College and Research Libraries By CARL W. E. HINTZ Farmington and Beyond T HE importance of the free flow of cul-tural, educational, and scientific infor- mation as one of the critical needs of the postwar world is accepted by informed circles to such an extent that its desirability seems scarcely debatable. The Three- Power Statement on Atomic Energy, issued in November I945, the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and C~ltural Organization, and the proceedings of the Conference on International Cul- tural, Educational, and Scientific Exchanges held at Princeton University, Nov. 25-26, I946, all provide supporting testimony. Desire and accomplishment, however, are two entirely different things. As Downs' recent articl~ in Science1 points out, there are many obstacles to overcome before a logically planned and efficient system of interchange can function. Closely allied to the desirability of a free exchange of materials is the essential need of securing complete coverage of publica- tions from all parts of the world. This problem came into sharp focus during World War II when it was realized that many publications of military and research value were not to be found i~ any American library. The Farmington plan, projected by the Librarian of Congress and the li- brarians of Harvard and Princeton in I 942 and now well on the way toward being put into operation, is an attempt to prevent a continuance of this situation by arranging for the a~quisition of at least one copy of every publication of research interest by some American library. 1 Downs, Robert B. "International Exchanges." Science 105 :417·.zz, Apr. zs, 1947. OCTOBER_. 1947 Before the free flow of material envisaged by UNESCO and the Princeton confer- ence and before the complete coverage con- templated by the Farmington plan can be fully accomplished, there are certain diffi- culties which must be attacked. One of the principal obstacles is the lack of informa- tion concerning the publishing output of various countries, as few nations have an adequate national bibliography. This is particularly serious in the case of society and institutional publications which are not listed in the normal channels of the book trade. To overcome this defect and to achieve reasonably complete coverage is a bibliographical task which, according to Downs, will require the fullest "coopera- tion of UNESCO, the International Fed- eration for Documentation, national gov- ernments, national libraries, library asso- ciations, pertinent commercial organizations, and any other agencies having an interest in finding a satisfactory solution." Without unduly laboring the point, it seems obvious that the problem, and the task, is a major one. What, if anything, can the libraries of the United States do to further its attainment? It would seem that. nothing short of a considerable change in methods of acquisition will meet the situation. By and large, the materials acquired by research libraries fall into two major categories: I. Materials available through the book trade, which are apt to be listed in trade bibliographies and catalogs. 2. Materials issued by institutions, founda- tions, societies, and other organizations, which 405 are outside the regular channels of the book trade. They are frequently not listed in na- tional bibliographies, are not produced for profit, and are difficult to locate and acquire. Nevertheless, they form an important bloc of material. Libraries in general have tended to handle acquisitions in terms of the above divisions. Materials in the trade have been bought through dealers who have, of course, made some profit on the transaction, while the second group has been acquired in a variety of ways usually involving con- siderable individual effort. Instead of separating our acquisitions into two distinct groups, as in the past, would it not be possible to combine them so that the profit on the commercial material could finance the bibliographical work needed to handle the noncommercial material? In this way it would not be necessary to seek the aid of foundations or governmental agencies nor would it be necessary to depend upon the cooperative goodwill of the par- ticipating libraries on such a large scale. It is true, of course, that the profitable finances the unprofitable to some extent through trade channels now, as dealers handle some noncommercial items on a service · basis or as a convenience to their regular customers without charge. The answer seems to lie in some form of cooperative acquisitions machinery. Al- though librarians have been noted for their cooperative outlook and have contributed much toward the completion of such monumental bibliographical tools as the Union List of SerialsJ cooperative buying has not reached any considerable degree of development. The most successful example of cooperative buying to date was that con- ducted in connection with the Carnegie Corporation grants to college . libraries. 2 The bibliographical center at Denver has 2 Bishop, William Warner. Carnegie Corporation and College Libraries, 1929-1938. New York, Carnegie Corporation, 1938. acted as a purchasing agency for libraries in its general region and the Consumers' Book Cooperative, operating under the New York State Cooperative Law, served a large group of libraries in many states.3 It seems safe to say, however, that cooperative pur- chasing in the past has had as its objectives greater discounts and the elimination of unnecessary duplication and has not gained widespread acceptance at the best. A Cooperative Organization In order to perform the broader work contemplated, however, a new type of organization, modeled along the lines of a · consumers' cooperative, seems necessary. It would differ, fundamentally but bene- ficially, from previous cooperative organiza- tions in that it would have as one of its primary purposes the performance of bibliographical tasks rather than securing of larger discounts. In order to do this, profits would be plowed back into the business in order to finance the bibliographical work. As far as its establishment is concerned, it might be possible to secure a grant from one of the foundations to finance the initial organization. If not, perhaps the partici- pating libraries could provide the initial capital by purchasing shares as in the busi- ness or industrial world. Once in opera- tion, profits would be used to finance bibliographical projects. Such an organization would need to have a central office preferably in a center where bibliographical facilities and publishers were concentrated. New York City would meet this specification. American book produc- tion could be handled here. As far as foreign material is concerned, it would be necessary to select an agent or agents in each Barcus, · Thomas R. Carnegie Corporation and Col- lege Libraries, 1938-1943. New York, Carnegie Cor- poration, 1943. 8 Wilson, Louis R., and Tauber, Maurice F. The University Library. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1945, p.62. 406 COLLEGE AND RESEARCll LIBRARIES country much as the Farmington plan now contemplates. In addition, however, pro- vision must be made for furthering the bibliographical projects. It is suggested here that present organizations be utilized whenever possible if they already exist. 4 It may be argued that this is not a new pro- posal, but the plan differs essentially from any existing suggestions in that there would be a full-time staff which, even though small, could devote more time and effort to coordinating existing projects and endeavor- ing to promote new ones than could any voluntary worker or group of workers. The success of the plan depends upon the willingness of libraries to concentrate their buying with the new organization. Metcalf has stated5 that cooperative buying is apt to interpose another step between publisher and library and hence may in- crease cost and lengthen the time of de- livery. Howe~r, many libraries now buy through a deafer rather than direct from the publisher. The proposed organization then would not interpose an additional step but would supplant the present inter- mediary, the jobber or dealer. Based upon the experience gained through centralized purchasing in connec- tion with the Carnegie Corporation grants to college libraries, it is not too much to hope a cooperative organization of this kind could be highly profitable and, after a period of operation, would be able to give the same schedule of discounts and still have a surplus for bibliographical projects. According to Bishop, 6 over a million dol- lars' worth of purchases for eighty-one colleges were handled at a total expense to the Carnegie Corporation of less than 4 e.g. The machinery whereby such services as Biological Abstracts and the Zoological R ecord now secure their material for listing. 5 Metcalf, Keyes D. "The Essentials of an Acquisi- tion Pro gram." The Acquisition and Cataloging of Books. William M. Randall, ed. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1940, p.91, 6 Bishop, William Warner. "Centralized Purchasing for American College Libraries." Library Quarterly 7:465-70, October 1937. OCTOBER~ 1947 $30,000 and at a saving of at least $150,000 to the colleges. Over head in .this case was admittedly low because the University of Michigarf generously provided the neces- sary space. Barcus7 reported on the con- tinued success of the program for teachers and Negro colleges and placed the overhead at about 4 per cent, excluding quarters. The savings effected by pooling orders has already been referred to in the full realization that the material acquired was mostly in the trade. But why should not a pooling of orders for nontrade mater}als prove equally as economical? Greater Farmington Plan In other words, the . proposal here hastily outlined is a variety of "Greater Farming- ton Plan" which would not only arrange for fields of specialization, and the acquisi- tion of materials therein, but would also operate as a purchasing organization on a nonprofit basis. The parallel with a con- sumer's cooperative is clear-the corpora- tion is owned by the stockholders, profits are used to expand the business ( biblio- graphical projects) or are returned to the owner-customers on a patronage return basis (the larger your purchases, the greater your return.) • The advantages of such a plan are that it would contribute materially toward the twin objectives of securing a free flow of material and complete coverage. By mak- ing the profitable finance the unprofitable and by eliminating much of the costly duplicative activity carried on by research libraries in their efforts to find out what has been published and where it may be obtained, there should be a considerable amount of money available for bibliographi- cal projects which would otherwise be de- pendent upon voluntary cooperation or out..: side help. 1 Barcus, op. cit. 407