Associa- tion is sponsoring a similar information service for the location of translators of technical and scientific material. Second, certain New England libraries have con- sidered issuing a printed union catalog but how seriously is uncertain. Descriptions of Resources T h e bibliographical guide to resources of American libraries undertaken by R. B. Downs, under a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, is ready for printing. A l - though not strictly a description of resources themselves, it will be a valuable guide, and is the only notable national one of the post- war period. T h e regional survey of south- eastern library resources is noteworthy in the regional field.11 Surveys of at least two individual university library collections, those of the University of California and of the University of North Carolina, have appeared. T h e former is available on 9 Wagman, Frederick H. "A Union Catalog on P u n c h e d C a r d s . " Library of Congress Information Bulletin, v. 9, no. 19, p.31-37, May 8, 1950. 10 Downs, R. B. "Report and Supplementary Report on the National Union Catalog and Related Matters." Library of Congress Information Bulletin, A u g u s t 9 - 1 5 , 1949. Appendix, p. 1-23. 11 Wilson, Louis R., and Milczewski, Marion, eds. Li- braries of the Southeast; a Report of the Southeastern States Cooperative Library Survey, 1946-47. C h a p e l Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1949. APRIL, 1951 10 7 microfilm; the latter is printed. T h e ex- tensive survey, Special Library Resources, was continued and completed, volumes two, three and four appearing in 1946-47. A noteworthy proposal for a new kind of sur- vey of all regional resources is under con- sideration by Margaret Egan and Jesse H . Shera: the approach would be by informa- tion needed and sources of information. Photographic Reproduction Some of the developments in the field of microfilm have been undertaken com- mercially and perhaps should not be termed cooperative, but they are important and should be mentioned. Examples of com- mercial programs are the increasing publi- cation of doctoral dissertations on micro- film, the beginning of a project for the microfilming of all English books before 1600, microfilming of early American periodicals, and development of a program, in cooperation with the publishers of cer- tain journals, for microfilming current is- sues as a substitute for binding by the sub- scribing library. T h e Committee on Docu- mentary Reproduction of the American Historical Association has a very ambitious program for microfilming the most impor- tant cultural source materials of all the accessible countries of the world. Perhaps the most progress in cooperation in this field has been made by the Library of Congress with the help of the Associa- tion of Research Libraries' Committee on Microfilming Cooperation. T h e Library of Congress has established a clearinghouse for microfilming projects, issued the list of Newspapers on Microfilm, and continues to or has begun to microfilm certain news- papers, foreign manuscript and archival sources for American history and other foreign records. Oftentimes, this is done in cooperation with other agencies or li- braries. T h e Association of Research Li- braries and the Library of Congress have collaborated in issuing a set of commonly accepted technical standards, have en- couraged loan of positive microfilms, agreed to make certain microfilms available to others, and considered establishing a plan- ning committee to evaluate and coordinate projects. T h e value of these activities can hardly be overestimated, but they are so ex- tensive that reference is made to two basic articles in the field in lieu of further dis- cussion.12 T h e competition between microcards and microfilm has not lessened. Produc- tion of microcards has continued, with some technical improvements and further ex- ploration of areas of possible usefulness. Lack of a good reader on the market de- layed activity for a while. Fremont Rider proposed a microcard catalog, and has com- pared the use of microcards to the storage of library resources with good cost studies and estimates of comparative effectiveness.13 Cooperative Cataloging T h e major developments in this area were the beginning of supplements to the Library of Congress Catalog of Printed Cards. T h e supplements included first, a cumulative author catalog, and beginning in 1950 the cumulative Subject Catalog as well. These are of course landmarks in cooperative cataloging and bibliography. More catalog copy has been supplied to the Library of Congress; the operation of the Farmington Plan may lead to still fur- ther improvement in this respect. Coopera- tive cataloging is one of^the great achieve- ments of American librarjjanship, but it has its faults; the Library of Congress and the 12 Lacy, Dan. "Microfilming- as a Major Acquisitions Tool: Policies. Plans and Problems." Library of Con- gress Quarterly Journal of Current Acquisitions, 6 : 8 - 1 7 , May 1949. Born, Lester K. "Microfilming Abroad." College and Research Libraries, u/:250-s8, July 1950. 13 Rider, Fremont, f "Warehouse or Microcard." Li- brary Journal, 75:832-36, May 15, 1950; 75:927-31, June x, 1950. 126 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES Association of Research Libraries as well as others, have sought continued improve- ment. T h e increase in the cost of printed cards should be noted, as well as the un- successful attempt in Congress to make li- braries pay for part of the cost of cataloging by increasing the price of the cards. In Great Britain, the beginning of The British National Bibliography in 1950 is decidedly noteworthy. It provides.national bibliographical and cataloging services for books deposited in the Copyright Office of the British Museum. Sponsor is the Coun- cil of the British National Bibliography. Duplicate Exchanges T h e postwar period has seen the growth of interest in improving international ex- changes. T h e United States Book exchange was established to facilitate international book exchange between American and for- eign libraries. It succeeded the American Book Center for War-Devastated Libraries, with the aid of the Rockefeller Foundation, the State Department and Unesco. It is now on a firm footing, with 23 participating United States libraries and 570 libraries abroad.14 Unesco's activity in promoting and facilitating international exchanges is broader in scope, for it also encourages exchanges among other nations as well. Its UNESCO Bulletin for Libraries was started in part to publish lists of exchange materials. A l l of these developments are in the field of international exchanges. O n a regional level, the work of the Pacific Northwest Bibliographic Center in serving as a clear- ing house for discards is noteworthy. Local and Regional Cooperation In a given geographical region, library cooperation may take a variety of different 14 Association of Research Libraries. Minutes. Jan. 26, '95°, p.39-41. See also "United States Book Exchange to Continue under Grant." Library Journal, 74:184-85, Feb. 1, 1949. forms, and it seems more convenient to discuss such cooperation by cooperating units rather than to attempt to discuss the various activities by the form they take. O n the regional level, two very signifi- cant advances have been made, the first in the establishment of the Midwest Inter- Library Center in Chicago and the second in the formation of the Regional Council for Education in the South. Both have just recently begun operations, and it is too early yet to foresee clearly what will be their lines of development or to estimate their ultimate effect and influence. T h e Midwest Inter-Library Center came into being primarily through the efforts of university presidents, who had become in- creasingly disturbed by the growing size and cost of research library collections and buildings. Started with the financial aid of die Carnegie Corporation and the Rocke- feller Foundation, the center is erecting a central compact storage building on land near the University of Chicago campus. It will have a capacity of over 2,500,000 volumes, but planning is progressing far beyond the usual storage idea alone. T h e center has already done the pioneer work of establishing categories of deposits and classes of materials that are desired (in descending priority), working out a schedule of assessments for financial sup- port, planning a microfilming program, preparing a Manual of Procedures for Participating Libraries, planning for tele- type intercommunication, and many other such steps incidental to getting under way.1 5 Some state laws have been modified to clarify legal questions. Although the cen- ter has been promoted in good part by uni- 15 See "A Midwest Cooperative Library Program." f Col well Report] [1948?] (Mimeographed). Also use- ful is Ernest C. Colwell, "Cooperation or Suffocation." College and Research Libraries, 1 0 : 1 9 5 - 9 8 , 2 0 7 , J u l y 1949. Several verv interesting proposals are in the article by Ralph E. Ellsworth and Norman L. Kilpatrick, "Midwest Reaches for the Stars." College and Research Libraries. 9 : 1 3 6 - 4 4 , A p r i l 1 9 4 8 . The Midwest Inter- Library Center Newsletter also contains much informa- tion. APRIL, 1951 10 7 versity presidents themselves, no public con- sideration has been given, at least so far, to broader problems of specialization agree- ments in subject fields among the various participating institutions, but that might come later after basic problems are an- swered. So far, the concept of the center still appears to be evolving. Thirteen uni- versities are participating members, all of them relatively large institutions. Some librarians have been on the governing board, and an advisory committee of librarians was added early in 1950. T h e problems which the center is attempting to solve of course are vital ones to all research libraries. A similar regional library forjJif* north- east is being discussed as it varies in a few respects from the Midwest Inter-Library Center.1 6 T h e Denver Bibliographical Center has just announced the acquisitions of some storage facilities.17 In the South, a different type of regional cooperative program has been begun with the establishment and functioning of the Regional Council for Education. T h e council is an outgrowth of the 1947 Con- ference of Southern Governors, and is aimed at improving higher education in the South in order to advance the social and economic level of the southern states. It has paid particular attention to medical education and to higher education for negroes, and has disregarded state bounda- ries to negotiate contracts with 14 institu- tions by June 1950. Achievements or work in progress in the South, either by the coun- cil or other agencies, are a study of regional resources and uses by geographers of the South, contracts for medical education be- tween various state universities, agreements for cooperative engineering research in the 18 Metcalf, Keyes D. "A Proposal for the Northwest- e r n R e g i o n a l L i b r a r y . " College and Research Libraries, 11:238-44, July 1950; White, Carl M., "A New Mech- anism in the Organization of Library Service in the N o r t h e a s t . " College and Research Libraries, 1 1 : 2 2 8 - 3 7 , July 1950. 17 Library Journal, 7 5 : 7 9 3 - 9 4 , M a y 1 5 , 1 9 5 0 . T . V . A . laboratories, formation of the O a k Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, and similar actions. T h e whole program is a very broad one indeed, usually organized on the basis of cooperation in higher edu- cation, although library cooperation in all forms in the southeast has long been ad- vocated under the leadership of Louis R. Wilson and others. N o interlibrary center such as that established at Chicago is pro- posed for the entire region.18 In the field of medical education, a pro- posal for cooperation is still pending be- tween Colorado on the one hand and N e w Mexico and W y o m i n g on the other. Legal difficulties had prevented final action at last report.19 It should be noted that the idea of a national system of regional libraries con- tinues to crop up more and more frequently. Such a system is mentioned as inevitable by Ernest C . Colwell,2 0 and the following statement 011 the subject appears in a report of the Association of Research Li- braries' Committee on Research Libraries and the Library of Congress: . . there was strong opinion in the committee that there must in due course be a network of great regional libraries established in this country which can hardly be created and maintained without federal subsidy."21 Several other statements of the same or a similar idea have appeared since the war. Such a system, probably with the Library of Congress as the central and coordinating unit, remains for the future. T h e programs for federal aid to libraries and to educa- tion, which might have accelerated progress 18 For information on educational cooperation in this region, see the report of the Committee on Cooperation in Higher Education in Southern University Conference, 1 9 4 8 . Proceedings; Reports and Addresses; Constitu- tion and By-Laws. A t l a n t a , G a . , 1 9 4 8 , p. 2 6 - 3 4. On the Regional Council, see William J. McGlothlin, "Regional Bootstraps for Higher Education." Higher Education, 5:97-100, Jan. 1, 1949. Additional informa- t i o n i s i n t h e New York Times. i» "Regional Cooperation in Medical Education." Higher Education, 6 : 1 5 8 - 5 9 , M a r . 1, 1 9 5 0 . 20 Ofi.cit., p. 1 9 7 . 21 "Brief of Minutes, Association of Research Li- braries, Jan. 20, 1949, Chicago." College and Research Libraries, 10:263-67, July 1949. 128 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES in this area, were not passed by Congress. T h e regional organization of the United States Department of Agriculture Library furnishes one example of a coordinated regional-national program of library serv- ice for research in a limited field—its cooperative committee on policy and the recent contract between that library and the University of Nebraska Library might be noted. In Australia, a Council for Scientific and Industrial Research has a somewhat broader subject approach.52 Turning now to cooperation in a more limited geographical area, it is seen that local and limited regional cooperation has continued along the lines pointed out by Downs, Lowell and Smith. A few ex- amples of noteworthy programs or pro- posals are the plans for metropolitan New Y o r k which include division of subject fields, a deposit library, messenger service and improvement of library service in col- leges and universities.23 T h e Pittsburgh area plans liberal interlibrary use by research people, exchange of cards in certain fields, division of purchasing, and a projected union catalog of serials; and the Library Council of the University of California, created to concern itself with "library prob- lems affecting more than one campus, with consistency of policy and practice, and with the appropriate distribution of responsibili- ties"24 among the various campuses. In the college library field, cooperation be- tween Bryn M a w r , Haverford and Swarth- more is a good example of recent develop- ments.25 Some very interesting possibilities for co- 22 Johnston, Barbara. "Serving Scientists in Aus- tralia: Libraries of the Council for Scientific and In- dustrial Research." Special Libraries, 40:203-07, July- August 1949. 23 Gelfand, Morris A. "Library Cooperation in Metro- politan New York: Report of Work in Progress." Col- lege and Research Libraries, 1 1 : 2 4 5 - 4 9 , J u l y 1 9 5 0 . 24 University of California, Library Council. "Secre- tary's Report, 1946-47," p. 1. (Mimeographed) 25 Committee on a Possible Program of Inter-Library C o o p e r a t i o n . Findings of a Committee Appointed to Explore and Report on a Possible Program of Inter- Library Cooperation between Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore Colleges, [ n . p . , 1 9 4 5 ] operation in small regions seem to be offered by teletype installations such as those in the Midwest Inter-Library Center and be- tween the public libraries of Milwaukee and Racine. Eventually some form of Ultrafax might be added. N o study of the various possible applications of teletype to library cooperation has been issued yet. Cooperation on a National Level It was stated earlier that there has been a shift of emphasis in cooperation toward the national and international level. Ex- cluding bibliographic topics, to be covered in the final section, a more chronicling of some of these developments is sufficient to demonstrate this fact. T h e postwar period has seen the rise or growth of the Farming- ton Plan, the Cooperative Acquisitions Project, the United States Book Exchange, the Documents Expediting Project, the Cooperative Committee on Library Build- ing Plans and the Library of Congress' author and subject catalogs. During this same period, T h e National Science Founda- tion A c t was passed, efforts were made to have the Library of Congress declared the national library, and the Association of Research Libraries' Committee on Research Libraries and the Library of Congress ex- plored relations between the respective libraries. O f all these, the Farmington Plan is probably the most important and has the most far-reaching implications. T h e plan proposed that "libraries having research collections join in a cooperative undertaking to bring to this country and make available through one of the cooperating libraries at least one copy of every book or pamphlet, published anywhere in the world following the date of the agreement, that might reasonably be expected to have interest to a research worker in America."26 T h e 26 Metcalf, Keyes D. "Farmington Plan." Harvard Library Bulletin, 2:296-308, A u t u m n 1948. APRIL, 1951 10 7 fields of knowledge were divided among 54 participating libraries, each agreeing to secure foreign publications in its allotted fields. When operation began in 1948, publications from three countries were in- cluded ; the plan was extended to five additional countries in 1949 and three more in 1950. Others will be added later. T h u s the Farmington Plan is a realization of one of the long-time ambitions of Ameri- can librarians, a cooperative division of fields of collecting on a national level, though applied only to foreign publications. W i t h the passage of time the full im- portance of the plan will become more ap- parent. Eventually it may lead to a clearer recognition of the need for an integrated system of cooperating libraries, both among these participating libraries and others that are not included. It is the biggest forward step yet taken in this country on division of fields for collecting.27 Several studies have been made of the need for such a plan, and also of the effectiveness of its operation. Proposals for a similar plan for Great Britain are pending. T h e Cooperative Acquisitions Project grew out of the need for obtaining war- time publications and papers of enemy countries, and the difficulty of obtaining them by individual libraries. Eight thou- sand subject priorities were assigned to 115 libraries in 254 subject fields, publications were secured by purchase or seizure by a special mission, and the items distributed on a pro rata cost basis. A good history and evaluation has been published.28 It has long been known that even li- braries designated as depositories of pub- lished documents of the federal government did not receive nearly all the important publications of the government, particularly those issued in processed form. T o correct 27 Ibid. This is a good historical summary. 28 Downs, R. B. "Wartime Cooperative Acquisitions." Library Quarterly, 1 9 : 1 5 7 - 6 5 . J u l y 1949. this condition and to secure some of "the valuable postwar publications concerning foreign areas, the Documents Expediting Project was begun in June 1946 under sponsorship of four national library as- sociations. Over 1,000,000 pieces had been distributed by 1948 to 70 participating li- braries. Membership is by voluntary con- tributions on a scale of $ioo.2 9 T h e Cooperative Committee on Library Building Plans was initiated in 1944 by President Dodds of Princeton University, who invited 15 colleges and universities to join in setting up a committee that would concern itself with common problems of the institutions in the planning of library buildings. It operated through the ex- change of experience, ideas and knowledge. A grant from the Rockefeller Foundation provided for publication of its seven meeting reports (each including plans of different libraries) and the final monograph.30 Vari- ous other institutions participated in the program before its termination in 1949. Its work was invaluable in improving library building plans during the period of intense activity following the end of the war. Some of the agencies or influences that have promoted library cooperation, usually on a national scale, should be noted. T h e work of the Library of Congress and of the Association of Research Libraries has al- ready been mentioned in preceding sections. T h e publication of a digest of the associ- ation's Minutes in College and Research Libraries has been a new and very welcome service to the profession generally, for some proposals for cooperation appear first in these Minutes. Several publications of the Library of Congress have been invaluable, 29 See John H. Thaxter, "Special Washington Service Assures Receipt of Documents." Library Journal, 74: 1744-46, Nov. i s , 1949. More recent information is in the Association of Research Libraries' Minutes of Jan. 2'6, 1950. 30 Cooperative Committee on Library Building Plans. Planning the University Library Building; a Summary of Discussions by Librarians, Architects, and Engineers; ed. by John E. Burchard, et. al. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1949. 130 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES including the Library of Congress Informa- tion Bulletin, giving news of the library and its many varied activities and special proj- ects; its Quarterly Journal of Current Acquisitions, and the United States Quar- terly Book Review. T h e American Library Association, Association of College and Ref- erence Libraries, and other national library associations, along with various learned societies such as the American Chemical Society have contributed to progress in cooperation. Other agencies fostering co- operation are the National Science Founda- tion, the Atomic Energy Commission, Armed Forces contracting offices and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Library. Army M a p Service, with its map deposi- tories including exchange agreements, has exerted influence, as has the Office of Sci- entific and Research Development and the Publication Board. Not least important of these, the philanthropic foundations have given a special impetus to cooperative planning and projects in recent years. International Cooperation It is difficult to separate other phases of international cooperation from bibliographi- cal or information projects, for much in- ternational effort has been directed toward improving the dissemination and biblio- graphical control of information. Unquestionably the outstanding achieve- ment in this field has been the starting of — a broad library program by Unesco. T h e Libraries Section has three subsections which indicate the lines of activity: public libraries, bibliography and documentation and a clearinghouse for publications.31 Its book coupon scheme, intended to reduce national and currency barriers in the pur- chase of library materials, has been noted 31 See Edward J. Carter, "UNESCO's Library Pro- grams and Work." Library Quarterly, 18:235-44, Oc- tober 1948. as a great advance.32 T h e Libraries Sec- tion has been quite active in international bibliographical affairs. T w o international conferences were held in Washington to foster library develop- ment in the Americas and to stimulate library relations among the different coun- tries. . T h e Inter-American Library Con- ference took place in 1946, and the Assembly of Librarians of the Americas in 1947. T h e published proceedings of each present an outline of conditions, needs and areas for cooperative action. Also in South America, efforts have been made to aid in improving the university libraries of Buenos Aires, Chile, San Marcos in Peru and others through cooperation of those institutions with the Library of Congress and the State Department. A survey of information exchange in certain of these countries and recommendations for im- provement have been made by Ralph Shaw.33 In education for librarianship, various government agencies have aided in the establishment of several library schools in South America.34 Along similar lines, a sound library school has been projected for Japan with the cooperation of the Army and the American Library Association. T h e library program for Japan is very thorough and enlightened. Efforts have been made to improve its Diet Library and expand it into a national library,35 improve the publication and distribution of results of agricultural research, and to foster the growth of public libraries. T h e international exchange of library personnel has been encouraged by the Di- 3 2 F o r d e t a i l s , s e e UNESCO Bulletin for Libraries, 1:46-50, June 1947- 33 "Survey of Scientific and Technical Communication in Mexico, Guatemala, Central America, Panama, and C o l o m b i a . " College and Research Libraries, 1 0 : 3 5 2 - 6 0 , October 1949. 34 Gjelsness, Rudolph. _ "Inter-American Collaboration in Education for Librarianship: Bogota, Quito, Lima." Library Quarterly, 16:187-201, July 1946. 35 Downs, R. B. "Japan's New National Library." College and Research Libraries, 1 0 : 3 8 1 - 8 7 , 4 1 6 , O c t o b e r 1949. APRIL, 1951 10 7 vision of International Exchange of Person- nel of the Department of State and by- passage of the Fulbright Act. T h e foreign scholarship program of the Medical Library Association should be noted. Such ex- change is beneficial to both parties, of course, and fosters international under- standing and cooperation. Communication, Documentation, and Con- trol By far the most turbulent, and in many respects the newest, area of cooperation is in the general area of communication. So far no large-scale application of any of the numerous proposals has been made, but eventually some of them may work a revolution in research librarianship and cooperation. T h e seeds of most of them are in the past but never before has this field received so much devoted attention. It is impossible to classify the various proposals because some deal with publication, others with bibliographies, indexing and abstract- ing, quality of research, and basic com- munication; many plans overlap several areas. Basic ideas in the communication of research information are being re- examined from many different angles. Some proposals make use of recent tech- nological inventions or improved tech- niques, such as microfilm, microcards or other photographic media; punched cards; or electronic-photographic devices such as the Rapid Selector or its Atomic Energy Commission counterpart, electronic com- puting machines, television and Ultrafax. Other studies are being made of publishing, abstracting, indexing, national and inter- national bibliography. N o less than four international conferences on international bibliographical or information problems have been held within the last five years. These include a general one at Princeton in 1946, the Royal Scientific Society Informa- tion Conference in 1948, an International Conference on Science Abstracting in Paris in 1949 and a fourth at Paris in 1950. Each except the last has issued reports and rec- ommendations. In the broad field of com- munication, basic study is under way in the Communications Laboratory of the — Massachusetts Institute of Technology. T h e University of Illinois has established^ an Institute of Communications. T h e work of the Unesco—Library of Congress Bibliographical Survey project is of basic importance; two reports have been issued so far. T h e Graduate Library School and the Division of Social Sciences of the Uni- versity of Chicago have just completed their study on bibliographical services in the social sciences. T h e beginning of American Documentation provides an addi- tional specialized agency. Dozens and perhaps hundreds of articles and books have been published since the war on communication, documentation and control, and even more have appeared on technological matters having possible ap- plication to library processes. Some of these proposals probably will be worked out satisfactorily in time; but extensive study and experimentation still are necessary. T h e effects of some of these proposals on library acquisitions programs, cataloging and service would be revolutionary. In nearly every instance the very immensity of the problem and its solution will require the fullest cooperation of not only librarians but also all others directly interested in higher education and research. 132 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES