College and Research Libraries By F O S T E R E. M O H R H A R D T Critique on Developments in the Mechanization of Information Systems TH E D E V E L O P M E N T of microreproduc-tion, c o m p u t i n g machines, a n d sim- ilar devices has stimulated the imagina- tion of scientists, m a n a g e m e n t experts, a n d l i b r a r i a n s concerned w i t h problems of h a n d l i n g research i n f o r m a t i o n . It is evident f r o m previous r e p o r t s t h a t we have moved f r o m imaginative visions to practical uses for machines in the han- d l i n g of c o m m u n i c a t i o n problems. I n each d e v e l o p m e n t we assume t h a t the mechanical device has directly contrib- u t e d t o the efficiency of the work per- f o r m e d . However, many of us w a t c h i n g these pilot p r o g r a m s do n o t have suf- ficient d a t a f r o m the i n d i v i d u a l ex- p e r i m e n t s to d e t e r m i n e w h a t applica- tions they m i g h t have for o u r work. W h e n the cum ul at ive effect of small staffs a n d increased workloads directs us toward a u t o m a t i o n , we are blocked by a lack of specificity, clarity, a n d prac- tical d a t a of progress by those using machines. Again, w h e n we a t t e m p t to f o r m an integrated p i c t u r e of the total progress in the use of a u t o m a t i o n in i n f o r m a t i o n h a n d l i n g , we are baffled n o t only by the r a p i d development of new e x p e r i m e n t a l techniques a n d the highly specialized ap- plication of many of the experiments, b u t most f o r m i d a b l y by esoteric j a r g o n . T h e air for m a n y of us was cleared by Bar-Hillel's article, "A Logician's Reac- tion to R e c e n t T h e o r i z i n g on I n f o r m a - tion Search Systems," p a r t i c u l a r l y his statement: T h e i n c l i n a t i o n to seek a r e m e d y f o r the p r e s e n t u n s a t i s f a c t o r y s i t u a t i o n of infor- Mr. Mohrhardt is Director, U. S. De- partment of Agriculture Library. m a t i o n s e a r c h i n g by " g o i n g to the fun- d a m e n t a l s " seems to h a v e b e e n r e i n f o r c e d by the use of certain f a s h i o n a b l e p h r a s e s a n d s l o g a n s that s o u n d a p p e a l i n g e n o u g h as l o n g as their i n h e r e n t v a g u e n e s s a n d lack of clarity is n o t e x p o s e d . I a m re- f e r r i n g to such catch words as " s e m a n t i c " a n d " s t r u c t u r e , " to such s t a t e m e n t s as "in- f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l systems s h o u l d n o t concern themselves with w o r d s b u t with concepts," a n d to the i n v o c a t i o n of Bool- e a n A l g e b r a a n d S y m b o l i c L o g i c . 1 I present my plea, or critique, as one of the p o t e n t i a l users of these devices, w h o seeks g u i d a n c e t h r o u g h the morass of vagueness to a g r o u n d of u n d e r s t a n d - ing.2 President Clyde Williams of Battelle M e m o r i a l Institute, at an ACS Symposi- u m in 1954, gave the practical basis for o u r interest in his statement: B u t the chief r e a s o n for m a n a g e m e n t ' s interest is the m o u n t i n g cost a n d the com- p l e x i t y of l i t e r a t u r e studies. T h e v o l u m e of technical l i t e r a t u r e in o u r l i b r a r i e s is b e c o m i n g so g r e a t that the m e r e process of finding w h a t is n e e d e d at a g i v e n t i m e o f t e n is e x c e e d i n g l y costly. It h a s b e e n e s t i m a t e d , in fact, that in s o m e i n s t a n c e s as m u c h as one-third of the cost of a re- search i n v e s t i g a t i o n m a y b e a b s o r b e d in l i t e r a t u r e s e a r c h i n g . T h i s is p r o b a b l y the e x t r e m e , b u t to the cost of l i t e r a t u r e search- i n g m u s t b e a d d e d the cost of m a i n t a i n - i n g a library a n d finally the cost of as- s i m i l a t i n g the l i t e r a t u r e r e t r i e v e d . As the cost of s e a r c h i n g , p l u s the cost of main- t e n a n c e , p l u s the cost of a s s i m i l a t i o n , ap- p r o a c h e s the cost of r e p e a t i n g the work, 1 Y e h o s h u a B a r - H i l l e l , " A L o g i c i a n ' s R e a c t i o n t o R e c e n t T h e o r i z i n g on I n f o r m a t i o n R e s e a r c h S y s t e m s , " American Documentation, V I I I ( 1 9 5 7 ) , 104. 2 P a p e r p r e s e n t e d a t a " S y m p o s i u m on M e c h a n i z e d D a t a H a n d l i n g " b e f o r e the D i v i s i o n of Chemical L i t e r - a t u r e , A m e r i c a n Chemical S o c i e t y , N e w Y o r k , Sep- t e m b e r 10, 1957. SEPTEMBER 1958 395 the v a l u e of a t e c h n i c a l l i b r a r y d e c l i n e s . U n l e s s there is a n e t g a i n in the "tech- nical e n e r g y " r e q u i r e d to r e t r i e v e a n d as- s i m i l a t e a c c u m u l a t e d i n f o r m a t i o n o v e r w h a t m i g h t b e u s e d in r e p e a t i n g the w o r k , the l i b r a r y h a s n o t f u l f i l l e d its f u n c t i o n . 3 T h e i m p l i e d challenge applies b o t h to t h e developers a n d u l t i m a t e users of new techniques which will r e d u c e t h e time a n d cost of these searches. M a n y of us w h o c a n n o t afford e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n are anxious t o consider t h e a d o p t i o n of these new devices, b u t we need m o r e in- f o r m a t i o n t h a n is now available. T h e p l a n n e r s a n d developers, as well as those w h o are e x p e r i m e n t i n g w i t h m e t h o d s a n d machinery f o r h a n d l i n g i n f o r m a t i o n , should p r o v i d e extensive f a c t u a l d a t a o n b o t h the economic a n d sociological as- pects of use. T o m a k e a n economic e v a l u a t i o n of the new device we need to k n o w : 1. C o n v e r s i o n costs f r o m the c o n v e n t i o n a l to the new system. 2. W h e t h e r the n e w system f u l l y r e p l a c e s the o l d m e t h o d o r p r o v i d e s p a r t i a l s u p p l e - m e n t a r y assfstance. 3. T h e effect o n staff size. 4. T h e effect o n the t y p e of staff n e e d e d a n d h o w the o l d staff will b e u t i l i z e d . 5. C o m p l e t e a n d o b j e c t i v e cost figures. 6. Physical characteristics of e q u i p m e n t — weight, size, s p e c i a l w i r i n g , etc. 7. C o m p a r a t i v e t i m e n e e d e d to p r o v i d e c o m p a r a b l e service u n d e r the o l d a n d new systems. 8. P r e s e n t status of the m a c h i n e — e x p e r i - m e n t a l or c o m m e r c i a l l y a v a i l a b l e . 9. A d a p t a b i l i t y a n d l i m i t a t i o n s of the e q u i p m e n t . H a v i n g established the efficiency rat- ing of a machine, we should be equally interested in the reactions of those w h o m it serves. Concern w i t h the personal re- action of the u l t i m a t e c o n s u m e r — t h e re- search worker or scientist—is n o t theo- retical. Studies in research m e t h o d s have shown t h a t scientific research follows n o set p a t t e r n a n d is a highly individualized 3 Clyde Williams, The Problem of Literature Organi- zation—from the Viewpoint of Management. (Colum- bus, O h i o : Battelle Memorial I n s t i t u t e , 1954.) p r o c e d u r e . T h e i m p o r t a n c e of this as re- lated to machines was p o i n t e d o u t by Dr. J . E. B u r c h a r d : T h e b e n i g n c h a n c e m u s t n o t b e dis- m i s s e d as a w r o n g way. C o n c e i v a b l y , the h u m a n b e i n g w h a t h e is, it m a y b e the b e s t way. It is n o t to b e h o p e d that the m e c h a n i c a l p r o p o s a l s . . . a r e ever to re- p l a c e this last way of finding w h a t o n e o u g h t to r e a d . I n d e e d so m u c h r e l i a n c e is p l a c e d u p o n the b e n i g n h a z a r d by m a n y first-rate scien- tists t h a t it is n o t a t all u n c o m m o n to find m e n of the first class w h o d o n o t b e l i e v e t h a t m o r e o r g a n i z e d a n d m o r e r a p i d meth- o d s of s e a r c h a r e even necessary o r de- s i r a b l e . N o r is it e n o u g h to say that these m e n a r e r e a c t i o n a r y o r s m u g . I n d e e d my p e r s o n a l i m p r e s s i o n is that a very s u b s t a n t i a l n u m b e r of the b e s t of the w o r k i n g scientists a r e n o t c o n v i n c e d that t h e s i t u a t i o n is in a n y way o n e of crisis. M o s t scientists, w h e n p r e s s e d , will a d m i t that m o r e is p u b l i s h e d which might inter- est t h e m t h a n they ever see. B u t it d o e s n o t f o l l o w , they a r g u e , that d r a s t i c meas- u r e s n e e d b e t a k e n . I n fact, the g r e a t e s t p r e s s u r e f o r i m p r o v e d t e c h n i q u e s h a s b e e n e x e r t e d by a r e l a t i v e l y f e w scientists a n d e n g i n e e r s , i n c l u d i n g e s p e c i a l l y the distin- g u i s h e d A m e r i c a n , V a n n e v a r B u s h , a n d by a l a r g e n u m b e r of l i b r a r i a n s . 4 D r . Bush is u n q u e s t i o n a b l y the orig- i n a t o r a n d s t i m u l a t o r of m u c h of the work in this area. However, even his pro- posals are essentially conservative w h e n c o m p a r e d to those of some of the ma- chine enthusiasts. T w o of Dr. Bush's statements indicate his l i m i t a t i o n s on the use of machines in this field: T h e r e is n o r e a s o n why M a n s h o u l d n o t r e l e g a t e to the m a c h i n e all those p a r t s of his processes of c e r e b r a t i o n which a r e re- p e t i t i v e in n a t u r e , o r s u b j e c t to e x a c t for- m u l a t i o n . 5 F o r m a t u r e t h o u g h t there is n o m e c h a n - ical s u b s t i t u t e . B u t creative t h o u g h t a n d essentially r e p e t i t i v e t h o u g h t a r e very dif- 4 J . E . B u r c h a r d , " T h e W a t e r l o o of S c i e n c e , " Revue de la Documentation, X V I ( 1 9 4 9 ) , 96. 5 V a n n e v a r Bush, Today's Research and Tomorrow's World. ( S t a n f o r d , C a l i f . : S t a n f o r d Research I n s t i t u t e , 1954), p. 12. 396 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES ferent things. For the latter there are, a n d may be, p o w e r f u l mechanical aids. 6 Since creative research has never fol- lowed a precise methodology a n d has de- p e n d e d u p o n cross fertilization a n d chance association of ideas, one may well question the e x t e n t to which research workers should be encouraged to de- p e n d u p o n a u t o m a t i o n in research en- deavor. C a u t i o n is f u r t h e r advised in report- ing on new projects a n d machines. Re- ports o n a u t o m a t i o n are c o n f u s i n g n o t only because of their j a r g o n b u t o f t e n because of a lack of critical analysis. Some verbal r e p o r t s have inadvertently been misleading. A good e x a m p l e is the mechanical translation field w h e r e there appears to be a general idea t h a t a m a c h i n e will shortly be available which will accept articles w r i t t e n in foreign languages a n d automatically provide them to us in usable English. C a r e f u l study of r e p o r t s shows, however, t h a t m a n y provisos p e r t a i n i n g to this state- m e n t are minimized or at least n o t prop- erly stressed. Actually, present transla- tion machines are only useful w h e n the following conditions are met: (1) T h e article must be w r i t t e n in a l i m i t e d vo- cabulary. (2) T h e article must be pre- edited f o r insertion in the m a c h i n e a n d it m u s t later be post-edited a f t e r the m a c h i n e has completed its work. T h e r e are still m a n y unsolved p r o b l e m s in sen- tence s t r u c t u r e a n d word content t h a t have n o t been satisfactorily solved f o r m a c h i n e application. I d o u b t t h a t there is any i m m e d i a t e prospect t h a t machines will solve this p r o b l e m for us. Relatively few of us will be able to justify elaborate e q u i p m e n t u n t i l we are b e t t e r i n f o r m e d a b o u t the costs of con- v e n t i o n a l library search a n d the actual savings which they provide in t h e total research project. A factory m a n a g e r can easily justify new e q u i p m e n t t h a t will cut d o w n the cost of a $150,000 steel 6 V. Bush, Endless Horizons. ( W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . : Public A f f a i r s P r e s s , 1946), p. 24. forging. If we are to justify a u t o m a t i o n in i n f o r m a t i o n a n d library work, it will be necessary for us to accumulate objec- tive d a t a i n d i c a t i n g the economic im- p o r t a n c e of using recorded i n f o r m a t i o n in c u r r e n t research studies. F o r most of the libraries, d o c u m e n t a - tion centers, a n d i n f o r m a t i o n centers in this country, o u r i m m e d i a t e needs are for m i n o r i m p r o v e m e n t s t h a t will e n a b l e us to carry o n o u r c u r r e n t work in a m o r e effective m a n n e r . T h e W e s t e r n Re- serve C e n t e r for D o c u m e n t a t i o n a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n Research has summa- rized the general needs as follows: W e have not suggested d o i n g away with the older bibliographical services a n d tech- niques. Most of them will continue to serve adequately in limited spheres for a l o n g time to come. T h e new systems may in a few instances r e p l a c e older services, b u t in m a n y more instances they will sup- p l e m e n t or i m p l e m e n t mo re f a m i l i a r types of services.7 T h i s is a reassuring s t a t e m e n t f o r m a n y of us w h o have n o t been certain a b o u t the perspective of the d o c u m e n t a - tion centers. W e have seen instances where emphasis o n devices a n d m e t h o d s has obscured o u r objectives. All of us w o r k i n g in this field can subscribe to D r . Bush's statement: Civilization proceeds because M a n can store, transmit, a n d consult the record be- cause the accomplishments of one genera- tion are available to the next, because every m a n can share the experience of his fellows.8 W h e t h e r we are using m a n u a l or ma- chine methods, each of us is concerned w i t h m a k i n g it possible to "share the ex- perience of his fellows." O u r objective is clear, a n d it is h o p e d t h a t we can be satisfied w i t h g r a d u a l a n d steady prog- ress in a civilization t h a t daily becomes more complex. 7 Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, " C e n t e r f o r Documentation a n d Communication Research. Comments on ' A Logi- c i a n ' s R e a c t i o n s , ' " American Documentation, V I I I ( 1 9 5 7 ) , 122. 8 V a n n e v a r Bush, Today's Research and Tomorrow's World, p. 13. SEPTEMBER 1958 397