College and Research Libraries


individual contributions to librarianship of the 
N e w York State and N e w York Public 
Schools whose histories have also been pub-
lished previously. T h e story of the present 
school under its two administrations needs to 
be entirely rewritten before it can take its 
place justifiably in the chronology. 

N o t only should the Williamson and White 
regimes be treated at far greater length; in 
each present account, a statement of broad, 
over-all objectives in the training programs 
needs to be inserted. These objectives existed 
and must still exist in spite of national and 
world crises that have arisen. T o o little is 
said in the Trautman history about the need 
for library schools to train for librarianship 
as it is now being practiced, and to produce 
leaders, both in the physical and philosophical 
sense. Thinkers, expert technical workers, 
executives are all called for, and the nation 
looks to the library schools as the best and 
most logical sources for such people. From a 
practical viewpoint the matter of whether 
Columbia is producing competent librarians 
deserves far more consideration than whether 
the student body is becoming local rather than 
national in character. 

T h e last part of the Williamson chapter is 
entirely too much concerned with the 
enumeration of isolated, specialized courses 
that seem to have composed the curriculum 
of the school. Many of these, incidentally, 
were introduced during summer sessions. 
Such summer offerings have proved sound and 
logical practice at many universities, where 
new courses are introduced on an experi-
mental basis. 

The final chapter, which still deals with 
the White administration, presents too many 
explanations about the doctoral program. 
Incidentally, during the eleven years of Dr. 
White's deanship, candidates seem to have 
been only slightly more numerous than during 
the Williamson regime. Only one person has 
actually acquired the degree. Is something 
wrong with the school's doctoral program and 
the quality of the students who are attracted 
to it? Or is the prospect of absorption by 
the profession of a large number of people 
who might obtain the Ph.D. in library science 
not likely? A university is the logical place 
for such training; other schools at Columbia 
turn out substantial numbers of graduates who 
have earned the degree. 

The role played by the alumni during the 
White administration is handled in relative 
fullness, but more attention might well have 
been given to this group in the Williamson 
chapter. This shortcoming applies to the 
story of the formation of the present, 
amalgamated association as well as to the 
many profitable consultations with the alumni 
during the 1926-43 period. 

Typographical errors appear to be few in 
number, but Appendix I shows some omissions 
and an occasional mistake as to date. The 
three appendices form one of the most useful 
sections of the book, particularly because of 
their ready reference value. 

The style throughout is uneven as to 
quality. At times it is dignified, in keeping 
with an anniversary volume; in sections where 
the author's bias predominates, the writing 
becomes clouded both as to thought and pres-
entation of facts. Very likely the preparation 
of the volume as a unit in an official series has 
hampered the insertion of humor, the homely 
anecdote and the human side of the persons 
responsible for the school since its inception. 
Such material is available in abundance and 
should not be overlooked in the awaited, 
comprehensive history of this school.—Harriet 
D. MacPherson, dean, Drexel Library School, 
and librarian of Drexel Institute of Tech-
nology. 

Technical Services 
Technical Services in Libraries: Acquisitions, 

Cataloging, Classification, Binding, Photo-
graphic Reproduction, Circulation Opera-
tions. By Maurice F. Tauber and 
Associates. N e w York, Columbia Univer-
sity Press, 1954. xvi, 487P. $6.50. 
W e have a great number of books which 

describe in detail the operations in the techni-
cal services of libraries. There is no up-to-
date compendium for acquisitions work and 
related processes, but both the beginner and 
the experienced professional in cataloging have 
at their disposal some excellent manuals. T h e 
common denominator for most of the litera-
ture in the field is that they are either text-
books designed for an elementary level or 
compilations of rules. There was an urgent 
need for a scholarly publication which would 
discuss on a high intellectual level the entire 
field in its broadest aspects. Maurice Tauber 

112 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



and his associates (Ralph U. Blasingame, Jr., 
C. Donald Cook, Carlyle J. Frarey, Bertha 
M. Frick, Jane H. Hall, Richard O. Pautzsch, 
and Irving Verschoor) have written such a 
book. 

Technical Services in Libraries is a "Lehr-
buch" in the sense of the great nineteenth 
century university compendia. It sketches the 
philosophy, summarizes up-to-date findings 
and leads toward new and fruitful investiga-
tions. From all points of view it is a truly 
remarkable book. 

The scope of the book is best given in the 
author's own words (p. ix) : 

T h e v o l u m e p u r p o s e s to s u r v e y the v a r i o u s 
" t e c h n i c a l s e r v i c e s " and to o r i e n t the student 
to the r a n g e of o p e r a t i o n s and t e c h n i q u e s as-
s o c i a t e d w i t h the p r o c u r e m e n t , r e c o r d i n g , 
p r e s e r v a t i o n , and h a n d l i n g of l i b r a r y m a t e -
r i a l s . T h e specific a i m s a r e : ( i ) to f a m i l -
i a r i z e the student w i t h p r o b l e m s in the tech-
n i c a l s e r v i c e s and w i t h c u r r e n t t h o u g h t c o n -
c e r n i n g the best solutions of t h e m ; (2) to 
f a m i l i a r i z e him w i t h sources of p u b l i s h e d 
and other i n f o r m a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g the p r a c -
tice and a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of the t e c h n i c a l s e r v -
ices ; ( 3 ) to i n d i c a t e m e t h o d s t h a t h a v e been 
used in s t u d y i n g the t e c h n i c a l o p e r a t i o n s ; ( 4 ) 
to point out those a r e a s in w h i c h r e s e a r c h or 
s p e c i a l s t u d y is n e e d e d or l i k e l y to p r o v e 
f r u i t f u l ; and ( 5 ) to f u r n i s h a b a c k g r o u n d of 
i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t m a y be u s e f u l in p e r f o r m i n g 
the t e c h n i c a l s e r v i c e s in l i b r a r i e s . 

T h e b o o k is d i v i d e d i n t o t w e n t y - t w o c h a p t e r s : 

I. I n t r o d u c t i o n . 

I I . T h e t e c h n i c a l s e r v i c e s in the l i b r a r y 
p r o g r a m . 

I I I . A c q u i s i t i o n s : f u n c t i o n s and o r g a n i z a -
tion. 

I V . T y p e s of m a t e r i a l s a n d t h e i r s o u r c e s : 
p u r c h a s e s . 

V . O p e r a t i o n s in o r d e r w o r k . 
V I . G i f t s and deposits. 

V I I . D u p l i c a t e s and e x c h a n g e s . 
V I I I . C a t a l o g s a n d c a t a l o g i n g : d e v e l o p -

ment a n d f u n c t i o n s . 
I X . C a t a l o g entries and d e s c r i p t i o n . 

X . S u b j e c t h e a d i n g s . 
X I . C l a s s i f i c a t i o n . 

X I I . P r e - c a t a l o g i n g and p o s t - c a t a l o g i n g 
o p e r a t i o n s . 

X I I I . R e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n and r e c a t a l o g i n g . 
X I V . T h e c a t a l o g i n g d e p a r t m e n t : a d m i n i s -

t r a t i v e p r o b l e m s . 
X V . C o n s e r v a t i o n of l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s : 

g e n e r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n and a d m i n i s -
t r a t i o n . 

X V I . C o n s e r v a t i o n of l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s : 
finance, personnel, and o t h e r as-
pects. 

X V I I . C o n s e r v a t i o n of l i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s : 
the b i n d e r y w i t h i n the l i b r a r y and 
the h a n d l i n g of special m a t e r i a l s . 

X V I I I . C i r c u l a t i o n o p e r a t i o n s : r e g i s t r a t i o n . 
X I X . C i r c u l a t i o n o p e r a t i o n s : loans. 
X X . C i r c u l a t i o n : other o p e r a t i o n s a n d 

r e c o r d s . 
X X I . P h o t o g r a p h i c s e r v i c e in l i b r a r i e s . 

X X I I . M a c h i n e s , o p e r a t i o n s , and m o d e r n 
l i b r a r i e s . 

The footnotes are, unfortunately, at the end. 
An elaborate index of twenty-three pages 
closes the book. 

After this general description a few com-
ments on specific points will be appropriate. 
There is a slight inconsistency in the use of 
the terminology, "technical services." On the 
title page and generally throughout the book 
it is meant in a very broad sense, including 
also some operations in readers' services, 
"which are susceptible to codification"; how-
ever, in chapter II it is confined to the tradi-
tional narrow sense of acquisitions and 
cataloging. I doubt very much whether one 
can still say, "Among the most important [of 
the agents for book purchases] is the local 
bookdealer, who is used as a rule . . ." 
(p. 44). Most scholarly libraries and a 
steadily increasing number of smaller institu-
tions use the big metropolitan jobbers. Firms 
like Baker and Taylor and the American 
News Company are in a heavy and success-
ful competition with the local store. I would 
also suggest that the description of the search-
ing operations as performed by second-hand 
book dealers (p. 47) be taken with a heavy 
grain of salt. Theoretically every book dealer 
would like to go through all these steps, but, 
facing the grim reality of a chaotic second-
hand book market, he just can't afford it. The 
new acquisitions technique, the standing order 
for the purchase of the entire output of a pub-
lisher, is not discussed, and not enough atten-
tion is given to the bookkeeping responsibilities 
of the acquisitions department. The question 
of encumberances, the handling of funds, the 
administration of financial records pose a 
great number of important problems which 
are by no means completely settled. It is 
realized, of course, that business records vary 
considerably in different kinds of libraries. 

Among the marks of ownership employed 

JANUARY, 1955 113 



by libraries, one could add the use of a special 
endpaper (Newberry Library and Cornell 
University) (p.244). Xerography, which 
may well be in the near future one of the 
most widely used methods for card repro-
duction, deserves more space (p.247, 392). 
Tauber has slightly revised an earlier esti-
mate of the cost of recataloging. I fully 
agree that the expenses of recataloging are 
slightly higher than new cataloging because of 
the many added activities. His figure of 
approximately one dollar per volume is on the 
conservative side. I am more accustomed 
to think in terms of titles recataloged; here I 
would suggest a figure of from two to two-
and-a-half dollars per title. Although 
Tauber has undoubtedly the greatest ex-
perience in recataloging, I question his un-
conditional advice of starting a new catalog 
during the process (p.279). The best I 
could say about a new catalog is to call it a 
necessary evil. An important item in the 
administration of the catalog department, 
about which I would like to get more advice, 
is the question of statistics and reports. The 
short paragraph which th,e book devotes to this 
aspect could be expanded in a later edition. 

Special attention should be paid by all of 
us to the chapter on binding. The relation of 
binding to the over-all program of book con-
servation and the advisability of recognizing 
the importance of this work by giving it full 
departmental status is clearly brought out. 
The final chapter on machine operations care-
fully weighs the two sides of the question. 
It boldly points out the fact that few studies 
in library service give cold facts; we all are 
much too often satisfied with opinions and 
guesses. On the other hand, we cannot just 
borrow studies of scientific management in in-
dustrial organization and apply them to 
libraries. 

None of the above critical remarks are 
fundamental; the laudatory remarks could 
fill the entire issue of this journal. I there-
fore would like to summarize the gist of my 
opinion on the book under review in one short 
sentence: No librarian can afford not to read 
Technical Services in Libraries.—Felix Reich-
mann, Cornell University Libraries. 

Challenges to Librarianship 
Challenges to Librarianship, edited by Louis 

Shores. Tallahassee, Florida State Uni-
versity 1953. I56p. $2.00; paper $1.00 
(Florida State University Studies, No. 12). 
This volume presents separate papers on 

eight "challenges to librarianship," represent-
ing a series of lectures in 1952-53 given to 
students of the Library School at Florida 
State University. The central theme of these 
challenges, in the eyes of the editor, was to be 
the library as a critical force in the current 
world conflict. The lectures begin with two 
papers that fit the theme rather closely: Dan 
Lacy's "The Challenge of International Under-
standing" and Luther Evans' "The Challenge 
of Censorship." Lacy lucidly summarizes 
the sociological-political situation which de-
mands far better international understanding 
than we have. He then proceeds to indicate 
the obstacles to the flow of information, 
especially in relation to Asia and the Near 
East—and the obstacles are exceedingly for-
midable. Finally, he summarizes in broad 
terms the efforts made thus far toward pro-
moting international understanding. Mr. 
Lacy makes it abundantly clear that, while 
much has been accomplished, far more re-
mains to be done. Dr. Evans' paper deals 
with the risks to a democracy of overt and, 
especially, hidden censorship, and the obliga-
tion of libraries to provide the materials 
through which the public may ". . . learn 
. . . what is to be said for and against all of 
the proposals made on the great public issues 
of the day. . . ." 

The six remaining lectures are not quite so 
obviously related to the general theme of the 
series: Fremont Rider on "The Challenge of 
Microphotography," Charles H. Brown on 
"Librarianship and the Sciences," Edgar Dale 
on "The Challenge of Audio-Visual Media," 
Frances Henne on "The Challenge of School 
Librarianship," Louis Round Wilson on "The 
Challenge of Library Literature to Educa-
tion for Librarianship," and Wayne Shirley 
on "An American Librarian's Heritage." 
Though the relation of some of these papers 
to international understanding seems some-
what remote, they present in an interesting 
way important problems in a number of areas 
of librarianship. 

The extent to which the papers represent 

114 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES