College and Research Libraries By JANICE W. SHERWOOD and ELEANOR E. CAMPION Union Library Catalogue: Services, 1950. Quo Vadis? Miss Sherwood is Consultant and Miss Campion, Director, the Philadelphia Bib- liographical Center and Union Library Catalogue. IN 1950 a total of $II8,386 was spent in operating the five major union catalogs and bibliographical centers of the United States, i.e. The Union Catalog Divi~ion of the Library of Congress, the U ni.on Li- brary Catalogue of the Philadelphia Metro- politan Area, the Pacific Northwest Biblio- graphical Center, the Bibliographical Cen- ter for Research at Denver, and the Union Catalog at the Western Reserve U niver~ity Library in Clevelahd. Since the 1942 sur- vey1 the services of these organizations have been thrice examined in College and Re- search Libraries. 2 -4 One current trend in library philosophy today toward centraliza- tion of information at the national level tends to regard regional centers as super- fluous.5 However, the Leigh report recom- mends increased use of regional biblio- graphical centers to provide really adequate public library service.6 Certainly a re-evalu- ation of the work of these existing regional catalogs is timely. All five offer a variety S 1 Downs, ~obert B., ed. Union Catalogs in the United tgtes . . Chtcago, ALA, 1942. . Regtonal Library Centers Today: A Symposium Copege _and Re.search Libraries. 8:54-63, January, 1947: of bibliographical services to a broad clientele in diversified geographic areas. Each is hard pressed for financial support under present inflationary conditions. Are these union catalogs worth the expenditure involved? Do they serve their regions ade- quately? Should all regional centers be abandoned and the bibliographical services which they render transferred to the na- tional level at the Library of Congress? Union catalogs, which way? In order to obtain the latest statistics and information on services rendered as a basis for this study, each catalog com- pleted a lengthy questionnaire. A study of their replies may aid in determining satis- factory answers to these questions. No study of union catalogs would be complete without including the National Union Cat- alog whose very size, age and broad na- tional services have set the pattern on which regional catalogs are based. The four regional union .catalogs discussed here were chosen because of their similarities in founding, purpose and growth : all were initiated in the depression years with WPA · and foundation grants; all have been con- tinued under loca1 auspices; all serve as a center of bibliographical inquiry within their respective regions. Location Service Regwnal Ltbrary Centers Tomorrow: A Symponum . . opege an4 Research Libraries, 8:243-51, July, 1947. Este~~mst. Ralph R. "Regional. Lib~ary Centers, The primary function of union catalogs 1946-47. Cqllege and Research L1branes, 9:215-20 Julv. 1948. ' is the location of books, periodicals and 5 Hessel. Alfrerl. A history of libraries. Tr. by Reuben Peiss. Washington, D.C., Scarecrow press, other printed materials within, or outside 19~0. p. I2I. 6 Leigh. Robert. The Public Library in the United the region in which they are located States. New York, Columbia university press, 1950• p. 16o. through the medium of a single huge author 101 file, whose maintenance and control is their primary responsibility. Service statistics re- ported for this study vary in detail from one catalog to another. To facilitate the com- parative remarks throughout this discussion, each center, or catalog, will be referred to by the name of the city in which it is lo- cated. Denver received the most requests, followed by Philadelphia, Washington, Seattle and Cleveland. A total of 43,419 requests for all catalogs, including an esti- mated 3000 personal" visitors to Washing- ton, resulted in a total of 197,555 items searched, including an estimated 100,000 titles searched by the 3000 personal visi- tors to Washington. Of this number 152,144 items were located, representing a 7 7 percent successful search (assuming that "-....: . 77,000 of the Items searched by the 3000 personal visitors were found) . Philadel- phia falls below the average with 55 per- cent of the items located in 1950 due to the unprecedented number of items checked for persons outside the region for materials almost entirely nonexistent within its area. Philadelphia's normal average is betwe~n 65 and 70 percent. Requests come to four of the catalogs mostly by mail, while Phila- delphia's requests are 8 5 percent by tele- phone. Clientele Served Denver and Seattle keep no detailed sta- tistics on the source of their requests. However, they both report that their clien- . tele is almost entirely academic. Washing- ton's services are primarily academic in na- ture with a three percent of its total in- quiries corning from industrial organiza- tions. Ninety-nine percent of Cleveland's,t requests are from academic institutions with i a surprising less than one percent from in- · dustry. Philadelphia is an exception in that 25 percent of its inquiries are from indus- trial firms in the area, and this percen.tage is increasing annually. Seattle and Denver because of their geographical locations may not have the increasing industrial demand as it exists in Philadelphia. Washington, of course, serves all governmental research organizations. Denver and Seattle not only locate ma- terial, but they also arrange for, or actually execute . the inter-library loan for each title. Seattle reports that 99 percent of their 10,077 requests were for actual loan trans- actions which they executed successfully. Because of the large geographical areas cov- ered by these centers, their inter-library loan activity is of major local importance. The smalle-r number of libraries included in these two union catalogs and the great dis- tances between them have resulted in a system which operates with facility and answers a major need. Cleveland and Philadelphia do not engage in this activity at all. Philadelphia acts as a routing agent for five libraries distant from the U niver- sity of Pennsylvania Library. This system was developed only as a time-saving meas- ure for the Philadelphia Union Library Catalogue and the University Library. Inquiries from one union catalog to an- 1 other seem rather slight. Most inquiries are directed from the regions to Washington. But for 1950, Washington reports only roo requests from union catalogs, of which 7 I carne from Philadelphia. The majority of Philadelphia's requests to Washington were for current, technical literature needed by industrial firms. Usually this material must be circularized by Washington, as a large percentage of it does not appear in its union catalog. This is a slow process for an industrial firm which usually wants tomorrow's publications today. Therefore, Philadelphia has built up a large variety of technical reference tools patticularly union · lists of periodicals from all sources to elimi- nate the necessity of circularizing. Phila- 102 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES delphia offers to have a search made in Washington for a~y item not located in its own files. Almost all Philadelphia regional requests to Washington are routed through the center. Only Denver and Philadelphia check the Weekly List of Unlocated Re- search Items issued by Washington. This task is the sole responsibility of Philadelphia for the entire area, and it is not duplicated by any other library. The University of Washington library checks this list against the Seattle catalog. Tools Washington quite naturally has the largest bibliographical reference library. Philadelphia has a well-rounded selection of general indispensable tools including the LC Author and Subject Catalogs,· the Brit- ish Museum Catalogue of Printed Books,· CBI,· Publishers' Weekly,· ULS ,· Bester- man's World Bibliography of Bibliogra- phies, to mention only a few, as well as a large collection of union lists of serials. Denver has the British Museum Catalogue ,· ULS,· Books in Print with all other spe- cialized tools available in the Denver Pub- lic Library. Cleveland and Seattle depend entirely upon the bibliographical tools in the libraries in which each is housed. This ts a logical and economical arran gem en t. Bibl£ographical Services There is a wide difference in policy in checking lengthy bibliographies for individ- uals or institutions. Washington will not check long lists due to the pressure of regular duties. Philadelphia checks lengthy lists for persons or institutions outside the area, provided that the work is of a serious nature, and that the Center is the single organization in the area to do the checking. The latter stipulation is made to avoid duplication of effort by the libraries within the city. Denver and Cleveland check APRIL, 1952 bibliographies for persons within the region only. Cleveland checks lists only for other union catalogs, provided such lists are short. Seattle has no geographic limitations, but specifies that the lists be short. Only three centers compile subject bibliographies. Philadelphia maintains a special catalog of subject bibliographies known as the Z-file. From . this and current sources, bibliogra- phies in general fields of knowledge are pre- pared for clients upon occasion. Philadel- phia refuses to compile scientific or technical bibliographies because its staff members are not subject specialists, referring such re- quests to the library specializing in the subject desired. Seattle and Denver report the compilation of a few bibliographies. / Special Services Denver and Philadelphia supply LC or Dewey classification numbers to libraries which request this service. Philadelphia assists many industrial libraries in the . cata- loging and classifying of their entire collec- tions. Only Philadelphia specializes in the identification of author, publisher, price, date of publication and publisher's address, etc. for book stores, libraries, and individ- uals. This service to the book and publishing industry in the metropolitan area amounts to 7 percent of the center's total services. Washington in conjunction with its Photoduplication service provides the na- tional union catalog searching service for unfilled Library of Congress card orders and supplies · photostatic copies of union catalog entries. Philadelphia notifies any client interested in a newly published title of the locations of first copies as soon as re- ceived. About 200 notices are sent each year, primarily to technical libraries for recent scientific works. Book appraisal, the value of old imprints, or the critical evalua- tion of new books is not a function of any of the centers. 103 Regional Cooperation There is no organized program in any l of the four regions to avoid duplication in ,purchasing of. expensive materials. Wash- ington cooperates with the Library of Con- gres~ to avoid the latter's duplication of expensive materials. Filing cards for all Farmington Plan acquisitions in the N a- tiona! Union Catalog helps prevent large- scale duplication. Denver states that cooperative buying occurs by consulting holdings in the region, but does not explain how this is done. Three libraries in Phila- delphia consistently check the local union catalog for location of duplicate copies before making expensive purchases. This practice occurs primarily in the case of early American imprints and expensive reference tools. Seattle and Cleveland report very little such practice. Philadelphia is con- sulted frequently concerning plans for the withdrawal of materials. Frequently, transfers of whole collections are made between libraries as a result of this intelli- gent use of the catalog. This practice has probably been encouraged through the duplicate exchange service operated by Philadelphia. During 1950 four lists of materials were issued. These contained about 1000 titles available in approximately 30 libraries to any single library assuming the transportation charges. Formerly a depository for duplicate materials for the entire area, Philadelphia abandoned this practice as too expensive and substituted the issuance of lists. Hundreds of issues of journals are exchanged a~ong the libraries of the area as well as among libraries out- side the state anxious to receive earlier numbers of technical periodicals. Seattle checks lists of proposed discards for last copies in the area, and also advises and arranges for the last copies to be sent to various libraries for preservation. National Cooperation Only the holdings of Philadelphia and Cleveland are included in the National Union Catalog. Both these centers for- ward current accessions to Washington at regular intervals. It is proposed to extend the National Union Catalog's coverage to include all regional union. catalogs. 7 Co- operation in checking the Weekly List of Unlocated Research Items is another ex- ample of cooperation with Washington. Special Files Washington maintains four special files: Microfilm clearing house for long runs of ·newspapers, seria~s ·and manuscripts; Index to special collections in U.S. libraries; Special file of Festschriften; and a Special file of almanacs. Denver · has started a file of microfilm holdings of libraries within its region and maintains a file of early theses and a file of subject specialists and trans- lators in the area. Cleveland has a file of masters' theses hom several Ohio colleges. Seattle has no special files. Philadelphia maintains a union catalog of the microfilm holdings of the major libraries of the U.S. and Canada; and the Z-file of subject bibliographies. Publications Denver issues a regular BulletinJ News- letter and Annual Report and has published seven subject bibliographies, 1937-1939. It has plans for two additional publications; one; a survey of photoduplication services and the other, a bibliography of bibliogra- phies of serials, newspapers and directories. Seattle issues a news article in each issue of the Pacific Northwest Library A ssociati"on 7 Downs, Robert B. "Report and Supplementary Re- port of the National U nion Catalog and Related Mat- ters." L ibrary of Congress Information Bulleti n, Aug. 9 - 15, 1949. Appendix. 104 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES Quarterly. Cleveland has no publications. The National Union Catalog has issued lists and bibliographies consistently since I933· Its most important is the annual Select List .of Unlocated Research Books, I937 to date. Philadelphia, in the other extreme, has · been a prolific publisher of reports, studies and newsletters during its fifteen years' s.ervice. The latest, and probably best known, is the Union List of MicrofilmsJ revisedJ enlarged and cumulated editio~, Edwards Brothers, I 95 I. Its Newsletter appears regularly five times a year and it is sent to libraries throughout the United States and abroad. Estimate of Services Rendered The questionnaire on which this study is based asked for a frank opinion from each center: "Do you feel that local research is us-ing the facilities available at the respective centers adequately?" A surprising number of affirmative replies were received. Den- ver gave an unqualified negative answer. Philadelphia definitely feels there is a much more intelligent purpose for its facilities in the field of cooperative effort of all libraries within the region. The whole field of cooperative acquisition, withdrawals and the development of holdings in specific subject fields could be more fully developed to result in a better use of the tool at hand. Philadelphia is not satisfied that all industry uses its services as advantageously as it could. Considering the phenomenal in- crease in the demands for its services, perhaps Philadelphia is impatient. Al- though Washington feels its services are being used adequately, the total figure for requests seems small in comparis~:m with those received by the regional centers. Of course, the regional centers over the years are diverting increasing numbers of requests away from 'Vashington. APRILJ 1952 Organization and Financial Support A careful study of the staff and expendi- tures on the accompanying table reveals ·that the National Union Catalog, operated solely on government funds, has the largest income, $77,000 and a staff of I8; Phila- delphia, a non-profit corporation, has the next largest income, $I 5,200 and a staff of 5; Seattle, which is operated by the Pacific Northwest Library Association, has an income of $I4,306 and a staff of 3 full time and 3 part time; Denver, a non-profit corpor-ation, has. an income of $Io,468 and a staff of 6; and Cleveland, operated by the Western Reserve University Library, has an income of $4,233 and a staff of 2. Philadelphia, Denver and Seattle are cooperative enterprises supported by annual subscriptions of the institutions which they serve. Philadelphia receives 48 percent of its income from cooperating libraries; 27 percent from industries; and 25 percent from individuals. Denver receives 68.5 percent from cooperating libraries; 8.5 percent from industry and 23 percent from individuals or state and municipal grants. Seattle is supported IOO percent by the li- braries of the Pacific Northwest. All five centers adm.it that if they had more income, they could expand their services. At - the same time the regional centers find that while the demand for their services is in• creasing rapidly, their income increases very slowly. Plans for the Future: Conclusions $I I8,640, miserly sum though it may be, produced I52,555 answers for 43,4I9 inquirers in I950, t~ say nothing of the fil- ing of I ,307 ,3 I 2 cards and the centralizing of hundreds of other bibliographical short- cuts which many research and industrial libraries cannot supply independently. This wide variety of services is acclai~ed by the 105 TABLE I DATA CONCERNING UNION CATALOGS Factors and Union Catalog Locations I950 Total Activities Washington Philadelphia Denver Cleveland Seattle Libraries Included I ,ooo"' I7I 52 43 39 I,305 Includes an LC Deposi- tory Yes No Yes No Yes Cards in File 10, I90, 898 4,500,000 xb 2, soo,ooo I ,3oo, I04 Titles (Excluding L C Depository) 6,350,000 3, soo,ooo xb xb Xb Requests Received 8, 270c II ,2II II,286 2,575 10,077 43,4I9 I terns Searched II7,272d 3I ,4I2 30,456e 8,338 10,077 197' 555 Items Found 90, 287g I7,661 27,oooe 7' I89 I0,007 I52,I44g Accessions Received in 1950 959, I40 II6, 545 65, Io9 8I ,304 85,2I4 1,307,3I2 Withdrawals 5 ,oood 3,500 5,763 6,402 I2,35I 33,0I6 I950 Income $77,000 $I5,200 $10,468 $4,233 $I4,306 $121,207 I 9 50 Expenditures $n,ooo $I6,J7I $8,686 $4,477 $12,052 $II8 ,640 Staff: Professional 9 2 3 I 2 I6 Non-professional 9 3 3 I 4{ 20 " ' ~ - a. Partial holdings only. b. Unknown. c . Includes an estimated 3ooo visitors. d. Includes an estimated 1oo,ooo titles searched by above 3000 visitors. e. Estimated total. f. 3 Part time. g. Allowing for 77 % success in 1oo,ooo titles searched by 30oo visitors .. clientele enjoying them in each of the five areas represented. Existing services, there- fore, seem to be excellent in so far as they serve their immediate areas. The expendi- "tures do bring in a worthy return and each center seems to be serving its area ade- quately. Ralph E. Ellsworth, an exponent of the current philosophy to centralize information at the national level, states ". . . to be specific I maintain that as things now stand in the year r 95 r (and of course everybody agrees with this position) there is little need for pursuing the idea of regional biblio- graphical services, organizations and tools, although ten years ago there was such a need. But book handling on the other hand can be done on a regional basis. It is the job of our bibliographical tools and services to tell us what books exist relevant to the task at hand." 8 It is interesting to contemplate the out- come of 1950's 43,419 inquiries concerning 197,555 items had they all been directed to Washington. The inquirers would most probably have received adequate answers, but much more slowly than at present. Could Washington absorb all the · biblio- graphical services which regional centers render locally: If. not, would the local libraries of the regions be willing to absorb (Continued on page IIO) s Verbatim statement made at the University of Penn- sylvania Symposium. Changing Patterns of Scholarship and the Future of R esearch Libraries. May 8, J95I. 106 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES lished since January of 1950, also has a section devoted to republications. These and other improvements are still no substi- tute for the knowledge gained by experience in using the 0 fficial Records, nor will they be of much value without such experience. Nevertheless, they are indicative of the United Nations' willingness to disseminate knowledge of its work as broadly as possi- ble. They help to make it possible for United Nations documentation, in spite of its bulk and complexity, to be fitted into a medium-sized · library without demanding a disproportionate slice of budget and stacks. And even a limited collection of · these documents, aided when necessary by interlibrary loan from one of the depository libraries, can be an extremely valuable pos- session at a time when world wide under- standing and knowledge are needed more than they have ever been before. Union Library Catalogue: Services, 1950. Quo Vadis? (Continued from page 106) the additional task of supplying these mis- cellaneous services to the public and in- dustry at large? We doubt it. We feel that the very growth of these services within the four regions justifies their con- tinuance and emphasizes the importance of their consideration in whatever local, regional or other library planning is under- taken. In conclusion, this study points to a definite need for more careful attention to the potentials and values of the regional centers to the public, college, research and . industrial libraries within the area by the. libraries themselves. The centers have told , and retold their story; they have performed their services in peace and in war, in depres- sion an'd · in inflation. They have set the pace in almost every instance. Are libraries leading the way to better centers, or are they accepting this manna as something quite within the ordinary? How do new staff members come to know and use the bibliographical centers? Do they visit the center, learn from a librarian who under- stands and uses the center frequently, or are they merely told to "call this number if you don't know the answer." It is imperative that a concrete program . of better, even if somewhat fewer, services to a larger number of institutions and individuals be resolved. Greater coopera- tion among librarians and business men in_ the activities of the regional centers should result in progress in solving the current financial needs. Where industry learns that bibliographical services pay in business profits, their financial support is forth- coming. If interlibrary loan is the primary need, such services should be implemented and expedited. If industry has immediate need for technical materials, cooperation should be fostered to produce them promptly. If the National Union Catalog is to be expanded, ·what other libraries should be included? These are but a few of the problems to be considered, and they vary from center to center. There ·is a definite need for more community partici- pation in the planning, or mediocrity will certainly result. N O'Y_, is the time for con- certed action. 110 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES