College and Research Libraries


which is the recognition that the subordination 
of one topic to another is arbitrary and paro-
chial and has no claim to logical or universal 
significance. 

These two forms of relationship, the topical 
and semantic, make up the overwhelming 
proportion of most classification systems, and 
all classification systems which are based on 
semantic relationships or the arbitrary subordi-
nation of one topic to another, serve only to 
demonstrate that universal classification is no 
more significant than a pattern of printing on 
a page, and has no logic other than the logic 
of general discourse. 

3 . Taxonomic 
T h e r e remains one other method of sub-

ordination which we call the Taxonomic. In 
certain fields, namely, systematic Botany and 
Zoology, and parts of Chemistry, there are 
highly developed classifications or taxonomies. 
In such fields we get true one place classifica-
tion and subordination because the class, sub-
class or species of an entity is determined 
before it is named and independently of its 
name. It is, perhaps, the success of such 
taxonomies in limited fields which has led to 
what D r . Shera has called "the pursuit of 
impossible goals," the attempt to compress all 
knowledge into a systematic taxonomy. T h e 
great age of library classification, the 19th 
Century, an age of which M r . Bliss is the 
last exemplar, w a s fundamentally an age of 
Biology as contrasted with the 17th Century, 
which w a s the great age of Physics and 
Mathematics. T h e hierarchies of biblio-
graphical classification are hierarchies based 
on biological analogs and have no other w a r -
rant in fact or logic. 

Perhaps the various attempts to create 
taxonomies of knowledge could be justified so 
long as the only alternative seemed the chaos 
of the alphabet and its permutations so alarm-
ingly described by B r a d f o r d ; 4 but modern 
symbolic or "relational" logic has shown us 
that there is an alternative to classification 
which possesses all the order and flexibility 
required f o r the organization of information. 
In the sense of Gilbert's famous lines: 

That every boy and every gal 
That's born into this world alive 
Is either a little liberal 
Or else a little conservative 

4 Bradford, S. C. Documentation. London, Crosby 
Lockwood & Son, 1948. p. 19. 

librarians f o r the past 50 years have been 
either classifiers or alphabetizers. B u t we 
cannot accept this narrow path between com-
pletely unsatisfactory alternatives as the final 
word. In view of the great triumph of mathe-
matical reasoning in modern science, librar-
ians, if they will free themselves from this 
outworn and narrow "either/or," can find in 
mathematics and logic new and viable bases 
f o r bibliographical order and organization.— 
Mortimer Taube, Documentation, Inc., 
Washington, D.C. 

Book Collecting 
ABC for Book-Collectors. By John C a r t e r . 

N e w Y o r k , A l f r e d A . Knopf, 1952. 191 p. 
$3.00. 
Although it is now some months since its 

publication and it can no longer be pointed 
out as a new—or, indeed, even a very recent 
—offering, John Carter's latest book, ABC 
for Book-Collectors, surely deserves to be 
given notice in these columns and before this 
audience. 

" T h i s , " writes the author, "is not an 
encyclopaedia' or even a glossary. I t is an 
A B C , which is something much humbler. 
And it is not an A B C of bibliography, or of 
printing or binding or book-production terms, 
though many of these come into it. It is an 
A B C of book-collecting, f o r novices, would-be 
collectors and that section of the literate 
public which takes an interest in our pursuit 
without necessarily wishing to share it." 

T h e objective has been "to set down, and to 
define, and sometimes to comment upon, such 
words and phrases, commonly used in book-
collecting, as would be likely to puzzle an 
educated reader faced f o r the first time by 
a bookseller's or an auctioneer's catalogue." 

M r . C a r t e r ' s ABC is something of a cross 
between a dictionary and a primer, f o r many 
of its entries are not merely definitions of 
terms or phrases, but form astute and valu-
able little essays on the subjects treated. 
"Advertisements," f o r example, is covered by 
a scholarly three-page treatise, while under 
"Auctions" the reader is given a five-page 
exposition of that domain, sub-divided to in-
clude separate sections on catalogues, bidding, 
prices, and terminology. 

Another of the longer entries—and one 
which seems particularly significant from this 

OCTOBER, 1953 
40 7 



author—is that on "Facsimiles and Fakes." 
(In observing of the facsimile that "an exact 
copy is a menacing thing to those who pursue 
originals," frequently figuring "in the night-
mares of collectors," and causing booksellers 
"more trouble than almost any other factor 
in their business;" Carter records further that 
the facsimile has also been known to prove 
upsetting to "the studied equanimity of librar-

" \ 

tans 
T h e book is characterized throughout by 

excellence of treatment and has good measure 
both of M r . Carter's poignant style and wit 
and of his temperate and sensible approach to 
matters of collecting. T h e latter quality is 
perhaps best demonstrated in his discussions of 
" R a r i t y , " "Condition," and " T h e Chrono-
logical Obsession;" while examples of the 
former are found in his strictures on such 
things as "Deckle-Fetishism," "Esteemed," 
"Issue-Mongers," and "Point-Maniacs." 

An interestingly handled aspect of the vol-
ume is the labeling that is present in a number 
of places to identify certain bibliographical 
features. T h e endpapers (one word accord-
ing to C a r t e r ) are rather interestingly done, 
being labeled as either "paste-down" and 
" f r e e , " with clear indications of the "head," 
"fore-edge," "hinge," and "tail." This treat-
ment is carried on, too, through the pages of 
front matter, and also in the body of the book 
under such topics as "Shoulder-Notes," "Side-
Notes," " M a r g i n s , " and "Guide Letters." 

From "Abbreviations" to " Y e l l o w - B a c k , " 
ABC for Book-Collectors is a sound and 
valuable work. It is a book that ought to be 
included with the book-collecting literature 
of all academic libraries and on the personal 
shelves of a great many librarians as well.— 
Edward Connery Lathem, Dartmouth College 
Library. 

Technical Methods in Libraries 
Library Organization and Management of 

Technical Reports Literature. B y B e r n a r d 
M . F r y . ( T h e Catholic University of 
America Studies in Library Science, ed. by 
James J . Kortendick, N o . i ) Washington, 
T h e Catholic University of America Press, 
1953- UOP. $2.50. 

The Use of Photography for Clerical Rou-
tines: A Report to the American Council of 

Learned Societies. By Ralph R. Shaw, 
Washington, American Council of Learned 
Societies, 1953. 85p. $1.00. 
Although these two monographs deal with 

different subjects, they are reviewed together 
here because they represent the type of de-
tailed studies which are necessary if librarians 
are going to place technical problems in their 
proper perspective. Fry's comprehensive 
treatment of reports literature and Shaw's 
report on the intensive application of the 
photoclerk to library clerical routines should 
be welcomed as professional efforts to ap-
proach the problem of controlling a special 
type of material and to reduce the costs of 
operations, respectively. 

Fry's monograph discusses the nature and 
scope, administration, sources, processing, cata-
loging, storing, and security problems of tech-
nical reports, which have become increasingly 
abundant in recent years. It is estimated that 
about 75,000 unpublished technical reports are 
issued annually in the United States by re-
search projects supported by the Federal 
Government. Thousands of other reports are 
also being produced by private agencies not 
on contract with the government. How to 
acquire, organize, record, and service them 
represent important questions to the research 
librarian. F r y has isolated the background of 
and present experience with reports literature. 
He also discusses the Technical Information 
Service of the Atomic Energy Commission, 
and provides such helps as a glossary of terms, 
four appendices on related data, and an ex-
tensive bibliography. 

T h e librarian of the college, university, or 
special library which collects large quantities 
of technical reports will find this publication 
a useful guide. In both the discussion and the 
14 exhibits, there are data which are up-to-
date and practical. T h e work as a whole 
emphasizes the significance of security classifi-
cations to documents which are primary 
sources for progressive research. It is also 
clear from Fry's observations that the situa-
tion in regard to reports literature is likely to 
continue to be complex, and that there is a 
need for trained workers in the field. 

It is easy for some to criticize library tech-
niques and routines and to accuse librarians 
of giving them undue emphasis. It is fortu-
nate, however, that there is available a Ralph 
Shaw, first to be awarded the Melvil Dewey 

456 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES