College and Research Libraries


catalogers found the work "unrewarding and 
taxing" because of the inevitable inaccura-
cies in the cataloging and the rushing pres-
sure. Of the cataloging entries printed 48 % 
had some discrepancy with the book as pub-
lished. 

The Cataloging-in-Source experiment was 
begun in May 1958. Many publishers of 
varying sizes and types were contacted; 157 
of them were willing and able to cooperate 
and sent in proof for cataloging. The goal 
was to catalog 1,000 titles, and by the end of 
February 1959, 1,203 publications had been 
cataloged by the Library of Congress, 100 of 
which were cataloged cooperatively by the 

· Department of Agriculture Library. After 
the cataloging phase more than 200 libraries 
were visited by the consumer reaction team. 
Consumer reaction was sought from libraries 
of various sizes and degrees of specialization. 

This report is very complete in including 
all of the procedures followed. This does not 
have to detract from the ease of reading it 
by those who wish to skim over these details. 
However, if anyone has difficulty in under-
standing the complications of the special 
cataloging routines involved for the Library 
of Congress, let him be sure to read pp. 5-7 
where the basic routines are outlined. The 
make-up of the report involves first twenty-
four pages of introductory remarks and ac-
knowledgements-including a chronology of 
events. Then follows the main text for 
ninety-nine pages. Here the experiment is 
described step by step along with the Library 
of Congress' viewpoint, the publishers' ex-
perience and attitude, the report on the con-
sumer reaction survey, the report of the ALA 
Cataloging Policy and Research Committee, 
as well as the final considerations and pos-
sible alternatives. The rest of the report is 
taken up with fourteen appendixes which in-
clude among others: samples from a similar 
experiment in the late nineteenth century, 
the forms, procedures, and other material 
sent to the publishers, the report on Cata-
loging-in-Source in the Department of Agri-
culture Library, the tables of statistics that 
were accumulated, the libraries that were 
visited during the Consumer Reaction Sur-
vey and the questionnaire used, and even a 
bibliography entitled "A Chronological De-
scription of the More Important Published 
Accounts of the Experiment." 

The library world is grateful to the Coun-

494 

cil on Liprary Resources, Inc. for the grants 
which made this experiment possible, to the 
publishers who cooperated in it, and to the 
Library qf Congress for carrying it out. This 
fine report records in one convenient place 
all that has been involved in the experiment, 
the results, the conclusions drawn, and the 
possible future alternatives. Librarians every-
where will certainly want to read it.-Ken-
neth W. Sod erland, University of Chicago 
Library. 

Studies in Microforms 
Production of Micro -Forms. By Reginald 

Hawkins. (The State of the Library Art, 
edited by Ralph R. Shaw, Vol. 5, Pt. 1.) 
New Brunswick, N. J.: Rutgers University 
Press, 1960. 208p. $5.00. 

Reading Devices for Micro-Ima ges. By Jean 
Stewart and others. (The State of the Li-
brary Art, edited by Ralph R. Shaw, Vol. 5, 
Pt. 2.) New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Uni-
versity Press, 1960. 205p. $5.00. 

These two volumes are the first to appear 
out of the Rutgers project on "Targets for 
Research in Library Work" sponsored by a 
grant from the Council on Library Re-
sources, and directed by Ralph R. Shaw. 
Part three on the "Production of Full-Size 
Copies," due shortly, will complete the por-
tion devoted to "Reproduction of Materials." 
The purpose of these volumes is to show 
what has been done in the past, evaluate 
those previous studies, and point out direc-
tions for future work. 

The arrangement of materials is somewhat 
different in each book. Hawkins starts out 
with the review of what has been written on 
the production pf microforms. This covers 
the history of microcopying, equipment in 
general, types and characteristics of micro-
copies, quality factors, production costs, and 
storage. This 149-page review is based on a 
list of some 439 references. It is followed by a 
thirteen · page summary and suggestions for 
future study. Hawkins lays out five research 
projects ranging from a study to determine 
which types of microforms are necessary to 
one on information retrieval based on micro-
forms. 

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



In Miss Stewart's book, the summary and 
evaluation come at the beginning, and the 
review is broken into two parts. The first 
part, which is chronologically arranged, takes 
up ninety-four pages and is based on some 
284 references. The second part, a topical 
summary, takes sixty-seven pages to list some 
forty-two features by which the reading ma-
chines are classified. These range from cost 
of the equipment, through the various opti-
cal and mechanical features, to end with use 
costs. 

The chief value of these two volumes lies 
in their chapters of recommendations and 
their bibliographies. The former will be 
fertile fields for doctoral candidates looking 
for subjects for dissertations. They will also 
be used by industry to help lay out research 
projects on present and future equipment. 
The two bibliographies bring together just 
about all that one could find in this field up 
to 1957. I suspect that many students will be 
shuffling these lists into manifold arrange-
ments for some time to come. 

The outstanding shortcoming of both 
books lies in the lack of illustrations. The 
descriptions of equipment and techniques 
cry for pictures and diagrams. The evalua-
tion of equipment and processes in both 
books is somewhat undescriminating. There 
is little weight given as to who made what 
judgment when. There are surprisingly few 
errors when one considers what a wide range 
of time and subject matter is covered. One 
that will amuse those who know him is the 
appearance of Frank and Frederic Luther, 
both writing about Dagron. 

Library Trends, VIII (1960), no. 1 (Photo-
duplication in Libraries. Edited by James 
E. Skipper.) 

Photoduplication has been the subject of 
single articles appearing in four previous is-
sues of Library Trends. Now it has an issue 
of its own. Of the ten papers presented here, 
seven are on the administrative aspects and 
three on the technological phases of the field. 
Of an administrative nature are: Lester K. 
Born, "History of Microform Activity"; Law-
rence S. Thompson, "Microforms as Library 
Resources"; John A. Riggs, "The State of 
Microtext Publications"; George A. Schweg-
mann, Jr., "The Bibliographical Control of 
Microforms"; H . Gordon Bechanan, "The 

NOVEMBER 1960 

Organization of Microforms in the Library"; 
Robert E. Kingery, · "Copying Methods as 
Applied to Library Operations"; Miles 0. 
Price, "Photocopying by Libraries and Copy-
right: A Precis." 

Of greater interest to the technologists in 
the field are: Robert H. Muller, "Policy 
Questions Relating to Library Photoduplica-
tion Laboratories"; Charles G. La Hood, Jr. , 
"Microfilm as Used in Reproduction and 
Transmission Systems"; Peter Scott, "Ad-
vances and Goals in Microphotography." 

This issue is recommended reading for all 
who are interested in microfilming. Librari-
ans responsible for organizing microform 
reading rooms will benefit by Bechanan's 
report on Harvard's progress in this line. 
Heads of library photoduplication labora-
tories will be thankful to Muller for his sur-
vey of their problems. Commercial micro-
photographic agencies about to embark on 
projects aimed at libraries would do well to 
study the articles by Thompson, Riggs, and 
Schwegmann. This issue will be on library 
school reading lists for some time to come. 

Microt exts as Media for Publication: The 
Papers and Discussion of a Symposium 
Held at Hatfield Technical College on the 
lOth November 1959 ... Hatfield, Herts., 
England: Hertfordshire County Council, 
1960. 87p. 9s. 

Hatfield is located twenty miles north of 
London (about as far from its center as Scars-
dale is from Times Square) and is the source 
of an increasing number of important publi-
cations on photoduplication. In January 
1958 a Symposium on Microtexts and Micro-
recording was held, and its papers published. 
A Symposium on Modern Copying Tech-
niques followed in January 1959, resulting in 
another booklet. The third publication is 
perhaps of greatest interest to librarians. It 
consists of papers presented ·on microfilm, 
microfiche, and Microcard, and considers 
them from the standpoint of their sujtability 
for publication of scholarly material. 

The first paper is on "Microfilm-The 
Versatile Academic Tool" by Eugene Power 
of University Microfilms. It contains a wealth 
of information based on twenty-five years of 
experience with this medium. This is fol-
lowed by Dr. L. J. van der Wolk's report on 
"Publishing on Microfiche." This presents a 

495