College and Research Libraries 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- t h e t i t l e a n d in g e n e r a l its p r o m i s e is b o r n e o u t by t h e text. T h e 24 c h a p t e r s a n d two a p p e n d i c e s a r e g r o u p e d u n d e r five g e n e r a l h e a d i n g s . P a r t 1 is d e v o t e d to t h e f u n c t i o n s of t h e t e c h n i c a l r e p o r t in i n d u s t r y a n d g o v e r n m e n t . P a r t 2 deals w i t h p r e p a r i n g a n d processing t h e re- p o r t s a n d covers details of w r i t i n g , illustrat- ing, e d i t i n g a n d d u p l i c a t i n g . P a r t 3 is o n d i s t r i b u t i o n , P a r t 4 o n filing, a n d P a r t 5 o n use. Every aspect of t h e t e c h n i c a l r e p o r t is t r e a t e d , f r o m w r i t i n g t o r e a d i n g . T h e r e a r e two g e n e r a l areas in w h i c h this collection of p a p e r s can b e criticized. T h e first is t h e m a n n e r of address. T h e a u d i e n c e is f o r t h e most p a r t t h e a m a t e u r in each of t h e m a n y aspects of w r i t i n g , d u p l i c a t i n g a n d h a n d l i n g of r e p o r t s . I n a f e w instances this results in such i n a n i t i e s as " G r a m m a r is a s u b j e c t t h a t c a n n o t be a v o i d e d in r e p o r t w r i t i n g " a n d " N o filing system n e e d s to b e c o m p l e t e l y o r i g i n a l . " W i t h respect to t h e first e x a m p l e , in p a r t i c u l a r , some c o m p r o m i s e m i g h t h a v e b e e n safely m a d e w i t h t h e ob- jective of c o m p r e h e n s i v e n e s s by o m i t t i n g some of t h e lessons in s o p h o m o r e English c o m p o s i t i o n . Several b o o k s a n d m a n y articles o n t e c h n i c a l w r i t i n g a r e a l r e a d y available, as witness t h e b i b l i o g r a p h y of 71 items on pages 59-62. T h e p r e o c c u p a t i o n of t h e b o o k w i t h t h e m e c h a n i c s of p r e p a r i n g a n d h a n d l i n g tech- nical r e p o r t s m a y e x p l a i n t h e second a r e a of deficiency as viewed by this r e a d e r , n a m e l y t h e f u n c t i o n or r o l e of t h e t e c h n i c a l r e p o r t in t h e b r o a d field of d o c u m e n t a t i o n of re- search a n d d e v e l o p m e n t . W h a t is its r e l a t i v e i m p o r t a n c e in t h e w h o l e field of scientific a n d t e c h n i c a l l i t e r a t u r e ? Is it p r i m a r i l y a necessary i n s t r u m e n t of t h e research t e a m in i n d u s t r y o r g o v e r n m e n t ? Is its o r i g i n a n d c o n t i n u a n c e d u e p r i m a r i l y to security clas- sification of i n f o r m a t i o n , b o t h p r i v a t e a n d p u b l i c ? O r is it a h a n d y device f o r a p p l y i n g t h e " n e e d to k n o w " p h i l o s o p h y of distribu- tion? P e r h a p s this b o o k is n o t t h e a p p r o - p r i a t e p l a c e f o r discussion of such q u e s t i o n s . D e s p i t e these g e n e r a l weaknesses, t h e w o r k will b e w e l c o m e d by m a n y . I n a b o o k w h i c h is a c o m p o s i t e of t h e w r i t i n g of 23 d i f f e r e n t a u t h o r s o n e does n o t e x p e c t u n i f o r m i t y in c o n t e n t , e m p h a s i s o r q u a l i t y of w r i t i n g . Di- r e c t e d at every p e r s o n — f r o m typist to execu- t i v e — w h o has a n y t h i n g to d o w i t h t e c h n i c a l r e p o r t s , this collection of p a p e r s achieves a surprisingly even q u a l i t y , d u e n o d o u b t t o t h e w o r k of t h e e d i t o r . It s h o u l d be a n in- v a l u a b l e aid, especially to those i n d i v i d u a l s i n c o m p a n y a n d g o v e r n m e n t d e p a r t m e n t s w h o h a v e a w i d e r a n g e of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t e c h n i c a l r e p o r t s . A m o n g a n u m b e r of very u s e f u l c h a p t e r s , t h r e e m i g h t be m e n t i o n e d by way of specific e x a m p l e s . " I l l u s t r a t i n g , D u p l i c a t i n g , a n d B i n d i n g t h e T e c h n i c a l R e p o r t , " by B. A. J o n e s , is p a c k e d w i t h i n f o r m a t i o n a n d m i g h t well be e x p a n d e d i n t o a b o o k . " C a t a l o g i n g G o v e r n m e n t T e c h n i c a l R e p o r t s , " by Ber- n a r d Fry, is a c o m p a c t discussion of p o i n t s p a r t i c u l a r l y r e l e v a n t to t h e s u b j e c t . A n d " H o w to L o c a t e a n d O b t a i n G o v e r n m e n t I n - f o r m a t i o n R e p o r t s , " by P a t r i c i a B r o w n , w o u l d b e a h a p p y c o n t r i b u t i o n to t h e vol- u m e if it consisted o n l y of t h e t a b l e o n " D o c u m e n t - I s s u i n g G o v e r n m e n t Agencies." T h e subjects of m a n y o t h e r c h a p t e r s a r e t r e a t e d w i t h e q u a l e f f e c t i v e n e s s . — H e r m a n H. Henkle, John Crerar Library. Naval Academy Library Classification Classification Schedules BB-BK: Aeronauti- cal Art and Science, U . S. N a v a l A c a d e m y L i b r a r y . C o m p i l e d by J a m e s M . S a u n d e r s . [ A n n a p o l i s , 1954. 88p.] I n e v a l u a t i n g a n y classification scheme, o n e m u s t t a k e i n t o c o n s i d e r a t i o n several items of p r i m e i m p o r t a n c e . T h e s e a r e : W a s t h e scheme d e v e l o p e d f o r a p a r t i c u l a r li- b r a r y a n d , if so, is it easily a d a p t a b l e t o o t h e r l i b r a r i e s ' needs? Is it a p r a c t i c a l scheme? T h a t is, is it e x p a n d a b l e ? C a n n e w develop- m e n t s b e p l a c e d logically a n d simply w i t h i n t h e f r a m e w o r k ? Is it easily u n d e r s t o o d a n d u s a b l e by p e r s o n s w i t h o u t special t r a i n i n g o r e x p e r i e n c e in t h e s u b j e c t field? T o all of these questions, t h e a n s w e r con- c e r n i n g this classification is, yes. T h i s scheme, d e v e l o p e d by J a m e s M . S a u n d e r s , is pri- m a r i l y a classification scheme to w h i c h l e t t e r a n d n u m e r a l n o t a t i o n s h a v e b e e n a d d e d . T h e r e is, f o r this r e a s o n , n o e v i d e n c e of f o r c i n g to o b t a i n m n e m o n i c n o t a t i o n s o r t o a r r a n g e f o r systematic evenness in t h e ex- p a n s i o n s . 96 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES