College and Research Libraries


B y C H A R L E S B. S H A W 

Further Lists of Books for 
College Libraries 
Charles B. Shaw is librarian at Swart h-

more College. 

A C T I O N T O W A R D t h e p r o v i s i o n o f f u r t h e r 

published lists of books for college 

libraries points first t o w a r d another, 

but smaller, supplementary volume cover-

ing t w o or three years. T h e original 

volume and the existing supplement in-

clude statements of the appropriate books 

published through 1938. A n o t h e r similar 

compilation to catch up arrears and to 

provide for a f u t u r e period ( a period 

sufficient to w o r k out plans and procedures 

for a yet-to-be-initiated series of more 

frequent supplements) might w e l l be a 

three-year inclusion covering the years 

! 9 3 9 , I 9 4 0 , and 1 9 4 1 . It might be pos-

sible to reduce this to a two-year volume 

for 1939 and 1940, but the processes of 

assembling twenty-four advisory groups 

of faculty experts; the w o r k of checking, 

rechecking, and checking again several 

hundred titles; the mechanics of t y p i n g ; 

correspondence; the final digesting of rec-

ommendations and the selecting of titles; 

the preparation of printer's c o p y ; proof-

r e a d i n g ; i n d e x - m a k i n g — a l l these obliga-

tions combine in such a complicated and 

time-consuming task that, w i t h 1940 al-

ready having passed, it w o u l d seem far 

wiser not to attempt the two-year volume. 

It w o u l d be expedient, however, in the 

near f u t u r e to evolve a program which 

w i l l assure editorial activity . during the 

last quarter of 1941 and the first quarter 

of 1942, w i t h the consequent completion 

of a three-year 1939-1941 supplement dur-

ing the spring of 1942. 

I have not attempted to prepare an 

itemized budget of editorial and produc-

tion costs for such a publication. T h e 

A . L . A . cannot quote a definite selling 

price on a book for which the manuscript 

does not exist. F o r each of the t w o 

previous publications there has been a 

subsidy consisting of a grant from the 

Carnegie Corporation of N e w Y o r k . If 

some similar subsidy is again made avail-

able and the book materializes in the 

proportionate size that experience w i t h its 

predecessors indicates it might (probably 

1300-1500 t i t l e s ) , the chief of the pub-

lishing department of the A . L . A . estimates 

that a three-year supplement could be 

priced at $4 to $4.25 if there is assured 

a sale of at least one thousand copies. 

Beyond this proposed three-year supple-

ment there are t w o divergent w a y s of 

procedure. 

O n e is the production of a series of 

annual volumes, similar in every respect 

but size, to the books already issued. Each 

annual volume w o u l d be prepared as its 

predecessors have been, in the light of 

advice from many experts, and w o u l d 

express a c a r e f u l l y considered appraisal by 

the admission of any title to the list. T h e 

preparation of such a compilation could 

probably be completed during the spring 

MARC hi, 1941 117 



of the f o l l o w i n g y e a r : i.e., the 1942 vol-

ume could be made ready for publication 

before the start of the summer vacation 

of 1943. H e r e again the problem of a 

subsidy has to be faced. If a foundation 

is u n w i l l i n g to grant a continuing series 

of small subventions some institution may 

be persuaded (as certain universities now 

subsidize some learned j o u r n a l s ) to as-

sume editorial and other pre-manufactur-

ing costs. A g a i n w i t h the caution that the 

figure is no more than a rough estimate, 

the chief of the A . L . A . publishing depart-

ment suggests that an annual supplement, 

listing from 400 to 500 titles, w o u l d be 

priced at $2.25 or $2.50 if there is an 

assured sale of 700 copies. 

Quarterly List 

T h e other suggested w a y of procedure 

is the issuance of a quarterly list of titles 

suitable for college and university library 

purchase. T h e A . L . A . estimate of cost 

for the quarterly issuance of such a list 

(a pamphlet that might approximate in 

size the Subscription Books Bulletin) is 

about $3 a year if there are from 1200 to 

1500 subscribers, or from $3.50 to $4 a 

year if there are only f r o m 7 ° ° to 1000 

subscribers. A correlative suggestion is 

the inclusion of such a listing of new 

titles as a regular department of College 

and Research Libraries. T h i s quarterly 

publication assures the possibility of 

prompt acquisition ( a January, 1942 pub-

lication could presumably be included in 

the M a r c h , 1942 quarterly listing) but it 

gains this promptness perhaps by sacri-

ficing w h a t may be the far more valuable 

asset of authoritativeness. 

T h e list which has the virtue of time-

liness must be assembled largely on the 

basis of reviews in such lay or popular 

media as the New York Times book re-

118 ' 

v i e w section, Books, the Nation and the 

New Republic rather than on the special-

ized reviews of experts that appear in 

each subject's learned journals. A f r a g -

mentary but time-consuming check of this 

aspect of book-evaluation yielded the fol-

l o w i n g pertinent bits of information. T h e 

findings, of course, have no final signifi-

cance, but they are indicative of the dis-

crepancies in the availability of estimates 

of new publications that are inherent in 

the t w o contrasting conceptions of prompt-

ness and authority. T h i s check is on the 

lapses of time between the date of publi-

cation of a book (as shown by its entry 

in the Publishers' Weekly, the date of its 

review in one of the popular weekly media 

and the date of the availability of its re-

v i e w in a standard scholarly journal (as 

indicated by the date of the arrival of an 

issue at our l i b r a r y ) . F o r this check the 

reviews of t w e n t y haphazardly selected 

titles in five fields of k n o w l e d g e have thus 

been examined. In these t w e n t y instances 

the average interval between the date of 

a book's appearance and its review in one 

of the popular media is 15 days. T h e 

average interval between the date of the 

book's appearance and the availability of 

its authoritative review in its o w n spe-

cialized journal is 60 weeks. T h e r e is a 

lag here of a little more than a year. It 

is during this year that the book is being 

examined and used by competent subject 

specialists—by those individuals whose 

opinions w i l l have determining w e i g h t in 

the admission or rejection of these titles in 

an annual volume. 

Different Aims 

of Aids 

A second check is on an analogous situ-

ation in other of our professional book 

(Continued on page 189) 

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 

\ 



A g n e s M . Johnson, Columbia '33, for-

merly at K e r n C o u n t y L i b r a r y , has been 

appointed bibliographer. 

M r s . L i s l Loeb, C a l i f o r n i a '40, is now 

assistant in the catalog department. 

A n n a F . Pitney, C a l i f o r n i a '40, is an 

assistant in the accessions department. 

M r s . A l i c e F . Reynolds, Columbia '38, 

is an assistant cataloger for the B a n c r o f t 

L i b r a r y . 

D r . Diether von den Steinen has been 

appointed curator of the Chinese and 

Japanese language collection. D r . von 

den Steinen spent eleven years in C h i n a . 

R u t h L . Steinmetz, assistant chief of 

the bibliography division, has been as-

signed to the School of Education L i b r a r y . 

Robert Vosper, C a l i f o r n i a '40, is as-

sistant in the reference division. 

Jerome K . W i l c o x w a s promoted f r o m 

assistant librarian to associate librarian 

J u l y I, 1940. 

G o r d o n W i l s o n , C a l i f o r n i a '40, is now 

assistant in the catalog department. 

Further Lists of Books for College Libraries 
(Continued from page 118) 

selection aids. T h e Booklist aims at the 
prompt evaluation of books considered 

suitable for immediate library acquisition; 

the A.L.A. Catalog is an expression of 
the deferred judgment on such titles as 

basic books. A g a i n , this sampling is not 

infallibly conclusive, but it is further in-

dicative of those discrepancies in book se-

lection aids. In this check 100 haphazard-

ly selected titles from the Booklist were 
checked against the A.L.A. Catalog, 1932-
1936. O f the 100 Booklist-cited titles 
only 37 w e r e included in the later publica-

tion. In this random sampling, therefore, 

63 per cent of the immediately accepted 

titles w e r e rejected in the later compilation 

of books desirable for permanent library 

acquisition. I t seems reasonable to suppose 

that a similar variation might be expected 

among those titles recommended in corre-

sponding current and basic lists aimed at 

college book selection. 

O n e still further possibility, if support 

should w a r r a n t it, w o u l d be the adoption 

of both procedures: a quickly prepared 

quarterly list (like the Booklist). 

T w e n t y issues of this w o u l d become the 

basis, not of cumulation, but for the 

compilation of a revised authoritative and 

tested selection (like the A.L.A. Cata-
log) to be issued as the next inclusive 
five-year volume in a series including the 

original book, the existing 1 9 3 1 - 1 9 3 8 

supplement, and the proposed 1939-1941 

selections. 

A l l these proposals are unofficial, tenta-

tive, and suggestive. So far as I know, 

no scheme of procedure has been adopted 

or even planned in detail by any organiza-

tion. Before there is a commitment to any 

plan I believe that there should be some 

canvassing of the opinions of, and some 

investigation of the possibilities of partici-

pation by, official representatives of the 

various learned societies whose fields of 

interest are included in the publication. 

In addition to such extra-professional dis-

cussions I am sure that the publishing de-

partment of the A . L . A . and the officials of 

the Association of College and Reference 

Libraries w i l l welcome your letters of 

comment and advice. 

MARCH, 1941 189