College and Research Libraries


of this book one w i l l not find the objectivity 
and dispassionate appraisal that have char-
acterized many other writings of this genre. 
O n the contrary, here is a panegyric to the 
honor and success of Halsey W . W i l s o n , the 
company he founded and his associates in 
the undertaking. 

M r . W i l s o n succeeded in subject bibliog-
raphy, the history of which is strewn with 
the wreckage of ill-fated enterprises. A l m o s t 
the only man w h o has made bibliography 
profitable, he created an organization that is 
characterized by "an innate sense of duty, 
respect for the company's founder, delight in 
the challenge of a responsible job, recogni-
tion of its opportunities, pride in accomplish-
ment" ( p . 1 3 9 ) . H i s w a s a staff that suf-
fered from " a strange disease . . . called the 
Bibliographical U r g e " ( p . 1 3 9 ) , a staff that 
enjoyed "conditions of w o r k [that w e r e ! 
f a v o r a b l e " (p.140), a "sense of adventure" 
(p.140), a "policy of welcoming women in a 
period when prejudice barred them from most 
business firms" (p.140), an "encouragement 
of initiative on the part of its w o r k e r s " 
(p.140), in short a congenial " f a m i l y " ( p . 1 4 1 ) . 

T h i s reviewer does not wish to belittle 
the achievements of the W i l s o n Company, 
though the author himself almost does as 
much by the very excesses of his praise. T h e 
W i l s o n bibliographic services are a substantial 
contribution to the development of biblio-
graphic organization in the English-speaking 
world, and as such they merit a really serious 
studv based on a solid understanding of the 
problems of, subject bibliography. B u t the 
pages before us fail to perform this task. 

T h e w o r k itself is divided into three parts: 
P a r t I : The Past, in which the librarian w h o 
is reasonably familiar with the W i l s o n serv-
ices will discover little of importance that is 
new or significant. P a r t I I : The Present, 
which contains, among other matters, two 
quite excellent chapters on the compiling of 
the C.B.I, and the periodical indexes, the 
only part of the entire w o r k that makes any 
substantial contribution to the informed li-
brarian's knowledge of the subject. T h e 
w o r k concludes with a series of appendices 
that supply listings of the W i l s o n publica-
tions, and a " N o t e on Sources," which, in-
cidentally, seem to be f a r more voluminous 
than w a s necessary for the execution of the 
w o r k . — J e s s e H. Shera, Graduate Library 
School, University of Chicago. 

College Fund'Raising 
Fund-Raising for the Small College. By Ed-

w a r d L . H a w t h o r n e . N e w Y o r k , C o l u m -
bia University, T e a c h e r s College, Bureau 
of Publications, 1950, 25ip. $3.00. 
T h i s book should be required reading for 

every college president and his chief officer 
in charge of fund raising. Here, in slightly 
over 200 pages, M r . H a w t h o r n e presents a 
first-rate analysis of the problems that are 
involved in financing the small colleges of 
this country. 

W h i l e the general statistics and informa-
tion on philanthropic giving w i l l certainly 
prove instructive, college officers are urged 
to study carefully the last two sections which 
deal with the various considerations that must 
be taken into account in developing a financial 
program for a small college. 

T h e w r i t e r has correctly stressed the im-
portance of preliminary planning and organi-
zation. T o o many college fund-raising pro-
grams have started on the assumption that 
there is nothing much more to do than to 
ask for money. T h i s book shows how im-
perative it is to make a careful analysis of 
the public from whom the funds are to be 
solicited, the importance of preparing this 
public for a request for funds and the or-
ganization necessary to make such a program 
a manageable one. 

M r . H a w t h o r n e has not confined himself 
to generalizations of fund raising but pre-
sents a bill of particulars on the best w a y to 
go about it. T o those w h o are just starting 
a fund-raising program, a careful reading and 
rereading of this book is strongly recom-
mended. T h o s e w h o have already had some 
years' experience w i l l wish that they had had 
an opportunity to read it before they started 
their endeavors.—James A. Perkins, Carnegie 
Corporation of New York. 

Texas A. and M. Survey 
" R e p o r t of a Survey of the L i b r a r y of the 

T e x a s A . and M . College October, 1949 to 
February, 1950." By Robert W . O r r and 
W i l l i a m H . Carlson. College Station: 
T e x a s A . and M . College, 1950, i67p. 
( M i m e o g r a p h e d ) . 

T h e surveys of land-grant college libraries 
continue to add to our information concern-
ing an important arm of librarianship in the 

300 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES