College and Research Libraries


i n t e l l e c t u a l f r e e d o m . T h e k n o t t y p r o b l e m of 
c e n s o r s h i p vs. selection is s o l v e d as the 
r e a d e r of A s h e i m ' s " N o t C e n s o r s h i p , b u t 
S e l e c t i o n " (a s p e e c h d e l i v e r e d a t the Whit-
tier C o n f e r e n c e o n I n t e l l e c t u a l F r e e d o m ) 
w o u l d e x p e c t ; i n d e e d , in m a n y respects, this 
b o o k is a n a m p l i f i c a t i o n a n d d e t a i l e d a p p l i -
c a t i o n of the g e n e r a l theories which the 
a u t h o r so c o g e n t l y e x p r e s s e d at W h i t t i e r . 
(See " P o l e m i c L i t e r a t u r e , " p p . 37-40, a n d 

" G i f t s , " p p . 43-44, in the c h a p t e r o n r e l i g i o n ; 
the d i s c u s s i o n of " p o p u l a r " a n d p s e u d o phi-
l o s o p h y , p p . 87-88; the a c c o u n t of censor-
s h i p in the a r t d e p a r t m e n t , p p . 141-43; a n d 
" T h e Q u e s t i o n of C e n s o r s h i p " in the chap-
ter o n l i t e r a t u r e , p p . 260-62.) 

E a c h c h a p t e r in this b o o k b e g i n s with a 
d e f i n i t i o n of its field a n d a n a d m i r a b l e sum-
m a r y of its history a n d l i t e r a t u r e . T h e n , in 
v a r y i n g o r d e r f o r e a c h field, a r e d i s c u s s e d 
classification a n d c a t a l o g i n g of m a t e r i a l s , 
b o o k selection a n d its p r o b l e m s , the d i f f e r e n t 
k i n d s of l i b r a r i e s a n d l i b r a r y service, a n d 
r e f e r e n c e work ( i n c l u d i n g a n a c c o u n t of the 
d i f f e r e n t types of r e f e r e n c e works in e a c h 
field). A u d i o - v i s u a l e n t h u s i a s t s will b e h a p p y 
with the a m o u n t of s p a c e a n d a t t e n t i o n 
g i v e n to a c o n s i d e r a t i o n of the p l a c e of non-
b o o k m a t e r i a l s in l i b r a r i e s ( A s h e i m is f o r 
t h e m a n d f o r the i n c r e a s i n g p r o v i s i o n of 
n o n - b o o k m a t e r i a l s a n d services by p u b l i c 
l i b r a r i e s ) a n d f o r the a b l e d i s c u s s i o n s of the 
p r o b l e m s of p i c t u r e , r e c o r d , a n d film collec-
tions in art, m u s i c , a n d l i t e r a t u r e . A list of 
the r e p r e s e n t a t i v e r e f e r e n c e tools in the field 
c o n c l u d e s e a c h c h a p t e r . T h e s e lists of ref-
erence works a r e c a r e f u l l y selected, g e n e r a l l y 
up-to-date g u i d e s to the best r e f e r e n c e works 
in the h u m a n i t i e s a n d a r e a l o n e w o r t h the 
p r i c e of the b o o k to m o s t l i b r a r i e s . F o r ex-
a m p l e , the Bibliographie de la philosophie 
(now also b e a r i n g the E n g l i s h title, Bibli-
ography of Philosophy) h a s b e e n a n a b s t r a c t 
j o u r n a l f o r b o o k s o n l y since 1954. N o m e n -
tion is m a d e of this in the b o o k . Philosophic 
Abstracts is d e s c r i b e d in the t e x t as of lim-
i t e d u s e f u l n e s s b e c a u s e of its r e s t r i c t e d s c o p e ; 
in the list o n e finds that it was d i s c o n t i n u e d 
in 1954. R e l a t i v e l y few i n s t a n c e s of this k i n d 
occur, however, a n d , in g e n e r a l , the lists a r e 
up-to-date as of the m i d d l e of 1956. 

S o m e of u s w h o still b e l i e v e that history is 
o n e of the h u m a n i t i e s m i g h t q u a r r e l with the 

d e c i s i o n to o m i t that i m p o r t a n t field f r o m 
this b o o k . W e can o n l y s u p p o s e that history 
h a s b e e n p l a c e d w i t h the social sciences a n d 
m o u r n its loss f r o m the v o l u m e n o w avail-
a b l e . T h o u g h few h i s t o r i a n s t e n d to t h i n k of 
themselves as social scientists, l i b r a r i a n s seem 
g e n e r a l l y to h a v e c o m e to the c o n c l u s i o n that 
history is a social science. U n d o u b t e d l y g o o d 
r e a s o n s can b e a d v a n c e d o n e i t h e r s i d e of the 
a r g u m e n t , a n d in the p r e s e n t i n s t a n c e there 
can b e n o q u a r r e l if the t r e a t m e n t of history 
in the p r o m i s e d social science s y l l a b u s is as 
e x c e l l e n t a n d l i b r a r y - o r i e n t e d as the c h a p t e r 
o n r e l i g i o n o r p h i l o s o p h y in this. 

T h e b o o k is a g o o d e x a m p l e of offset re-
p r o d u c t i o n f r o m t y p e w r i t t e n m a n u s c r i p t , a 
m e t h o d of p r i n t i n g a d o p t e d by the A L A 
f o r p u b l i c a t i o n s it d o e s n o t e x p e c t t o sell 
well e n o u g h to p a y f o r the cost of letterpress. 
T h e p r e s e n t r e v i e w e r h o p e s that this prog-
n o s t i c a t i o n of the b o o k ' s success will n o t b e 
j u s t i f i e d . If every l i b r a r i a n w h o c o u l d u s e it 
to a d v a n t a g e or l e a r n f r o m it h o w b e t t e r to 
serve his p u b l i c w o u l d b u y it, The Humani-
ties and the Library w o u l d s p e e d i l y g o o u t 
of p r i n t . — F r e d r i c J . Mosher, School of Li-
brarianship, University of California, Berke-
ley. 

Library Cooperation 
The Hampshire Inter-Library Center: A Sur-

vey of Its Background and Its Problems, 
with Recommendations for the Future. By 
K e y e s D . M e t c a l f . S o u t h H a d l e y , M a s s . 
T h e H a m p s h i r e I n t e r - L i b r a r y C e n t e r , 
1957. 3 1 p . 

T h e first h a l f of this p u b l i c a t i o n is de-
v o t e d to p r i n c i p l e s a n d theory of c o l l e c t i n g 
of r e s o u r c e s in a c a d e m i c l i b r a r i e s . A x i o m s 
e x p r e s s e d or findings n o t e d by M e t c a l f will 
b e g e n e r a l l y a c c e p t a b l e , since they a p p e a r 
to reflect the e x p e r i e n c e of A m e r i c a n l i b r a r i e s 
as a whole. Incisively, the a u t h o r h a s (1) 
i n d i c a t e d the d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n the c o l l e g e 
a n d the u n i v e r s i t y (or r e s e a r c h ) l i b r a r y , (2) 
p o i n t e d o u t the p r o b l e m s of s e l e c t i n g b o o k s 
to m e e t the n e e d s of a p a r t i c u l a r i n s t i t u t i o n , 
a n d (3) s u g g e s t e d the a v e n u e s of c o o p e r a t i o n 
which a r e d i r e c t e d at s e r v i n g the n e e d s of 
the p a r t i c u l a r users, a n d , a t the s a m e time, 
a r e e c o n o m i c a l . T h e r e m a i n d e r of this val-
u a b l e b r o c h u r e is d e v o t e d to the s p e c i a l 

160 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



interests of the H a m p s h i r e Inter-Library 
Center (Amherst College, the University of 
Massachusetts, M o u n t Holyoke College, a n d 
Smith College), which was f o u n d e d to pro-
vide h e l p f u l a n d economical library services 
a m o n g its members. 

Metcalf's proposals concerning the Center 
are related to the assumptions he d e v e l o p e d 
in the first part of the report. T h e s e may 
be summarized as follows: 

1. Libraries—particularly research libraries 
— t e n d to grow more r a p i d l y than other parts 
of education institutions, a n d to grow cumu-
latively. 

2. U n i t costs in libraries tend to increase 
rather than decrease as collections grow 
larger. 

3. W h e n a library gives improved services 
it almost invariably stimulates increasing de-
m a n d s for service. 

4. T h e total cost of library o p e r a t i o n tends 
to increase more r a p i d l y than the cost of 
other parts of an educational institution. 

5. T h e library serves a n u m b e r of different 
needs, a n d p r o v i d i n g for some of these needs 
is m u c h m o r e expensive than f o r others. 

6. T h e average u n d e r g r a d u a t e spends well 
over three-fifths of his r e a d i n g time on books 
assigned or specifically suggested by faculty 
members. 

7. A library of from 50,000 to 100,000 vol-
umes will normally take care of this type of 
reading. 

8. M o r e than 80 per cent (and, in some 
institutions, 90 per cent) of the average 
u n d e r g r a d u a t e ' s use of the library has been 
accounted for by his use of textbooks a n d of 
collateral readings listed for courses. 

9. T h e importance of the r e m a i n i n g 10 
or 20 p e r cent of the u n d e r g r a d u a t e read-
ing (general reading, toward p r e p a r a t i o n of 
special reports, senior theses, etc.) should 
not be minimized. 

10. T h i s type of r e a d i n g is i m p o r t a n t f o r 
p r e p a r i n g students for g r a d u a t e work, a n d 
requires a larger collection than that n e e d e d 
for the usual type of u n d e r g r a d u a t e reading. 

11. A large colection is even m o r e v a l u a b l e 
to faculty members than to students. 

12. A g o o d library collection is u s e f u l in 
attracting strong faculty members. (Paul 
B u c k is said to e q u a t e this to an inducement 
of $3,000 annually.) 

13. A liberal-arts college with 1,000 stu-
dents can provide basic u n d e r g r a d u a t e li-
brary facilities a n d services for $35 per 
student annually, a n d this figure can be 
reduced as the student-body increases in 
size. 

14. Selection of books for a college or uni-
versity library—particularly beyond the basic 
u n d e r g r a d u a t e need—is not an exact science. 

15. T h e r e is n o limit to what a library 
might a c q u i r e if all wishes of faculty mem-
bers a n d advanced students were heeded. 

T h e s e problems suggest to Metcalf that 
the institution faces a d i l e m m a in its library. 
It must either be ready to provide an increas-
ing percentage of total resources, if the li-
brary is to meet the d e m a n d s u p o n it; or, if 
it does not, the library must deteriorate in 
its quality a n d services. Metcalf observes that 
f u n d s are sought after competitively by the 
various parts of the institution, a n d the 
growth of the library b u d g e t is reflected in 
a reduced percentage available for faculty 
salaries a n d other purposes. It would seem 
that one could a p p r o a c h this p r o b l e m of 
b u d g e t i n g in a mo re positive f r a m e of m i n d 
if the library h a d been accepted as a princi-
pal axis of educational activity. 

Metcalf's observations are generally based 
on common sense derived from long experi-
ence with academic libraries. B u t such obser-
vations may fall short of reality. Some may 
wish to quarrel with his estimates of the 
a m o u n t of use of materials, a n d with his 
$35,000 basic library b u d g e t for a college 
with 1,000 students—a b u d g e t which " c a n be 
reduced as the student-body increases in 
size" (p. 10). O n e is h a r d p u t to see how 
this figure can be reduced in total quantity, 
as more d e m a n d s are m a d e u p o n the library 
in terms of increased enrollment. Perhaps 
the p r o p o r t i o n may be reduced. A l t h o u g h 
institutional needs vary considerably insofar 
as library needs are concerned, the $35 p e r 
student allotment must be r e g a r d e d as a 
" l o w " basis of s u p p o r t . T h e figures in the 
" C o l l e g e a n d University L i b r a r y Statistics, 
1955-56," in the J a n u a r y , 1957, issue of CRL, 
show that for a m e d i a n g r o u p of 1,316 stu-
dents a m e d i a n total o p e r a t i n g b u d g e t was 
$60,610. Perhaps the libraries with a b o u t 
1,000 students were s p e n d i n g m o r e than was 
necessary on library services, b u t it is un-

MARCH 1958 161-



likely. It d e p e n d s , of course, o n w h a t k i n d 
of l i b r a r y service is b e i n g p r o v i d e d . T h e r e 
were e x p e n d i t u r e - p e r - s t u d e n t lows of $14.77, 
$8.14, $11.21, a n d $12.96 f o r the f o u r g r o u p s 
of l i b r a r i e s in the CRL statistics. It is ques-
t i o n a b l e if these i n s t i t u t i o n s a r e well s e r v e d 
by their l i b r a r i e s . I n library service, a s in 
m o s t things, y o u g e t w h a t y o u p a y for, e v e n 
t h o u g h there m a y b e o c c a s i o n a l b a r g a i n s . 

A g a i n s t the b a c k g r o u n d of p r i n c i p l e s of 
c o l l e g e l i b r a r y service, M e t c a l f o u t l i n e s a 
p r o g r a m f o r c o o p e r a t i v e l i b r a r y service 
which w o u l d w i d e n the s c o p e of the H a m p -
shire I n t e r - L i b r a r y C e n t e r to i n c l u d e as as-
s o c i a t e m e m b e r s D a r t m o u t h , T r i n i t y ( H a r t -
f o r d ) , W e s l e y a n , W i l l i a m s , a n d the F o r b e s 
L i b r a r y in N o r t h a m p t o n . A s s o c i a t e m e m b e r s 
w o u l d p r o v i d e e n t r i e s f o r a p a r t i a l u n i o n 
c a t a l o g , m a k e m a t e r i a l s l i s t e d in such a cata-
l o g a v a i l a b l e to f a c u l t y m e m b e r s a n d ad-
v a n c e d s t u d e n t s of the m e m b e r a n d associate-
m e m b e r i n s t i t u t i o n s , d e t e r m i n e if m a t e r i a l s 
a r e in the C e n t e r b e f o r e a p p l y i n g elsewhere 
f o r i n t e r l i b r a r y l o a n s , a n d c o n s u l t w i t h the 
C e n t e r ' s c a t a l o g b e f o r e new s u b s c r i p t i o n s 
a r e p l a c e d f o r h i g h l y s p e c i a l i z e d serials, be-
f o r e p u r c h a s i n g b a c k files of serials, a n d be-
f o r e b u y i n g b o o k s of the k i n d l i s t e d in the 
c a t a l o g . D e l i b e r a t e p u r c h a s i n g of m a t e r i a l s 
w o u l d n o t b e p r e v e n t e d , b u t the l i b r a r i a n s 
w o u l d k n o w w h e n they w o u l d b e d u p l i c a t -
ing. It is e s t i m a t e d t h a t the p a r t i a l u n i o n 
c a t a l o g w o u l d cost $12,000. A p o s s i b l e b u d g e t 
f o r the C e n t e r f o r a year in the early 1960's 
w o u l d b e $40,000, n o t i n c l u d i n g i n c o m e o r 
e x p e n d i t u r e s m a d e p o s s i b l e by g r a n t s , en-
d o w m e n t s , o r the sale of d u p l i c a t e s . 

A g a i n , M e t c a l f o u t of his e x p e r i e n c e cau-
tions a g a i n s t " d a n g e r s that call f o r c o n t i n u e d 
v i g i l a n c e . " T h e s e i n v o l v e those difficulties 
which " a r i s e i n e v i t a b l y f r o m the n a t u r e of 
l i b r a r i e s , a c a d e m i c i n s t i t u t i o n s , a n d h u m a n 
b e i n g s . " C o o p e r a t i o n is a two-way street, a n d 
the i d e a of c o m p e t i t i o n m u s t b e s u b m e r g e d 
if it is to b e f u r t h e r e d . M e t c a l f suggests that 
" a d m i n i s t r a t i v e officials a n d l i b r a r i a n s a r e 
p e r h a p s m o r e likely t h a n p r o f e s s o r s to r e g a r d 
o t h e r i n s t i t u t i o n s as rivals of their o w n a n d 
t o b e i m p a t i e n t with the r e s t r a i n t s o n com-
p l e t e f r e e d o m of a c t i o n that a r e b o u n d to 
b e e n t a i l e d by c o o p e r a t i o n . " T h i s is a n in-
t e r e s t i n g h y p o t h e s i s , since m a n y l i b r a r i a n s 
b e l i e v e that p r o f e s s o r s a r e likely to b e m o r e 

c o n c e r n e d t h a n a n y o n e else. T h e i m p o r t a n t 
p o i n t is to m a k e sure that the " h u m a n be-
i n g s " i n v o l v e d in the c o o p e r a t i v e p r o j e c t 
u n d e r s t a n d f u l l y w h a t is b e i n g p l a n n e d , a n d 
h o w the i n d i v i d u a l i n s t i t u t i o n will b e n e f i t 
by the p r o j e c t . O i l i n g a n d r e p a i r i n g a r e j u s t 
as i m p o r t a n t h e r e as in the care of a n y o t h e r 
m a c h i n e . 

T h e H a m p s h i r e I n t e r - L i b r a r y C e n t e r in its 
six years of e x i s t e n c e h a s b e e n a d e m o n s t r a -
tion of c o o p e r a t i o n which suggests enlarge-
m e n t of s c o p e . It w o u l d s e e m that s o m e t i m e 
in the f u t u r e it m a y b e u s e f u l to h a v e a com-
p l e t e study of the use to which m a t e r i a l s in 
the C e n t e r h a v e b e e n p u t . U n d o u b t e d l y , 
" t h e C e n t e r is m a k i n g e a c h d o l l a r g o f u r t h e r 
t h a n it w o u l d g o if s p e n t by a n i n d i v i d u a l 
l i b r a r y . " — M a u r i c e F. Tauber, Columbia 
University. 

Documentation and 
Information Retrieval 
Documentation and Information Retrieval: 

An Introduction to Basic Principles and 
Cost Analysis. By J . W . Perry a n d A l l e n 
K e n t . W i t h a F o r e w o r d by J . H . S h e r a . 
N e w Y o r k : Press of W e s t e r n R e s e r v e U n i -
versity a n d I n t e r s c i e n c e P u b l i s h e r s , Inc., 
1 9 5 7 . 1 5 6 p . $ 5 . 0 0 . 

A l o n g - s t a n d i n g n e e d f o r critical analysis 
of i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l in the p r e s e n t a n d 
p o t e n t i a l states of the a r t is r e c o g n i z e d in 
this m o n o g r a p h . T h e n e e d is n o t f u l l y m e t , 
b u t as a first a t t a c k the a p p r o a c h is praise-
worthy. 

A m a t h e m a t i c a l m o d e l system is set u p , 
with f o r m u l a t i o n s which a r e c o m p r e h e n s i b l e 
to c o m m o n m i n d s . I n d e e d , the m a t h e m a t i c a l 
p r e s e n t a t i o n is p l a i n e r t h a n the v e r b a l ex-
p l a n a t i o n , which uses t o o m a n y words. J u -
d i c i o u s v e r b a l p r u n i n g w o u l d h a v e i m p r o v e d 
clarity. 

C o s t analysis difficulties h a v e l o n g h a n d i -
c a p p e d p r a c t i t i o n e r s of i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l 
who p r e a c h the necessity of a cost-perform-
a n c e a n a l y s i s b e f o r e a p p r o v i n g a system o r 
p r o j e c t . T h e c h a p t e r s o n cost a n a l y s i s in this 
m o n o g r a p h will g i v e a i d a n d c o m f o r t to 
these a p o s t l e s of analysis. T h e critical f a c u l t y 
is e x e r c i s e d , as is necessary for such analyses, 
b u t n o t f a r e n o u g h . T h e r e is n o a d e q u a t e 
r e c o g n i t i o n of the i n t a n g i b l e f a c t o r s which 

162 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES