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Review Articles 

Information Processing 
Equipment 
Information Processing Equipment. E d i t e d 

by M. P. Doss. N e w York: R e i n h o l d , 1955. 
270p. $8.75. 

T h i s collection of t h e p a p e r s of a sympo-
s i u m h e l d in 1953 i n c l u d e s ten p a p e r s . T h e 
first is "Special t y p i n g , stenciling, h e c t o g r a p h -
i n g , figure p r e p a r a t i o n a n d m i s c e l l a n e o u s 
e q u i p m e n t " ; t h e second, "Lensless c o p y i n g 
w i t h sensitized p a p e r s " ; t h e t h i r d , " P h o t o g -
r a p h y in t h e l a b o r a t o r y " ; t h e f o u r t h , "Micro-
c o p y i n g . . ."; t h e f i f t h , " X e r o g r a p h y " ; sixth, 
" L e t t e r p r e s s a n d offset p r i n t i n g " ; seventh, 
" A u t h o r ' s g u i d e t o effective slides"; e i g h t h , 
" A u d i o m e t h o d s f o r h a n d l i n g d a t a " ; n i n t h , 
" S t o r i n g a n d f i n d i n g technical i n f o r m a t i o n 
w i t h p u n c h e d cards"; a n d finally " N u m e r i c a l 
d a t a - h a n d l i n g m a c h i n e s . " 

T h i s miscellany n o t o n l y d u p l i c a t e s i n f o r -
m a t i o n in o t h e r sources b u t also d u p l i c a t e s 
w i t h i n itself—i.e., S t e n a f a x is i l l u s t r a t e d a n d 
d e s c r i b e d o n pages 11-12, w h e r e it m a y be-
l o n g , a n d t h e n is re-illustrated a n d rede-
scribed briefly o n pages 47-49, u n d e r "lens-
less c o p y i n g w i t h sensitized p a p e r , " w h e r e it 
d o e s n o t b e l o n g . 

N e w processes, such as K a l f a x , a r e n o t 
c o v e r e d since t h e basic m a t e r i a l o n w h i c h 
t h i s " b o o k " was based was all d e l i v e r e d two 
years ago. 

T h e r a n g e of topics, p r e s e n t e d w i t h o n l y 
t h e most g e n e r a l d a t a o n w h e n o r w h e r e 
e a c h is s u i t a b l e economically, r u n s f r o m 
r e a d i n g glasses f o r t w o o r t h r e e d i a m e t e r 
e n l a r g e m e n t , to t y p i n g , to p h o t o m i c r o g r a p h y , 
h i g h speed m o v i n g p i c t u r e cameras, slide 
p r o j e c t i o n e q u i p m e n t , a u d i o r e c o r d i n g de-
vices, etc. 

T h e t r e a t m e n t is u n e v e n . I n some of t h e 
articles a g r e a t d e a l of t e c h n i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n 
is assumed. I n others, t h e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n 
16, 35, a n d 70 m m . film is described a n d illus-
t r a t e d . Some of t h e m a t e r i a l , such as t h a t o n 
office d i c t a t i n g m a c h i n e s a n d m o v i e s o u n d -
tracks, is simply d r a g g e d in, as a r e slide 

r u l e s a n d c o n v e n t i o n a l office-type a d d i n g ma-
chines a n d calculators. 

T h e collection of p a p e r s is p r o f u s e l y illus-
t r a t e d , a n d a l a r g e p e r c e n t a g e of t h e illus-
t r a t i o n s seem q u i t e u n n e c e s s a r y — a m o n g 
these, i l l u s t r a t i o n s t h a t a p p e a r to a d d so lit-
tle t o w h a t is so c o m m o n l y a v a i l a b l e as to b e 
a waste of space w o u l d b e : t h e I B M electric 
s t a n d a r d t y p e w r i t e r , t h e V a r i t y p e r , a p u b -
licity p i c t u r e s h o w i n g t h r e e desks w i t h ma-
chines o n t h e m a n d l a b e l e d "a b a t t e r y of 
t h r e e a u t o m a t i c t y p e w r i t e r s . . . ," a Dick 
stencil d u p l i c a t o r , a P h o t o s t a t camera, seven 
c o n v e n t i o n a l microfilm cameras a n d r e a d i n g 
m a c h i n e s , x - n u m b e r of p i c t u r e s of n o t c h e d 
o r p u n c h e d cards, etc., etc. 

Some of t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s a r e definitely mis-
l e a d i n g . O n e shows a m a n s t a n d i n g n e x t to 
a p i l e of books almost u p to t h e t o p of his 
h e a d a n d h o l d i n g a b o x of microfilm. T h e 
impression it gives is t h a t t h e small r o l l of 
microfilm (weighing 1.5 ounces) takes t h e 
place of all this. T h e c a p t i o n is " M i c r o f i l m 
f o r c o n d e n s a t i o n . . . ." B u t it goes o n to say 
t h a t this film was m a d e f o r a s t u d e n t . . . a n d 
includes all t h e pertinent material f o u n d in 
t h e 366 p o u n d s of v o l u m e s (italics s u p p l i e d ) . 
If t h e pertinent material does n o t e q u a l t h e 
total, a n d it c a n n o t , t h e n w h a t h o n e s t p u r -
pose can t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n serve? 

T h i s s y m p o s i u m v o l u m e does n o t a d d u p 
to a c o h e r e n t , s e m i n a l c o n t r i b u t i o n to knowl-
edge, a n d t h e p r i c e of $8.75 f o r its 270 
p a d d e d pages is f a r o u t of l i n e w i t h t h e ma-
terial t h a t m i g h t b e d e r i v e d f r o m it t h a t is 
n o t readily a v a i l a b l e e l s e w h e r e . — R a l p h R. 
Shaw, Graduate School of Library Service, 
Rutgers University. 

Technical Reports 
The Technical Report; Its Preparation, Proc-

essing, and Use in Industry and Govern-
ment. E d i t e d by B. H . W e i l . N e w York: 
R e i n h o l d , 1954. 485p. $12. 

T h i s b o o k makes a n i m p o r t a n t c o n t r i b u -
t i o n to a critical a r e a in t h e d o c u m e n t a t i o n 
of research. Its scope is clearly i n d i c a t e d by 

JANUARY, 1956 95-