College and Research Libraries


Newberry and his benefactions. These 

are the charming Diary of Julia Rosa 

Newberry, published 1 9 3 3 but covering a 

few years before and after the fire, and 

" A n Early 'Friend' of Libraries" by 

George B. Utley, published in The Li-

brary Quarterly, July 1 9 4 2 , and available 

in reprint form. T h e "friend" is M a r k 

Skinner with twenty entries in the index 

of the volume under review. 

W e have been unduly severe, perhaps, 

in pointing out these blemishes. Serious 

blemishes they are, but after all they are 

only blemishes on a study which is a real 

contribution to our understanding of the 

culture of our early M i d d l e Western 

states and more specifically a history of 

library development in an important and 

typical state of this region. Librarianship 

has often been criticized, and rightly so, 

for its failure to create a scholarly litera-

ture. Happily the criticism is beginning 

to lose force. But, for this very reason, 

it is important that all who aspire to aid 

in this process should meet, in the highest 

degree, the high requirements for genuine 

scholarly writing. T h i s requires accuracy, 

common sense, imagination, breadth of 

view, clarity, and conciseness. Industry, 

though essential, is a subordinate virtue. 

A work of scholarship must necessarily 

be judged, if judged at all, on such a basis. 

W h i l e we regret to have found much to 

criticize adversely, w e do want in conclu-

sion to express to Miss Spencer the thanks 

of the many who are interested in the be-

ginnings and the development of things 

literary and cultural for bringing together 

so many widely-scattered and deeply-

buried facts and presenting them in so 

well organized a manner. W e hope that 

other cities and regions may have the bene-

fit of like study and research following in 

the pioneer footsteps of Miss Spencer and 

will find an historian as conscientious and 

interested.—Carl Vitz, Minneapolis Pub-

lic Library. 

American Standard Reference Data and 

Arrangement of Periodicals; Approved 

June 7, 194.3. American Standards As-

sociation, 2 9 W . 3 9 t h St., N e w York. 

4p. 

T h e first edition of this code appeared 

in 1 9 3 5 as the American Recommended 

Practice, Reference Data for Periodicals, 

after having been approved by a general 

conference of publishers and librarians or-

ganized under the procedure of the Ameri-

can Standards Association. W o r k on the 

revision was started in 1 9 4 0 by the A . S . A . 

Committee on Standardization in the 

Field of Library W o r k and Documenta-

tion, under the sponsorship of the Ameri-

can Library Association, with a committee 

representing fifteen library and publishers' 

associations. 

T h e new code is about twice the size of 

the original. T h e rules have been ex-

panded to greater detail and provide the 

solution for many more special problems. 

It is a manual for the person who gets out 

the periodical and it aims to note sys-

tematically the more or less mechanical 

details (usually taken care of by the man-

aging editor) which make for the ef-

ficient handling of periodicals by all who 

use them or make them available for the 

use of others. These are such details as 

how to take care of volume numbers, issue 

numbers and date, title pages, contents, 

index, information which should be given 

under the masthead, errata slips, changes 

of policy, changes of title, mergers, suspen-

sions, etc. T h e section on supplements of 

various kinds and one on society publica-

tions are entirely new. 

DECEMBER, 1943 
8 7 



T h e committee is to be congratulated 

on the large amount of material they have 

put compactly into a small space. H o w -

ever, the effort made to secure compact-

ness has given the new edition a more 

formidable appearance. Its plan would be 

more readily seen if the original headings 

"Individual issues" and "Individual vol-

umes" had been retained. In some cases 

paragraphs might have been better ar-

ranged so that the emphasis would be on 

the main point. Also some of the termin-

ology might be clearer. For example, 

there is a section headed "Bibliographic 

information." In a work that is primarily 

bibliographic, what special phase would 

one expect to find there? It is asked that 

title page and index be sent to libraries 

"without notification." T h e point is that 

libraries should not have to request them. 

O n the whole the new layout is an im-

provement and the boldface captions are 

an aid to quick consultation. 

A very few of the details asked for seem 

inconsequential or an unattainable luxury. 

For example, for reasons of finance, there 

can be little use in asking popular periodi-

cals to avoid printing advertising and text 

on the same page. T h e point is that, if 

text and advertising are mixed, the pagi-

nation should be carried through, but a 

section which contains advertising only 

should not receive page numbers. T h i s 

paragraph could have been rearranged to 

put the more important part first and 

would be more likely to be approved by 

publishers. Also, is there any objection, 

except aesthetic, to advertising on the back 

of the title page? 

It was said of the first edition of the 

code that it covered every aspect of its 

field and little more could be desired. In 

practical use a great deal more has been 

found needed and there are still a few 

omissions. N o effort has been made to 

standardize the size of periodicals or the 

type page, and while ample provision is 

made for the numbering of loose plates, 

so that they will not be lost, nothing is 

said about folding larger illustrative ma-

terial well within the margin so that it 

will go safely through the trimming when 

the volume is bound. 

It is hoped that the code may be widely 

distributed and find a place on the desk 

of every editor and publisher of periodical 

material. It has long been recognized 

that, far from being ephemeral, periodicals 

are the source for much of the most im-

portant material of research. T h e weight-

iest scientific and social theories are based 

on minute experiments, and with few ex-

ceptions the full story is to be found only 

in the original periodical article. 

Use of the code by those responsible 

for the make-up of periodicals will take 

very little of their time and in many cases 

will simplify their work. T h e practical 

usefulness of the details asked for on the 

spine or cover of each issue is obvious. 

T h e details of history asked for are always 

known to the editor as the issues are being 

published and too frequently are so com-

monplace to him that he does not think it 

important to record them. Y e t these are 

the details which are unobtainable later or 

obtainable only after a long and costly 

search. T h e y are an absolute necessity to 

research libraries endeavoring to make a 

complete set available. 

If publishers will see that the code is 

followed it will result in a great saving in 

the cost of day-by-day handling of periodi-

cals and a still more noticeable and wel-

come saving when the volumes are made 

up for binding and finally cataloged.— 

Helen Grant Cashing, The H. W. Wil-

son Company. 

v 96 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES