College and Research Libraries Needed Reference Aids IN AN A T T E M P T to define the needs of reference librarians an inquiry was sent by Clara Van Sant, reference librar- ian, Tacoma Public Library, to five hun- dred such librarians requesting an answer to two questions: 1 . W h a t reference tools not yet pub- lished do you need? 2. W h a t reference projects, aside from tools, would you like to see initiated? On the basis of frequency of mention four reference projects calling for action were presented at the San Francisco meet- ing of the A . C . R . L . Reference Librarians Subsection. I . S u b j e c t I n d e x to A d u l t P o e t r y John M. Carroll, of the Boston Public Library, spoke as follows on a subject in- dex to adult poetry: T H E M E N T I O N of a subject index to poetry undoubtedly brings to mind the unhappy outcome of the A . L . A . Subject Index to Children's Poetry. It had been for years in preparation and was being carried on according to plans outlined by the A . L . A . Editorial Committee. In 1938 the project was abandoned by the A . L . A . when it was learned that the H . W . W i l - son Company had a similar project under- way. John B . Brewton, who is compiling the Wilson index, has already indexed some 2 1 collections and 250 more are under consideration for inclusion. T h e date of publication has not been indicated. For a while it had been intended to com- bine the work of M a u d R . MacPherson with that of the A . L . A . index. Of the whole undertaking, her work is the only part that has been published. Her Chil- dren's Poetry Index appeared as Number 62 of the Faxon's Useful Reference Series. She indexed 12,000 poems in 50 antholo- gies published between 1 9 0 1 and 1 9 3 5 . It provides a title and author key as well as a subject index. Although this book was never intended as a general reference tool, we have found it occasionally useful. Since this book has shown itself to be both adaptable and practical, despite its limited sphere, it is hoped that kindred undertak- ings in other divisions of the field will receive some impetus. There is at least one project of such a nature now in process. In a recent letter the chief of the Publishing Department of the A . L . A . writes, " A subject index to adult poetry is very nearly completed. W e hope to have the manuscript by f a l l . " It certainly does not seem to be unduly opti- mistic to expect that a worth while publi- cation will appear shortly and that the subject index to adult poetry will disappear from the list of projects underway and will appear on the list of publications. Until this has appeared and been tested, new projects would seem to be out of place, especially with the object lesson of the children's index so fresh in mind. May Subject Headings Be Voluminous! However, I hope that it is not out of place to voice one or two wishes in con- nection with this undertaking. One to emphasize especially is that of subject head- ings. M a y its subject headings be as voluminous as those that appear in the out- standing quotation books! I think that we may expect that this will be the case since the work is being done by a man not only familiar with the standard subject 99 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES headings, but also familiar with the vagaries of the public. One person who has had invaluable experience in this type of work, Louella Everett, has pointed out that such an undertaking would be in the final analysis endless. She prefers rela- tively few subject headings in her work. It may be interesting to note that Miss Everett is working independently at the present time on a volume that will be more or less a companion to the revised edition of Bartlett, on which she worked with Christopher Morley. But her vol- ume will deliberately include the senti- mental, popular, light allusions that people should not want but do. Miss Everett also has underway an anthology of poetry that she has found through experience to be most elusive although steadily called for. T o return to our wishing, I also wish compilers might devise a technique whereby not only general anthologies and certain collections of individual authors but even some elusive fugitive pieces might be analyzed in one listing so that the index would serve not only to suggest material but also help to identify pieces remembered only by their theme. Such will apparently not be the scope of the index now being sponsored. T h i s purpose so easily out- lined could only be fully served by a uni- versal index to poetry, but if it should be achieved in any measure it would be a great step forward. It would be ideal if the compilers were to have time to search out and include material on certain specific topics not nec- essarily covered by the general anthologies nominated for inclusion. I have in mind certain amusements, sports, vocations and avocations, professions, cultural institu- tions and so on. Miss Van Sant has already assembled many practical sugges- tions and requests for help on this type of tool. I believe that a certain amount of cooperative effort would be needed at this point in the preparation of such a book. A preliminary edition or at least a pre- publication release of the subject headings for which illustrative material had been found might give librarians a chance to consult their "trouble files," and make suggestions and supply material to help round out the book from this angle. Coordination with Granger A last hope is that the compilers will be able to avoid the need of publishing a title- author key, although the manuscript for it will undoubtedly be at hand. If the work done on such an index and the scope of Granger's Index could in any way be coordinated, it would be mutually bene- ficial, both in utility and economy of pub- lishing. T h e anthologies indexed would not necessarily be all of those located through Granger, but definite duplication, such as holiday material, could be elim- inated. A letter from John J . O'Connell, publishing manager of M c C l u r g and Com- pany, reads in part as follows: Right now we are at the point of complet- ing nearly four years' work on Granger's Index to Poetry, and we realize that a refer- ence of this sort would be invaluable to librarians. However, we are also painfully cognizant of the tremendous labor and time that such, an index would represent. . . . The matter of a subject key in future edi- tions would necessarily be governed by con- ditions as they existed at the time of issuing the book. However, it is well within the realm of possibility that we might key our title list in some manner or other to indi- cate the general subject matter of the poems, together with a reference index at the back of the book, showing which pages might con- tain such material. Under any circumstances, a step of this DECEMBER, 1939 100 sort could not be taken for a number of years . . . we are loath to commit ourselves. T h i s letter was dated M a y 10, 1939. Since their plans are so very tentative, it would be helpful if some of Granger's material could be made available through an independent index. Of course, unless the selection of titles intended for inclu- sion in the new edition were made known in a reasonable period of time, the work of the subject index could not be justifiably held up. There has been much discussion of late of the possibilities of a union list of special indexes. I believe one such survey was made in 1 9 1 7 . If such a union list had been available, I believe the compilers of the subject index to poetry would have found some of their work already done and available for their use. Over and beyond that, there are maintained files on authors, indexes on special subjects and topics of local interest that could not fall within the scope of a general index to poetry. But a listing of these files might normally be associated with a subject index to poetry, a quite natural extension of its range. A survey of such sources could be conducted without entering the domain of the com- pilers of the index proper. Is it not pos- sible that an inquiry conducted by a group such as the Reference Librarians Subsec- tion would bring together information that could be organized into a creditable listing of such resources, with the purpose in mind of offering it for incorporation as an appendix to the subject index if the com- pilers and the Editorial Committee were willing? A general inquiry requesting organizations and individuals to partici- pate voluntarily by sending to a central clearing house a list of files maintained and available for general consultation, or known to be maintained elsewhere, might be the first step. T h e second step would be a direct mail campaign either to follow up suggestions received through the first survey or to check on institutions that had not responded fully or adequately to the earlier inquiry. T h i s information might be arranged by author, subject or source analyzed, and provided with a subject key of its own, which might or might not be unified with the body of the book. I offer this idea to the subsection for their consideration. Preliminary steps may al- ready have been taken by other agencies of this organization. 2 . C u r r e n t B i o g r a p h y S e r v i c e Donna L. Root, assistant, Reference Di- vision, Cleveland Public Library, stressed the need for a cumulative bulletin of bi- ography : I N R E S P O N S E to the questionnaire re- garding needed reference tools that Miss Van Sant sent to reference librarians in February, the Cleveland Public Library general reference division stated that there is a strong need for a cumulative bulletin of current biography. This could be a bulletin or service giving biographical in- formation about names in the news, in- cluding their pronunciation. Miss Van Sant wrote that a majority of answers to the questionnaire stressed the need for biographical tools and she asked that our ideas be presented to the reference sub- section. She listed various suggestions made by other libraries for a biography tool, most of which can be incorporated in our plan. Probably the radio has been the most influential factor in causing the increased interest in names in the news. Certainly the stimulus it has given to public speaking has resulted in the need for a reference 101 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES tool which gives correct pronunciation of names to be used by many budding orators. A t any rate, our general reference division is continually being asked for biographical sketches of authors of best sellers, jour- nalists, especially foreign correspondents now flooding the market with their com- ments, political leaders at home and abroad, scientists and physicians, industrial and labor leaders and of course radio and movie stars. There are many biographical diction- aries which do well for brief sketches and which are reasonably up to date. For the general groups, Who's Who and Who's Who in America, the International Who's Who and the various foreign who's who, come readily to mind. Representative of the special groups are America's Young Men, latest volume 1 9 3 8 - 3 9 ; American Women 1939-40; American Men of Sci- ence, 1938. Then there is the long list of special "who's who's,"—in radio, movies, engineering, etc. These volumes might be used to suggest names to appear in the proposed service but the information given is much too brief and is in some cases incomplete and inadequate. Again, these aids are not new enough to include names daily coming to the attention of the reading and listening public. Our idea is for the publication of a cur- rently issued biographical bulletin or serv- ice, giving biographical sketches of present day men and women longer than those in the who's who type of publication. T h e kind of biographical article published in the Wilson Bulletin, about a page long, with portrait of the subject, is the desired type. A similar sort appears in Authors Today and Yesterday by Kunitz. There is also an excellent French publication which contains this type of sketch—the Dictionnaire National des Contempo- raries. T h e scope of this service should be international. T h e determining factor for inclusion would be the prominence of the subject in the news of the day. T h i s might be published in the form of a monthly bulletin, cumulated quarterly, or it might take the form of a loose-leaf service. Europa Company publishes a loose-leaf service which has a European who's who as Volume I I . These sketches, however, are the short type. T h e English loose-leaf service on cur- rent events, Keesing's Contemporary Ar- chives, is closest to what we have in mind. T h e latter describes itself as "an illustrated weekly diary of world events with index continually kept up to date." A special binder with slide lock holds the sheets in permanent form. T h i s service costs eight- een dollars a year and has the advantage of being extremely timely. W e feel there is need of some similar up-to-the-minute service in the field of biography. Sources of Information There are many possible sources which might be used, granting the consent of publishers is obtained. 1 . T h e biographical sketches from the Wilson Bulletin have already been men- tioned as an excellent type. 2. Biographical articles in magazines which are indexed in the Readers' Guide could be briefed for inclusion. 3. Sketches of contributors to current magazines could be expanded and used. 4. Publishers' information about au- thors such as is published on book jackets or in special booklet form. It is our ex- perience that the publishers usually make such information available to the public quite generously, if asked. 5. T h e column which appears fre- quently in the Christian Science Monitor DECEMBER, 1939 102 called, "Pronunciation of Proper Names in the N e w s " is a source both for names to be included and for their correct pro- nunciation. Since they state that their source is the publisher of Webster's New International Dictionary, it would doubt- less be necessary to obtain the cooperation of the G . & C . Merriam Company. If something along this line is to be done, it is obvious that a publisher and funds for publication are needed. W i t h this in mind letters were sent to four pub- lishers who might possibly be interested. T w o of them responded, asking for fur- ther information and showing an encour- aging interest. One letter was from Halsey W . Wilson of the H . W . Wilson Company who says: " W e have had in mind for some time that there might be opportunity to do something along the line of current reference material in the field of biography." And he goes on to say he will be glad to receive further sugges- tions. T h e other letter was from Everett O. Fontaine of the A . L . A . Publishing De- partment, making useful suggestions for further promotion and financing of the proposal if suitably recommended by the reference section. W e may conclude that there is a defi- nite, expressed need for a reference tool of this sort. If the project is of interest to the reference subsection, it is recommended that further revision and development of the suggested plan be undertaken, in what- ever way our chairman, Miss Van Sant, sees fit. 3 . I n t e g r a t i o n of R e f e r e n c e R e v i e w E f f o r t s Louis Shores, director, Library School, George Peabody College for Teachers, summarized proposals for a reference journal and offered a recommendation. T H E R E ARE now several current publi- cations that review reference materials, and from time to time articles appear in our professional journals that relate to reference methods. Subscription Books Bulletin, issued quarterly, is devoted al- most entirely to a critical examination of reference sets sold directly from publisher to consumer. "Current Reference Books," the monthly department in the Wilson Bulletin, restricts itself largely to reference materials sold through the regular trade. Together, these two publications provide a current review of reference materials for popular libraries. T h e need for a review of more scholarly reference materials is only partially met by such lists of foreign reference books as appear in the Library Journal, reviews in the Library Quarterly, and in the journals of the respective special fields. It is ap- parent, therefore, that what is needed is ( 1 ) a popular review of reference ma- terials currently purchased by small li- braries, college, public and school, and ( 2 ) a scholarly review, that will examine for- eign as well at American reference ma- terials of interest to large research libraries. T h e following proposals have come to my attention thus f a r : 1 . Expand the Subscription Books Bul- letin into a comprehensive reference jour- nal to serve both scholarly and popular needs, under the joint sponsorship of the present Subscription Books Committee and a committee to be appointed by the Reference Librarians Subsection, or con- stitute the Subscription Books Committee as responsible to the reference subsection. 2. Launch a separate reference journal to be edited by the reference subsection and to include reviews of all types of reference materials. 103 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3. Include an annual review of new reference books in the College and Refer- ence Yearbook, when, and if, this is re- vived. 4. Incorporate reviews of reference ma- terials in the Book Review Digest or in the Booklist instead of in a separate, compara- tively expensive, publication such as the Subscription Books Bulletin. 5. Bring the Mudge Guide to Refer- ence Books and supplements into a current review scheme which would provide a new Guide at least every five years and a supplement annually. Since this report was read before the reference subsection, announcement of the new A . C . R . L . journal has been made. In view of this and the above recommenda- tions the following plan intended to utilize existing agencies and to provide an inte- grated and unified scheme for the evalua- tion of reference materials is offered: 1. T h a t the American Library Associa- tion, Association of College and Reference Libraries, and H . W . Wilson Company pool their resources and provide two pop- ular reviews and one scholarly review of reference materials. 2. T h a t general subscription sets likely to be purchased by school, small public and college libraries be reviewed in the Booklist or in the A.L.A. Bulletin. 3. T h a t non-subscription general refer- ence materials likely to be purchased by school, small public and college libraries be reviewed in the Wilson Bulletin. 4. T h a t all reference materials of inter- est to the five subsections of the A . C . R . L . be reviewed in the A . C . R . L . journal, par- ticular attention to be given to specialized and foreign tools. 5. T h a t each year the A . L . A . and A . C . R . L . jointly publish a comprehensive list of new reference materials based on 2, 3, and 4, to supplement Mudge's Guide to Reference Books. 6. T h a t each year the H . W . Wilson Company publish an annual selected list of reference materials for the small library. 4 . A n E n c y c l o p e d i a of S p o r t s , G a m e s , a n d R e c r e a t i o n s Wilson M. Ranck of the Science and Technology Division, Public Library, Rochester, emphasized the need for a com- prehensive encyclopedia of sports, games, and recreations: T H E N E E D for a comprehensive ency- clopedia in the broad fields of sports, games, and recreations has been com- mented upon frequently by librarians, physical educators, recreation leaders and others throughout the country. A n ade- quate encyclopedia in this, or any other field, should consider the problem in its broadest aspects and both in relation to its component parts and to its whole. It should include biographical, historical, bibliographical, statistical and sociological data. There should be illustrations, ta- bles, diagrams, and drawings. Biblio- graphical notations, leading to other and more detailed literature as well as indicat- ing authority for statements, should be considered an integral part of such a work. A copious index is essential. T h e prepara- tion should be scholarly; its presentation, for the man in the street, that is, popular. A n encyclopedia of sports, games, and recreations should include rules and regu- lations of the activities, techniques of par- ticipation and theory. T h e major articles should be signed by recognized authorities. T h e preparation, editing and publishing of a reference tool of this type is a project of considerable magnitude. It will require both moral and financial support. It will DECEMBER, 1939 89 require good organization. T o be prop- erly realized, these aspects must be care- fully studied and arranged for in advance. T o proceed without adequate support and without preliminary study will mean the production of an inferior tool. Six years have already been devoted to a considera- tion of this project by the present writer. Opinions have been gathered from many sources. Similar works have been examined. T h e surface has just been scratched. T h e desirability of a steering committee to carry on from this point is highly important and ad- visable. T h e sponsorship of an encyclopedia of sports, games, and recreations seems to fall quite logically within the scope of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, a department of the National Education Association. Librarians and their clients, however, will be the largest users and the largest pur- chasers of any such reference tool. Their needs, their points of view, and their as- sistance and cooperation are essential for the production of this work. T h e execu- tive secretary of the physical education group, D r . N . P. Neilson of Washington, D . C . , has suggested having the librarians of the country express themselves as to the need and value of such a work. Further, D r . Neilson agrees with this writer that the two professional groups have a joint interest and that, therefore, it would be desirable to establish a joint committee representing members of the two organiza- tions, this committee to further the study of the problem and make plans for the defi- nite fulfilment of the idea. In accordance with the above, the fol- lowing motion was presented to the Refer- ence Librarians Subsection at San Francisco: That the Reference Librarians Subsection of the Association of College and Reference Libraries endorse the need for an ency- clopedia of sports, games and recreations, that the Subsection recommend to the board of directors of the association the board's endorsement of the need and the board's willingness to establish on behalf of the as- sociation, a joint committee with the Ameri- can Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation. It is further moved that an expression of the association's endorsement and willingness to create a joint committee on this subject be forwarded to the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recrea- tion in Washington, D.C. A f t e r considerable discussion, the sub- section voted favorably on the above mo- tions. Since the action in San Francisco, last June, two publishers of the highest stand- ing have expressed themselves as being definitely interested in this project. 90 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES