College and Research Libraries B y L O U I S K A P L A N Reference Work with Periodicals: Recent Progress and Future Needs Louis Kaplan is reference librarian of the University of Wisconsin Library. SAVE THE magazines—let the books burn I " 1 a librarian wrote some ten years ago. T o d a y , on all sides there is an increasing realization of the importance of periodicals. N e w studies and investiga- tions are being conducted, and new indexes are being compiled. F o r the first time, a number of library schools are offering a separate course on periodicals. These recent developments, in so f a r as they relate to the reference use of periodi- cals, are summarized in this article. In addition, a number of suggestions are of- fered with respect to future needs. Indexes and A bstracts W i t h regard to existing composite in- dexing and abstracting services there are three main difficulties: incomplete cover- age, duplication of titles, and the time lag between the publication of periodicals and the appearance of the indexes. These problems are now the subject of study by a committee of the Serials Section of the American Library Association. A t a later date the committee intends to examine the question of the promptness with which new titles are admitted to the indexes. In this connection an excellent suggestion has been made by Henry Black, technical con- 1 Munn, Ralph. " L i b r a r y Mission of Magazines," Wilson Bulletin 4:59, Oct. 1929. sultant for the Commonwealth College library: The selection of periodicals to be indexed or covered by abstracting services is of seri- ous interest not merely to libraries but to all organizations concerned with education, research, industry and government. It is our belief that selection can be handled satis- factorily only by a prominent body such as that proposed by the A.L.A. committee. However, to limit the group to librarians, as suggested by that committee, would be a mistake; for the problem is essentially a social one, and a representation should be required of all the various interests—library administrators and trustees, reference and research workers, scientific societies, special libraries, indexing and abstracting agencies, periodical publishers, and the main economic and political points of view.2 In addition to the work of the Serials Section committee there are a number of other encouraging signs of activity. T h e H . W . Wilson Company is preparing a revised edition of Poole's Index. In this edition the two main weaknesses of the index will be corrected : there will be ( 1 ) a systematic scheme for subject headings and ( 2 ) author entries. A t N e w Y o r k University a W o r k Proj- ects Administration project is engaged in compiling an index to early American periodicals. When completed it will in- clude 3 3 9 titles (7000 volumes) of which only a f e w are duplicated in Poole's Index. T h e years to be covered are from 1 7 2 8 to 2 Library Quarterly, 10:62, J a n . 1940. JUNE, 1940 23 7 1 8 7 0 . T h i s valuable index should be published. If this is impossible, a number of libraries w i l l undoubtedly wish to have it microfilmed. A n o t h e r very useful tool is being pre- pared at the U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a under the direction of B a r b a r a C o w l e s . T h i s is a subject index to the Union List of Seri- als. T w o other studies are under w a y at the same school: an analysis of abstracting services treating of endocrine literature, and a comparison of the titles included in A y e r ' s , W i l l i n g ' s and Sperling's directories w i t h those in the major indexing services. A t the U n i v e r s i t y of M i c h i g a n an analysis of the Agricultural Index and the Experi- ment Station Record is being made. A t the U n i v e r s i t y of W i s c o n s i n , under the direction of the w r i t e r , a subject analysis of the titles in the Bibliographic der fremdsprachigen Zeitschriftenliteratur w i l l soon begin. No Satisfactory Index to Book Reviews F r o m the viewpoint of the general col- lege and university library there is as yet no satisfactory index to book reviews. T h e Book Review Digest omits many books which are of interest to the larger libraries, and records only those reviews which appear immediately after the publi- cation of a book. T h e s e t w o weaknesses are corrected in the Bibliographie der Rezensionen. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , this publi- cation is not issued promptly enough to be of use in locating reviews of recent books, and its arrangement is f a r too intricate for most library patrons. A third index, the Technical Book Review Index, cites re- views exclusively from technical periodi- cals and is therefore of limited use in gen- eral reference w o r k . I t is doubtful if an A m e r i c a n publisher could be interested in providing a new index to reviews which w o u l d satisfy the needs of larger libraries. Some time ago the w r i t e r had a brief conversation w i t h M r . H . W . W i l s o n w h o w a s skeptical as to the financial success of such a venture. A second and perhaps more feasible ap- proach to the problem w o u l d be for A m e r - ican and English librarians to request the publisher of the Bibliographie der Rezen- sionen to speed up its publication and make its use less difficult. A n o t h e r important need is for an up-to- date check list of all periodicals which have ever been indexed. U l r i c h ' s Periodi- cals Directory, it is true, provides a clue to those being currently indexed. I t does not, however, show in w h a t year the in- dexing of each periodical w a s begun, nor does it include discontinued periodicals. T o meet this need the w r i t e r has spon- sored a W . P . A . project which is expected to start this summer. If possible, this check list w i l l be made available to other librarians. A much larger and more important un- dertaking relates to the fact that the in- dexes are n o w so great in number and cover so many years that there is a g r o w - ing need for an index to the indexes. T h i s phrase " i n d e x to indexes" is not to be taken literally. W h a t is meant is that many periodicals contain, in addition to articles and book reviews, a great amount of special reference material which, though indexed, is n o w very difficult to find. E x a m p l e s of such materials are the dic- tionary of nineteenth century A m e r i c a n authors in Blackwood's Magazine ( 1 8 2 4 - 2 5 ) , the periodic compilations in Editorial Research Reports showing for a Congres- sional session how each Congressman voted on important issues, and the list in the Bulletin of the National Research Council of private industrial research laboratories 279 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES in the U n i t e d States. F o r such items, and for similar items which are unindexed, there is needed a single-volume guide. In this proposed project the periodicals w o u l d be alphabetically arranged and for each periodical there w o u l d be a list of its special reference features. A subject in- dex w o u l d f o l l o w the alphabetical list. W i t h such an arrangement, the publication could be used as a selection aid as w e l l as a reference guide. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , it is beyond the powers of a single person to compile a w o r k of such great magnitude. T h e w r i t e r has made a start on periodicals in the field of history.3 Selection Aids A variety of methods has been em- ployed in compiling aids for the selection of periodicals. O n e fairly satisfactory method is to pool the opinions of a large number of subject specialists and librari- ans. T h i s w a s the procedure followed in L y l e ' s Classified List of Periodicals for the College Library, and in Shaw's List of Books for College Libraries. This method is superior to a selection based purely on the opinions of experts, as w a s done in F o x ' s Selection of a Basic List of Periodicals for a Teacher's College Li- brary (thesis, U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a , 1 9 3 0 ) , and to a selection limited to the opinions of librarians, as w a s done in Copeland's " C h e c k l i s t for a T e a c h e r ' s C o l - lege L i b r a r y " ( P e a b o d y Journal of Educa- tion, J u l y 1 9 3 4 ) - A n y selection, however, which is based on personal opinions must be regarded w i t h some suspicion. F o r this reason the statistical method, first employed for chem- istry periodicals by G r o s s ( S c i e n c e , O c t o - ber 2 8 , 1 9 2 9 ) , w a s a definite step f o r w a r d . 3 A fuller description of this project will shortly appear in the Wilson Library Bulletin. G r o s s ' procedure w a s to choose a basic periodical and compute from this the foot- note references to other periodicals. W i t h this method it is possible to show some- w h a t conclusively which periodicals w i l l be wanted by scholars. T h e chief w e a k - ness of the procedure is that the final re- sults depend upon the choice of the basic periodical or periodicals. Nevertheless, the method has attracted considerable at- tention ; similar studies have been made for periodicals in electrical engineering, civil engineering, geology, mathematics, agriculture, and medicine. It is to be hoped that further investigations w i l l be conducted. W i t h respect to the selection of newly published periodicals, there is an especially difficult problem since statistical evidence of their usefulness is lacking. N o r is the problem solved simply by w a i t i n g until a periodical is taken up in a composite index. If a periodical contains material of a distinctive nature, it should be pur- chased immediately—whether indexed or not. E v e n though unindexed, a periodical can be put to extensive use. A n o t h e r rea- son for prompt purchase is that after a f e w years early numbers of a periodical are almost impossible to obtain. N e w periodicals are frequently de- scribed in the older periodicals. T h e de- scription, however, is usually too brief to be of service in selection. Furthermore, it is a tremendous task to keep up w i t h new periodicals in this manner. F o r these reasons it w o u l d be very helpful if jour- nals like College and Research Libraries and Library Quarterly w o u l d publish compact reviews of important new periodi- cals. T h e s e reviews should be written by subject specialists. T h e y should appear soon after a f e w numbers of a new periodi- cal have been published. JUNE, 1940 2 3 7 Interlibrary Loans and Microfilming T w o difficulties present themselves w i t h respect to the interlibrary loan of periodi- cals. O n e is the cost of transporting a heavy volume in which only a single arti- cle is to be used and the second is the re- luctance of librarians to lend materials which are frequently called for by their o w n patrons. Connected w i t h this situa- tion is the inevitable fact that as regional schemes of cooperation develop, more and more borrowing w i l l become necessary. T h e only solution, barring unforeseen developments, is the increasing use of microfilm. B e f o r e this can be really effec- tive, a greater number of libraries must be equipped w i t h the apparatus essential to the filming of materials. T h i s is mainly a problem for larger libraries since they are most frequently called upon for loans. F o r t u n a t e l y , definite progress is being made. A recent investigation disclosed that of 5 7 libraries questioned, 3 4 w e r e already prepared to film their materials and 2 more w e r e about to institute the service. A number of large libraries, h o w - ever, have as yet done nothing along this line.4 O n the other hand, f e w of the smaller libraries have been equipped w i t h reading machines. T h i s is an essential step since it is from these libraries that a majority of the requests come for interlibrary loans. T h e r e is really no good reason w h y this step should be delayed. A serviceable reading machine can n o w be purchased for seventy-five dollars. Because of the money saved in transportation of heavy volumes, this machine w i l l soon pay for itself. F u r - thermore, in this w a y a library can make available to its patrons much material 4 Brown, Harold P. " S u r v e y of Microfilm Sources." Journal of Documentary Reproduction 2 : 1 2 0 - 2 2 , J u n e 1939. which w o u l d otherwise be impossible to borrow. In this same connection it is important to note that through Bibliofilm it is n o w possible to purchase on film entire sets of important periodicals. T h e cost of this service, if over ten volumes are w a n t e d , is one-half cent per page. Need for First-Hand Knowledge of Periodicals I t is unfortunately true that the ma- jority of reference workers do not possess a first-hand knowledge of periodicals. I n - stead, there is an almost exclusive reliance upon the indexing services. T h i s is a deplorable situation because it means that much reference material goes to waste. T h e truth is that it is not even possible to use the indexes efficiently without inti- mate knowledge of the periodicals. S u p - pose, for instance, that a patron wishes examples of cartoons relating to the European w a r of 1 9 1 4 - 1 8 , and that the books containing this material are not available. N o w it so happens that an ex- cellent collection of these cartoons can be found in Current History, and these, of course, are indexed in the Readers' Guide. B u t if it does not occur to the reference worker that cartoons are contained in periodicals, w i l l he make use of the com- posite indexes? Suppose again that a college freshman is seeking a review of a history book. T h r o u g h the Book Review Digest it is possible that he w i l l find references to such periodicals as the American Histori- cal Review, Nation, Current History, and the English Historical Review. Here the patron may w e l l be advised as to which of these periodicals are too technical for his educational background. In other words, the librarian must be f u l l y acquainted 281 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES w i t h each of the periodicals, if he is to be of service to the patron. A n o t h e r good reason for not relying exclusively upon the indexes is that many important periodicals are as yet unindexed. O f course, the reference department can- not possibly maintain a comprehensive indexing of its o w n . Nevertheless, it is frequently possible to put a periodical to use simply by knowing its general nature. T h u s , it is natural to presume that ma- terial on M e x i c a n mosaics w i l l be found in the periodical Mexican Art and Life. In effect, an unindexed periodical can be expected to contain certain material and be referred to in the same manner as an encyclopedia. Besides being acquainted w i t h the gen- eral nature of an unindexed periodical, a reference librarian w i l l find it v e r y useful to keep a record of any unusual reference items which it may contain. A n example is the Standard Rate and Data Service, one of the f e w sources which reveals how many copies of a certain periodical are sold in a particular state. If a record of such items w e r e kept on file in the reference department, as is done in some libraries, it w o u l d soon prove its w o r t h . F o r these reasons there is a very real need for reference workers to go beyond the indexes and to get into the periodicals themselves. T h e r e is no royal road to a knowledge of periodicals. T h e y must be studied systematically and at great length. In addition, books about periodicals must be read, such as M o t t ' s History of Ameri- can Magazines, and G r a h a m ' s English Literary Periodicals. T h e r e is a pressing need for more ade- quate professional instruction in reference w o r k w i t h periodicals. T h i s is not meant as a reflection upon reference teachers. Instead, it is intended to emphasize the fact that when reference books and refer- ence periodicals are taught in combination, the latter suffer. In most instances, only a small percentage of the time is given to periodicals. Furthermore, the instruction rarely consists of more than a discussion of the periodical indexes. T h e periodicals themselves are usually ignored. T h i s is an unfortunate situation, for without a first-hand knowledge of the periodicals, efficient reference w o r k is impossible. T h e proper solution, it seems, is to offer a separate course on reference w o r k w i t h periodicals. I t could be given w i t h great- est profit in the second semester of the first year's w o r k . I t should be offered as an elective to students w h o are especially in- terested in reference w o r k . M a n y library school directors w i l l un- doubtedly feel that there is no room for further special courses in the first year's curriculum. H o w e v e r , such a course could very w e l l replace some n o w being offered. A n example is the half year's instruction given at some schools on sub- ject bibliographies. Bibliographies, of course, are v e r y important, but their proper use is simply a matter of technique. I t is not necessary to know all existing bibliographies. I t is more important to know how to find them, and this can be, and is, taught in the reference course. Perhaps the reader feels that an undue emphasis is here being placed on the refer- ence value of periodicals. Nevertheless, let it be kept in mind that most libraries expend, exclusive of binding costs, at least 4 0 per cent of their book budget for period- icals. T h u s , if libraries are to obtain a good return on their investment, periodi- cals must be put to the fullest possible use. Is this not reason enough to train students more adequately in the reference use of periodicals ? JUNE, 1940 23 7