College and Research Libraries


B y C H A S E D A N E 

The Need for a Research Program 
in Library Problems 

Mr. Dane is assistant to the chief, Pub-

lishing Department, American Library As-
i 

sociation. 

WI L L I S E. W R I G H T e n d s h i s a r t i c l e o n " H o w L i t t l e C a t a l o g i n g C a n B e 
E f f e c t i v e ? " in the A p r i l , 1 9 5 4 , issue of 

C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S On a 

p l a i n t i v e l i t t l e n o t e — a n d w e l l he m a y . 

A f t e r c o n s i d e r i n g v a r i o u s w a y s to reduce 

the a m o u n t of c a t a l o g i n g necessary in a 

c o l l e g e l i b r a r y he a s k s : " W h o uses an 

a u t h o r ' s dates, the n o t a t i o n of size, or a 

series note, and w h y ? Is this title card 

ever c o n s u l t e d ? D o e s the f r e q u e n c y of use 

j u s t i f y the cost of g i v i n g c o l l a t i o n ? U n t i l 

w e k n o w in f a i r l y e x a c t terms h o w m u c h 

c a t a l o g i n g is e f f e c t i v e , w e r e a l l y have no 

basis f o r discussing h o w l i t t l e c a t a l o g i n g 

can be e f f e c t i v e . " 

W i t h these r h e t o r i c a l questions M r . 

W r i g h t points his f i n g e r s t r a i g h t at one of 

the most serious weaknesses of c o l l e g e and 

u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y w o r k . W e don't know 

w h o uses an a u t h o r ' s dates, or the n o t a t i o n 

of size, or the series note, n o r w h y . O u r 

i g n o r a n c e is bad e n o u g h b u t w h a t is 

w o r s e is that w e m a k e no serious a t t e m p t 

to c o r r e c t it. I n this respect w e are too 

m u c h like B a c o n ' s J e s t i n g P i l a t e w h o asked, 

" W h a t is t r u t h ? " but did n o t stay f o r an 

a n s w e r . P e r e n n i a l l y w e ask ourselves these 

and other questions b u t p e r e n n i a l l y w e do 

not stay f o r an a n s w e r . 

S u c h questions c o u l d be a n s w e r e d if w e 

r e a l l y set ourselves to the task. T h e y are 

no more difficult than the questions the 

chemist or the physicist or the biologist 

poses e v e r y d a y . T h i s comparison simply 

points up the contrast b e t w e e n l i b r a r y re-

search and i n d u s t r i a l research. O n e of the 

g r e a t e s t differences b e t w e e n the t w o is the 

a m o u n t of m o n e y spent on each. 

R o b e r t L e i g h has reported in his The 

Public Library in the United States the 

a m o u n t s w h i c h w e r e spent on research in 

v a r i o u s professional schools f o r the period 

1948-49. D u r i n g t h a t y e a r a m i l l i o n 

d o l l a r s w e r e devoted to research in the e i g h t 

e n g i n e e r i n g schools i n c l u d e d in the P u b l i c 

L i b r a r y I n q u i r y sample. G r a d u a t e schools 

of business and e d u c a t i o n in the same 

sample received $ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 ; l a w and archi-

t e c t u r e g o t $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 ; j o u r n a l i s m $ 8 , 6 0 0 ; 

and n u r s i n g $6,500. D u r i n g the same 

period the e i g h t l i b r a r y schools in the 

sample received o n l y $ 4 , 3 2 0 f o r research. 

Is it any w o n d e r that, w i t h so l i t t l e money 

to spend on research, l i b r a r i a n s do not k n o w 

the a n s w e r s to m a n y of their most im-

p o r t a n t questions ? 

M o n e y is not e v e r y t h i n g and libraries 

h a v e l o n g been n o t o r i o u s f o r their p o v e r t y , 

but w i l l i n g n e s s to spend m o n e y on research 

is an indication of the seriousness w i t h 

w h i c h any profession takes itself. I n d u s t r y 

learned l o n g ago that its v e r y l i f e depends 

u p o n c o n t i n u i n g research. I t cost the 

B o e i n g A i r c r a f t C o r p o r a t i o n five m i l l i o n 

d o l l a r s to build the first A m e r i c a n j e t trans-

port plane. M u c h of that m o n e y w e n t f o r 

research. T h e a i r c r a f t i n d u s t r y c o u l d not 

20 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



a d v a n c e w i t h o u t a w e l l - p l a n n e d and w e l l -

financed research p r o g r a m . 

W i t h i n the last t w e n t y years all i n d u s t r y 

has become convinced of the v a l u e and im-

portance of research. O f course, some 

industries benefit m o r e f r o m research than 

others. C h e m i c a l , p h a r m a c e u t i c a l , engi-

n e e r i n g and a i r c r a f t m a n u f a c t u r e r s spend 

f a b u l o u s sums each y e a r t o keep abreast of 

the latest research in their fields. D u P o n t 

spends h u n d r e d s of thousands of d o l l a r s 

a n n u a l l y in research to develop n e w 

products. U n t i l r e c e n t l y S q u i b b spent 

$25,000 a year j u s t to index and abstract 

periodical articles f o r the use of its re-

search teams. G e n e r a l M o t o r s spends 

m i l l i o n s to design and test a n e w car. 

T h e " n e w i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n " in G r e a t 

B r i t a i n m a y be cited as a final e x a m p l e 

of the i m p o r t a n c e of research in i n d u s t r y . 

A f t e r the w a r B r i t a i n w a s f o r c e d to step 

up her e x p o r t s in order to s u r v i v e . T o do 

this it became necessary to pour more m o n e y 

into research and d e v e l o p m e n t than ever 

before. T h e I m p e r i a l C h e m i c a l Industries, 

L t d . , f o r example, n o w spends about 

$10,000,000 a y e a r on research alone. 

T h a t last year's u n f a v o r a b l e t r a d e balance 

in B r i t a i n w a s no m o r e than 560 million 

d o l l a r s w a s due l a r g e l y to the research 

w h i c h i m p r o v e d or developed such items as 

D a c r o n , radio telescopes, j e t transports, and 

radioactive isotopes. 

T h u s does i n d u s t r y express its f a i t h in 

the v a l u e of research. I n v i e w of this atti-

tude on the part of i n d u s t r y t o w a r d re-

search the question n a t u r a l l y arises: W h y 

do libraries spend so l i t t l e on research ? 

W h y do they not also invest in research 

w h i c h w o u l d a n s w e r the questions li-

brarians keep a s k i n g themselves over and 

over ? 

L a c k of m o n e y is u n d o u b t e d l y the chief 

reason. L i b r a r i e s , unlike G e n e r a l M o t o r s 

and D u P o n t and I m p e r i a l C h e m i c a l In-

dustries, simply d o n ' t have the money to 

spend on costly research. T h e l i b r a r y 

offers service and does not seek to m a k e a 

profit and consequently it does not h a v e 

l a r g e sums of money at its disposal to spend 

on research. 

A l t h o u g h libraries w i l l never have as 

m u c h m o n e y as Squibb o r G e n e r a l E l e c t r i c 

to spend on research, there are some w a y s 

in w h i c h f u n d s c o u l d be secured f o r m u c h 

needed investigations. 

L i b r a r i e s have l o n g lobbied f o r f e d e r a l 

aid. T h i s plea f o r f e d e r a l f u n d s has 

usually been made on the g r o u n d s that 

l i b r a r y service is unequal t h r o u g h o u t the 

c o u n t r y and that those areas w h i c h do not 

have l i b r a r y service can be helped only 

by f e d e r a l f u n d s . H o w e v e r , l i b r a r i a n s 

themselves have o f t e n o b j e c t e d to this plea 

f o r f e d e r a l aid on the g r o u n d s t h a t f e d e r a l 

aid w o u l d mean f e d e r a l c o n t r o l . Since one 

of the s t r o n g points of libraries is their 

i n d i v i d u a l and independent c h a r a c t e r it is 

o n l y n a t u r a l that l i b r a r i a n s should oppose 

a plan f o r aid w h i c h m i g h t b r i n g w i t h it 

c o n t r o l . 

R e c e n t requests f o r f e d e r a l aid on the 

p a r t of libraries have been based on a d i f f e r -

ent concept. T h e s e requests have been f o r 

f u n d s to finance d e m o n s t r a t i o n libraries 

w h i c h w o u l d s h o w w h a t could be done if 

money w e r e a v a i l a b l e f o r l i b r a r y service in 

areas w h i c h are n o w u n s e r v e d . P u t this 

w a y these requests do not hold any t h r e a t 

of f e d e r a l c o n t r o l . 

H o w e v e r , m i g h t it not be w i s e r to ap-

proach the problem of f e d e r a l aid f r o m 

still another a n g l e ? L i b r a r i e s c o u l d re-

quest f e d e r a l f u n d s to be spent f o r research 

into their most pressing problems. M o n e y 

e a r m a r k e d f o r this purpose w o u l d c a r r y no 

threat of f e d e r a l c o n t r o l . F o r a f t e r all, 

scientific investigation m u s t be f r e e or not 

be at all. A n d l i b r a r y research w o u l d bene-

fit all types of l i b r a r i e s : school, special, 

J A N U A R Y , 1955 21 



public, and c o l l e g e and u n i v e r s i t y . B y 

a n s w e r i n g questions w h i c h n o w g o un-

a n s w e r e d research thus financed w o u l d con-

t r i b u t e to i m p r o v e d l i b r a r y service e v e r y -

w h e r e . 

F o u n d a t i o n g r a n t s suggest a second possi-

ble source of f u n d s f o r l i b r a r y research. 

A d m i t t e d l y , f o u n d a t i o n f u n d s are b e c o m i n g 

increasingly difficult to obtain, especially in 

the field of l i b r a r i a n s h i p . O n e reason f o r 

this is t h a t f o u n d a t i o n s h a v e seen l i t t l e good 

come f r o m the f u n d s they once l a v i s h l y 

poured into libraries. A s a r e s u l t of this 

i n d i f f e r e n t record they are u n d e r s t a n d a b l y 

r e l u c t a n t to toss m o r e m o n e y d o w n the 

same hole. 

F o u n d a t i o n s m i g h t , h o w e v e r , be w i l l i n g 

to devote some of their f u n d s t o l i b r a r y re-

search. T h e y w o u l d u n d o u b t e d l y recog-

n i z e that m o n e y so spent w o u l d aid a l l 

libraries and not j u s t one. F r o m their 

experience w i t h o t h e r p r o j e c t s they w o u l d 

be m o r e inclined to sink m o n e y in research 

t h a n in b u i l d i n g s and books, w h i c h in the 

past have n o t yielded any s t a r t l i n g results. 

C e r t a i n l y they w o u l d r e c o g n i z e t h a t here 

they could m a k e a c o n t r i b u t i o n w h i c h c o u l d 

be achieved in no other w a y . I f a com-

m u n i t y is seriously interested in m a i n t a i n i n g 

a l i b r a r y , it can have one, but f e w com-

m u n i t i e s can a f f o r d to finance a research 

p r o g r a m in l i b r a r y science. 

T h u s it seems possible that a s t r o n g and 

successful appeal c o u l d be m a d e f o r f o u n d a -

tion f u n d s f o r l i b r a r y research. A t a n y 

rate, it w o u l d be w o r t h t r y i n g to secure 

f o u n d a t i o n f u n d s f o r such a purpose. 

A third w a y in w h i c h money m i g h t be 

raised f o r l i b r a r y research is t h r o u g h inter-

l i b r a r y cooperation. L i b r a r i e s could con-

t r i b u t e to a f u n d w h i c h w o u l d be used to 

finance research teams and p r o j e c t s . T h e 

i n d i v i d u a l l i b r a r y w o u l d receive a l o n g -

term r e t u r n on its i n v e s t m e n t in the w a y 

of i m p r o v e d m e t h o d s and techniques. I t 

w o u l d receive a s h o r t - t e r m r e t u r n in the 

w a y of published reports on research im-

m e d i a t e l y applicable to its problems. 

I n o r d e r to g e t such a research p r o g r a m 

u n d e r w a y it m i g h t at first p r o v e advisable 

to solicit or o r g a n i z e c o n t r i b u t i o n s f r o m 

libraries by type. C o l l e g e and u n i v e r s i t y 

libraries w o u l d seem to be a l o g i c a l s t a r t i n g 

point f o r such an e x p e r i m e n t . Because of 

the c l i m a t e in w h i c h they operate they 

should not find it too difficult to convince 

the p o w e r s t h a t be of the v a l u e and need 

f o r research. 

If they d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t such a plan is 

p r a c t i c a b l e , it w o u l d not be too l o n g before 

other types of libraries adopted a similar 

scheme. A s the o v e r - a l l p r o g r a m d e v e l o p e d , 

the special needs of d i f f e r e n t types of li-

braries c o u l d be i n t e g r a t e d i n t o a unified 

p r o g r a m f o r l i b r a r y research w h i c h w o u l d 

serve a l l types of libraries. 

T h e a m o u n t w h i c h each l i b r a r y w o u l d 

h a v e to c o n t r i b u t e to such a f u n d w o u l d 

depend on the n u m b e r of libraries t a k i n g 

p a r t in the p r o g r a m . A t first these self-

assessments m i g h t be p r o r a t e d on a service 

basis similar to t h a t e m p l o y e d by the H . W . 

W i l s o n C o m p a n y . T h i s w o u l d be justified 

on the g r o u n d s t h a t the l a r g e r libraries 

w h i c h w o u l d c o n t r i b u t e m o r e w o u l d also 

benefit m o r e . A l l in a l l , such a plan is 

not w h o l l y i m p r a c t i c a l or impossible. 

T h e p r o b l e m s w h i c h c o u l d be turned 

o v e r to a l i b r a r y science research team are 

almost u n l i m i t e d . W r i g h t in the article re-

f e r r e d to above has indicated some of t h e m . 

W e need to k n o w w h o uses the biblio-

g r a p h i c i n f o r m a t i o n w h i c h appears on a 

c a t a l o g c a r d and h o w and w h y . K e n n e t h 

B r o u g h in his recent w o r k on the Scholar s 

Workshop suggests some of the p r o b l e m s of 

c o l l e g e and u n i v e r s i t y libraries w h i c h need 

to be i n v e s t i g a t e d . A s he points o u t , w e 

d o n ' t k n o w h o w a scholar or research 

w o r k e r uses the l i b r a r y . W e d o n ' t k n o w 

22 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



w h a t use he makes of s u b j e c t entries in the 

c a t a l o g if any. 

T h e p r o b l e m of bibliographic c o n t r o l is 

one w h i c h stands in need of considerable 

research. A c c o r d i n g to S a m u e l B r a d f o r d , 

bibliographic c o n t r o l of the l i t e r a t u r e of 

science and t e c h n o l o g y can be achieved by 

means of cooperation t h r o u g h the use of 

the U n i v e r s a l D e c i m a l C l a s s i f i c a t i o n . 

H o w e v e r , the problem is l a r g e r than even 

B r a d f o r d r e a l i z e d and calls f o r extensive 

research. A f i d it is this kind of research 

w h i c h could be u n d e r t a k e n by a team 

financed in one of the w a y s o u t l i n e d above. 

T h e s e are o n l y a f e w of the problems 

libraries face today w h i c h could be a t t a c k e d 

by research. T h e solution of any one of 

t h e m w o u l d be of g r e a t v a l u e to all libraries. 

T h e a d v a n t a g e s of a c o o r d i n a t e d research 

p r o g r a m f o r librarianship w o u l d be in-

n u m e r a b l e . T h e professional status of li-

brarianship depends to a l a r g e e x t e n t on 

research. T h e f a c t t h a t there has been, 

r e l a t i v e l y , so l i t t l e research into l i b r a r y 

problems u n d o u b t e d l y explains the c o n f u s e d 

status of librarianship as a profession. 

W i t h a broad and c o n t i n u i n g research pro-

g r a m and the benefits w h i c h it w o u l d b r i n g , 

librarianship w o u l d be in a m u c h better 

position to c l a i m professional status. 

O f course, the most obvious and im-

m e d i a t e a d v a n t a g e w o u l d be the solution 

of p r o b l e m s w h i c h n o w impede the progress 

of l i b r a r y science. A l l libraries w o u l d 

e v e n t u a l l y benefit f r o m research devoted to 

these problems. I n d e e d , this is the most 

persuasive reason f o r i n i t i a t i n g such a 

p r o g r a m . 

S t i l l another a d v a n t a g e w o u l d be the 

a v a i l a b i l i t y of a trained team f o r t r o u b l e 

shooting. I n d u s t r y has q u i c k l y learned 

the v a l u e of t r o u b l e shooters w h o can be 

sent in to a t t a c k a p r o b l e m as soon as it 

arises. L i b r a r i e s c o u l d adopt a similar 

policy. R e s e a r c h w o r k e r s could be t u r n e d 

loose on a problem as soon as it became 

apparent. L i b r a r i e s w o u l d no l o n g e r need 

to rely on the s l o w and p a i n f u l m e t h o d of 

trial and e r r o r . M u c h of the g u e s s w o r k 

w o u l d be taken o u t of l i b r a r y service. 

N o t the least of the a d v a n t a g e s of a 

sustained research p r o g r a m w o u l d be the 

d e v e l o p m e n t of a l a r g e and u s e f u l body of 

research l i t e r a t u r e . S u c h a l i t e r a t u r e 

w o u l d c o n t r i b u t e to the professionalism of 

librarianship. M o r e i m p o r t a n t , it w o u l d 

f o r m a reservoir f r o m w h i c h all libraries 

c o u l d d r a w in time of need. 

B u t a w e l l - f i n a n c e d research p r o g r a m 

w i l l not spring into being of its o w n accord. 

I t m u s t be planned f o r and f o u g h t f o r — 

and it m u s t be backed by a belief on the 

p a r t of l i b r a r i a n s that it is w o r t h w h i l e . 

O n l y then w i l l it be possible t o initiate such 

a p r o g r a m . A s l o n g as l i b r a r i a n s p r e f e r 

t r i a l - a n d - e r r o r methods to research, w e w i l l 

have neither a research p r o g r a m nor the 

benefits t h a t can be derived f r o m it. 

W i t h o u t a l o n g - t e r m c o o p e r a t i v e research 

p r o g r a m l i b r a r i a n s h i p must of necessity 

s t u m b l e ahead as best it can. S e v e r a l years 

ago B e r n a r d Berelson- pointed o u t the ad-

v a n t a g e s of research in librarianship t o the 

i n d i v i d u a l l i b r a r i a n . A t the 1948 L i b r a r y 

C o n f e r e n c e on E d u c a t i o n f o r L i b r a r i a n s h i p 

at the U n i v e r s i t y of C h i c a g o he called at-

tention to the y o u t h f u l n e s s of a g r e a t m a n y 

u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n s . H e expressed the 

opinion that their early success w a s p a r t l y 

the result of the research w h i c h they had 

u n d e r t a k e n . 

W h a t is true f o r the i n d i v i d u a l w o u l d no 

doubt be t r u e f o r the profession as a w h o l e . 

A w e l l - o r g a n i z e d research p r o g r a m w o u l d 

enable it to f o r g e ahead more r a p i d l y . L i k e 

the i n d i v i d u a l s cited by B e r e l s o n , the profes-

sion w o u l d reach m a t u r i t y sooner and so 

h a v e more time to c o n t r i b u t e the best that 

is in it. I t w o u l d have a l o n g e r l i f e of 

g r e a t e r usefulness. 

JANUARY, 1955 23