College and Research Libraries By MELVIN ]. VOIGT Scientific Periodicals as a Basic Requirement for Engineering and Agri~ultural Research T HE SUBJECT of the interrelationships of subject matter in the various fields of learning is one which has interested librar- ians for many years. That these relation- ships exist and that their importance has increased in recent years is well known. Of particular interest has been the increas- ing interrelationship in and between the sciences and research being carried on in the applied fields of engineering and agriculture. It is the intent of this paper to study this latter relationship on the basis of the use of periodicals in research in a number of se- lected fields of engineering and agriculture. Particular emphasis has been given to the analysis of the subject fields in the pure sciences as they relate to the applied fields. The method selected for this study is that of reference counting. This method, since first reported by Gross and Gross,'l has been used by librarians as a tool in aiding in the selection of periodicals. While ob- jections which have been raised to the in- discriminate use of the method for the selec- tion of periodicals may have some validity, its usefulness for the purposes proposed here should be apparent. The periodicals chosen for this study are ones in which is reported much of the research being carried on in the subject fields under consideration. Therefore, the references cited in these 1 Gross, P. L. K., and Gross, E. M . "College Li - braries and Chemical Education." Science 66:385-89, Oct. 28, 1927, papers should represent the references · of greatest importance in carrying out the re- search projects reported. The subjects chosen for this study are those of soils and dairying in the agricul- tural field, an~ mechanical and metallurgi- cal engineering in the technical field. In making the reference counts, it was necessary to employ some arbitrary rules. The references recorded were · limited to periodicals or serials as defined by inclusions in the Union List of Serials. Thus most government documents were eliminated as well .as repolits of congresses and all ma- terial from books of a nonserial nature. 1 References to abstracting journals were also omitted. So that each subject field might be re- ported on the basis of its total usefulness to the applied field studied, the references used were not limited to the periodicals most often cited but included all periodicals cited. This seemed es~ential to a correct interpre- tation. Even though the · individual titles cited only a few times would undoubtedly vary if different samples were taken, the total number of periodicals in the various s'!lbject fields would not vary as long as an adequate s~mple was used. That the size of the samples used in this study was adequate was proved by the fact that half as large a sample gave almost ex- actly the same percentage of references in the various subject fields. 354 COLLEGE ' ANI) RESEARCH LIBRARIES The periodicals used in the fields covered and the periods covered were : In Agriculture: Soils-Soil Science, 1936-37, 1944-45 ' Dairying-] ournal 'of Dairy Science, I936- 37, 1944-45 In Engineering: Mechanical engineering-Mechanical Engi- neering, 1938-39, 1944-45; 1 ournal of Applied Mechanics, I938-39, 1943-44; Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1938-39, 1943-44 Metallurgical engineering-Transactions of the American Society for Metals, I936- 37, I944-45; Transactions of the Ameri- can Institute of M ·ining and Metallurgi- cal Engineers, "Institute of Metals" and "I ron and Steel" sections, I 93 7, · I 945 The double period was used in each case ta counteract any temporary trend within individual fields of research such as might be apparent during the period in which re- search was directed in a large measure toward wartime projects. The references were tabulated on sepa- rate sheets for each periodical cited and were recorded in three . period groups : be- fore 1910, 191 I to 1929, and since 1930. The tabulations for the periods used are not reproduced here. Sample calculations showed that early references had larger per- centages in the fields of the pure sciences than did later references, which was to be expected. Periodicals cited were verified as thoroughly as possible so that the same title would not be counted repeatedly under dif- ferent entries in the totals of periodicals cited. Each title was then classified by the Library of Congress classificatian into its larger subject field on the basis of Library of Congress cards when possible, or by the classification itself. While the classification used for some individual titles might be questioned, the majority of titles fell defi- JULY, 1947 I . nitely into individual fields. The resulting totals would be affected very little by chang- ing the few titles not clearly classifiable. Tables I and II include the total number and percentages of titles cited as well as the totals and percentages of ref.erences in each subject field. The percentage figure for the total number of references in each field carries the most significance since, assuming an adequate sample, it remains constant re- gardless of the size of the sample. The percentage of periodicals cited would vary according to the size of the sample since it depends on the number of periodicals pub- lished in the various fields. As the number of periodicals cited in one field approaches the total number published in that field, the corresponding percentage of all of the peri- odicals cited decreases, since the number of periodicals cited in remotely related 'fields will continue to increase with an increasing sample. An analysis of Table I reveals that in both the fields of soil and dairying research, periodicals in the fields of the pure sciences supply approximately dne-third of the refer- ences. In soils research, general scientific periodicals and those in chemistry and bot- any are of nearly equal importance, fol- lowed by those covering physiology and bacteriology. In dairying, over half of the references to pure science periodicals are to those in physiology, which here includes biological chemistry. Chemical and general scientific periodicals are also important. The large number of references in the phy- siology section are concentr~ted in a rela- tively small number of periodicals. In the field of dairy science, approximate- ly 6o per cent of the references are from journals in the field of agr~culture while in soils the percentage is approximately 50. Engineering, chiefly chemical, ac<;ounts for approximately 7 per cent in each field. In dairy research, periodicals in applied medi- 355 TABLE I References and Periodicals Cited in Two Fields of Agriculture Soils Dairying . Science-General. . . . . . . . . . 254 Mathematics and Physics. . 26 Chemistry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Geology_.................. 37 Biology-General ........ : . 7 5 Botany..... ... ... ....... . 290 Physiology and Zoology .... I34 Bacteriology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Total Science . . . . . . . . . . . I I37 Agriculture-General ...... I758 Plant Culture, Horticulture, 6.9 0.7 6.0 I .0 2.0 7·9 3·7 2 .7 J0 . 8 93 47·6 IS.J 2.4 9·5 3·3 4 ·5 7·6 4·6 1..4 48.6 22.I I34 7 JI2 2 35 I2 726 39 I267 371 34 6 39 2 I4 8 33 5 I4I J.8 0.2 8.8 0. I I .0 O.J 20.J I . I 35·5 8.4 I.5 9·6 0.5 3·5 2.0 8.I I. 2 34·8 I5.5 and Forestry.. . . . . . . . . . . 497 Animal Industries . . . . . . . . . 6 53 IJ.5 4 0.2 I2.6 I .0 32 IJ92 7 77 Total Agriculture ........ 226I 150 6I .2 35 ·7 1795 I47 Chemical, Metallurgical, and Mining Engineering.... . . 195 Miscellaneous Engineering and Technology. . . . . . . . . I 8 Total Engineering and Technology ... . . . . . . . . 2I3 Medicine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Miscellaneous. . . . . . . . . . . . . I I Total .................. 3692 I8 IO cine include 6 per cent of the references while in soil science the percentage is only 2. Discrepancy in Two Fields Table II indicates a greater discrepancy in the two fields chosen as to subject im- portance. In engineering it would be ex- pected that thqse applied fields closely re- lated to a similar pure science, such as chem- ical engiJ:?.eering is to chemistry, would have a greater need for the publ-ications in the pure sciences than would an applied science 5·3 0.5 5·8 I ·9 O.J 4·3 205 66 15 44 68 5 405 5 ·7 7 .I 1.9 3·7 7·6 10.9 6.3 16.8 0.2 1.2 farther removed, such as civil engineering. The two fields chosen occupy positions be- , tween the two mentioned above. Metal- 1 urgical engineering research makes a good deal of use of the publications in the pure sciences -as shown by the 23 per cent re- corded. In mechanical engineering the per- centage is less than half of this amount. The metallurgical engineering references in science are chiefly in general science periodi- cals, physics, and chemistry. The same fields are important in mechanical engineer- 356 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES TABLE II References and Periodicals Cited in Two Fields of Engineering Metallurgical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Science--:-General. . . . . . . . . . 287 Mathematics. . . . . . . .... . . . 6 Physics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 I Chemistry.. . .... . ........ I74 Geology, Biolog y, and Bot- 32 8.8 13. 1 30 4 ·.2. 6.s 0 . 2 0.4 I7 1.6 3·7 '25 8 .3 10.2 I7 3 ·3 3 ° 7 20 5·3 8 . 2 19 I .8 4 . I any...... .... .. . .. . . .. . IS 5 o.s 2.0 7 0 . 2 1 . 5 Total Science. . . . . . . . . . . 75 3 83 23.0 34.0 90 I I . I I 9. 5 Engineering- General and Civil .. . . . .. ... ... . ... . . Mechanical Engineering . .. . Electrical Engineering . . .. . . Automobile and Aeronau- tical Engineering . . . .. .. . Mining and Metallurgical Engineering . . .... . . . . .. . Chemical Engineering' . . . . . . Manufacturing .. .. .. ..... . Miscellaneous Engineering . . 20IO 70 72 IJ .) I 9 7 7 6I IS IS 8 5 -7 2 . 9 I .6 61 ·3 2. I 2.2 0.4 25.0 6 . I 6. I 3· 3 407 1003 95 I8o 447 866 I 57 I36 73 34 27 47 so 45 3 I I0 . 8 26.5 ?--5 I0 . 2 Io.8 9 · 8 6.7 Total Engineering . . . .. . . 25 I 6 l53 76 . 8 62.7 3293 33 I 11.8 22.9 4·2 3·6 87.0 71.6 Naval and Military Science . 5 Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Total .. . ... . ... . . . . .. .. 3278 4 4 244 ing with mathematics increasing in impor- tance. Three-fourths of the references cited in metallurgical journals were in periodicals in the technical and engineering fields with 61 per cent ' in mining and metallurgy. In mechanical engineering, 87 per cent of the references were distributed in the vanous engin~ering fields. In these tables, the Teferences to the magazines checked have been included in the reference counts. Since these periodi- cals and others high on the list will be easily available to the research worker, the obliga- tion for the library's furnishing the impor- JULY, 1947 0.2 0 . 1 I.6 I. 6 1.5 1.3 tant related materials becomes even 'greater. Elimination of these obviously required journals from the percentage counts tends to emphasize even more strongly the periodi- cals in the related fields, particularly the pure sciences. If, for example, the relative importance for soils research of journals other than Soil ScienceJ the ] ournal of the American Society of Agronomy J and the Proceedings of the Soil Science Society of America is considered, the percentage of remaining references in the pure scienc'es is raised from 31 to 49 and the percentage in agriculture decreased from 61 to 39· As 357 I' I far as the library is concerned, therefore, the important periodicals in the pure sci- ences must be supplied in quantity at least as great as those in the applied field. This conclusion is substantiated by an analysis of the "Percen.ta_ge of Periodicals Cited" col- umn. The figures quoted in Tables I and II are for the total number of references and periodicals . cited witho~t regard to the rela- tive importance of individual periodicals. While these figures are of the most impor- tance in revealing the complete requirements of the research worker in the various sub~ ject fields, it is also of interest to note the subject fields of the most important periodi- cals in the applied fields studied ; that is, the periodicals containing the greatest num- ber of references. For this purpose, it has been possible to include the results of other · studies which have employed reference counting to aid in determining periodical requirements in the various subject fields. The studies used are those of Lyle in civil engineering, 2 Smith in chemical engineer- ing, 3 MeNeely and Crosno in electrical engineering/ Croft in agricultural chemis- try, 5 and Hooker in radio engineering.6 While these studies were compiled with varying limitations and in periodicals not always of a research nature, the results, as far as they indicate the most important periodicals in each subject field, can be ac- cepted as comparable to similar results in this study. The subject distributions of the most often quoted journals in the five ref- erences mentioned and in the four fields 2 Lyle, Guy R. "The Selection of Civil Engineering Journals in the College Engineering Library." Master's thesis. Columbia University, 1932. 8 Smith, Maurice H. "The Selection of Chemical Engineering Periodicals in College Libraries." College and Research Libraries 5:217-27, June 1944· 4 McNeely, J. K., and Crosno, C. D. "Periodicals for Electrical Engineers." Science 72:81-84, July 25, 1930. 11 Croft, K. "Periodical Publications and Agricultural Analysis; A Bibliographical Study." Journal of Chemical Education 18:315-16, july 1941. • 6 Hooker, R. H. "A Study o Scientific Periodicals." Review of Scientific Instruments 6:333-38, November 1935· covered by this study are indicated in Table III. This table shows that certain periodicals in the general science field were among the most important in every field covered. Cer- tain chemical periodicals were of special im- portance in every field except two. Physics journals were noted in four of _the six en- gineering fields and periodicals on physiol- ogy and biochemistry in all three fields of agriculture. It is of interest to determine whether the same periodicals in the pure sciences are Of major importance in the same ap- plied fields. Of the periodicals referred to in the various studies reported in Table III, the following are recorded from three to .seven times : Academie des Sciences. Comptes Rendus _American Chemical Society. Journal Analyst Annalen der Physik Biochemical 1 ournal Biochemische Zeitschrift Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft. Berichte 1 ournal of B~ological Chemistry 1 ournal of Research, London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine Physical Review Royal Society of London. · Proceedings Science Zeitschrift fur Physik. The Journal of the American Chemical Society appe 1 ared in se~en of the nine lists, and the Proceedings of the Royal Society and the Comptes Rendus of the Paris Academy in six. In addition, ten titles are recorded among the most important in each of two of the studies listed in the table. Dalziel also has studied periodicals in the field of electrical engineering. 7 In his study reference counts were made in twenty jour- nals chosen as the most used in this field. In this case the importance of periodicals 7 Dalziel, Charles F. "Evaluation of Periodicals for Electrical Engineers." Library Quarterly 7:354-72, July 1937. 358 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES TABLE III Subject Distribution of Most Frequently Quoted Periodicals in Various Fields of Agriculture and Engineering ·' Science-General ............. . 2 Physics ..... . ... ......... ... . Chemistry ................... . Botany ...................... . Physiology and Biochemistry . . . Bacteriology ... , .. . ... ... ...... . Total Science ...... ........ . 2 Engineering-General . . . . . . . . . . 5 Civil Engineering and Engineer- ing Materials .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Sanitary and Municipal Engi- neering.... . ..... . ... . .. . ... 2 Roads and Pavements ........ . Railroad Engineering ..... . .. . . Mechanical Engineering ... . . .. . Electrical Engineering ......... . Automobile and Aeronautical Engineering ..... .... ...... . . Mining and Metallurgical Engi- neering ... .. ... ,... .. ... .... 1/ Chemical Engineering. . . . . . . . . . 1 Photography ............... ~ . . Manufacturing ........ ....... . Total T~chnology and Engi- neering.... . .... .... . . .... 18 Agriculture .... . . .. ...... .. .. . Medicine .. ... .. . . . .. . ...... . . Military Science ...... : . . ... .. . 3 8 2 I3 2 2 - 3 II 18 in the pure sciences for electrical en~ineer­ mg was accepted before the counts were made, for of the twenty journals checked, seven were from the pure sciences. All references cited m the scientific periodical articles were counted, resulting in the In- clusion of much material not closely related I JULY, 1947 3 4 · 2 9 12 6 7 13 2 2 4 3 3 I 4 22 5 4 3 J2 s Q) ...c: u 2 10 4 16 5 2 7 5 6 2 3 3 3 2 13 2 2 10 2 3 8 2 2 • to electrical e·ngineering and an overbalanc- ing toward scientific periodicals, particular- ly physics. That periodical indexes do not cover all of the periodicals most useful to a research worker in the applied fields is indicated by {Continued on page 375) 359 ' ' The Library has been an active participant :n interlibrary affairs in Georgia, particularly in the development of the regional Union · Catalog and the cooperative library program of the University Center of Atlanta. The Director of Libraries has been a member of the Library Committee of the University System of Georgia which during the war, however, has practically ceased to function. The Director of Libraries is a member of the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty. The inclusion of the Director in this Committee may or may not be the result of the library survey. The great upheaval of the war and the present readjustments which are following the return to peace make it hard to evaluate any changes in the use of the Library. We have observed a considerable increase in library use by the student body and a certain increase by the Faculty. The total use of the Library, however, is not yet satisfactory. There is a far better attitude on the part of the library public toward the Library and the library pro- gram than existed in 1940; and as soon as it is possible for the University Faculty and stu- dent body to stabilize, the library use will doubtless improve. We are in the process of preparing plans for a new library building which is to be con- structed as soon as conditions permit. There have been no improvements in existing facili- ties and will probably be none, in view of the · Scientific Periodicals (Continued from ·page 359) a study . of the Agricultural Index made by Orr. 8 Of the forty~seven most quoted p~riodicals, only five were from the pure science field, a percentage far below that s~own above. A similar study by Pohle9 of material included in the Experiment Sta- tion Record shows a ·simila.r trend. That abstracting and indexing services should re- main close to their indicated fields seems entirely justifiable, however, f9r the large s Orr, Robert W. "Preliminary Survey of the Agricultural Index as a Bibliographic Service for Land-grant College and University Libra·ries." Master's thesis. Columbia University, 1939. 9 Pohle, G. A. "Study of the Agricultural Index and Experiment Station Record, June 1936 to July 1937." Thesis. University of Michigan, 1940. JULY, 1947 - prospects for the new library building. This building is not the result of the library survey. Training in Library Science has not been developed, largely . because of the disruption from the war. It is part of the Library's plans to establish an adequate program for the training of school librarians and teacher- librarians and for training persons for junior positions in .the public libraries in the State. The results of all the five surveys have not been so extensive or so substantial as those set forth by Dr. Parker. But they are substantial. The criticism could also be made that the surveys are very m"Uch alike. in form and scope, that they are elementary, that when one is read there is little need to read the others . . Such criticism is easy to make but is wide of the mark. They · have been somewhat alike because they represent prescriptions for libraries, for different libraries, however, and they are ' directed at specific as well as general ends. They are elementary because they have been intended for · administrative officers and faculty members who are not experts in library administration but whose sympa- thetic understanding and cooperation are essential to the carrying out of · an effective, significant library program. amount of duplication already existing would be greatly increased should they at- tempt to co~er all important related fields. This study leads to the conclusion that librarians as well as makers of the profes- sional college curriculum are entirely justi- fied .in stressing the importance of the pure sciences. It is clearly shown that the im- portance of periodicals in the individual sciences and of such general publications as scientific society proceedings cannot be judged on the basis of their value to one or two subjects but must be selected on .the basis of their value to all of the related fields ·of research, both pure and applied. 375