College and Research Libraries


A m o n g the p r i n c i p a l findings and conclu-
sions: 

1. I t is possible to predict p r o b a b l e fu-
ture use of groups o f books with defined 
characteristics in a typical research library 
situation, a l t h o u g h the qualifications are 
o f t e n c o m p l e x a n d critical a n d confidence 
limits different from o n e s u b j e c t to an-
o t h e r . 

2. C o m p a c t storage of books can save 
significant o p e r a t i n g a n d c a p i t a l sums, 
possibly r a n g i n g from 60 to 77 per cent 
o f t h e costs o f c o n v e n t i o n a l housing. 

3. T h e wisdom of accepting the eco-
n o m i c advantages o f compact storage must 
be weighed by q u a l i t a t i v e j u d g m e n t 
against the scholarly benefits o f more ac-
cessible storage. 

4. Past use of a title, if e x a m i n e d over a 
sufficiently l o n g period, is an e x c e l l e n t 
a n d by f a r the best p r e d i c t o r of future 
use. 

5. I f 25 per cent o f the economics col-
l e c t i o n of the University o f C h i c a g o were 
sent to storage, using a r u l e o f language 
a n d p u b l i c a t i o n date, the stored volumes 
would g e n e r a t e an estimated 3 per c e n t 
of total use; a n d each title would have 
a p r o b a b i l i t y of b e i n g used roughly o n c e 
in thirty-five years. 

6. F o r h u m a n i s t i c disciplines, however, 
f u n c t i o n s which d o n o t employ past use 
are less successful. I n T e u t o n i c literature, 
f o r e x a m p l e , the 25 p e r c e n t o f the col-
l e c t i o n selected by accession date and 
l a n g u a g e would g e n e r a t e 12 p e r cent o f 
the total use, and the average title would 
be used o n c e in every ten years. 

7. E m p l o y i n g " p a s t u s e " over twenty 
years or more, some twenty-five per c e n t 
of the University o f Chicago's collections 
of m o n o g r a p h s in economics a n d T e u -
t o n i c languages a n d l i t e r a t u r e could be 
stored with the e x p e c t a t i o n that only 1 
per cent of the total use o f the collections 
would come from the stored books. Pre-
dicted use of the average m o n o g r a p h thus 
selected: a b o u t o n c e in one h u n d r e d 
years. 

Some will say t h a t the findings serve prin-
cipally to confirm what is already known, 
namely, that books are s u b j e c t to obsoles-
cence as measured by intensity o f use, a n d 
that large q u a n t i t i e s o f m a t e r i a l in research 

libraries e n j o y relatively little use. Neverthe-
less, research libraries are u n d e r pressure 
because of costs, not only for storage but for 
acquisition and cataloging as well. T h e care-
fully marshalled evidence in this study and 
the restraint of i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a n d conclu-
sion offer much, n o t only in support of 
lower cost of housing by c o m p a c t storage o f 
little-used material, b u t also in support of 
going f u r t h e r toward cooperative storage 
a n d the r e d u c t i o n o f the n u m b e r o f copies 
of little-used books held by research libraries 
as a g r o u p . — R i c h a r d H. Logsdon, Colum-
bia University Libraries. 

Library Arts 
Training Laymen in the Use of the Library. 

B y George S. B o n n . Bibliographies, Ab-
stracts, and Indexes. By M a r g a r e t S. Bry-
a n t . ( T h e State of the L i b r a r y Art, Vol. 
2, Parts 1-2) N e w Brunswick, N . J . : R u t -
gers, T h e S t a t e University Press, 1960. 
114, 108p. $ 5 . 0 0 . 

I n the preface to this volume of an atrrac-
tive a n d useful series, R a l p h R . Shaw out-
lines t h e procedures followed by each o f its 
compilers. H e tells us t h a t each one "at-
tempts to summarize what the l i t e r a t u r e says 
with a m i n i m u m o f r e d u n d a n c y b u t w i t h o u t 
editorial c o m m e n t . " M r . B o n n , in stating 
his objectives, proposes n o t only to sum-
marize the literature, b u t to i n d i c a t e trends, 
problems, and needed research as well. I n 
the i n t r o d u c t i o n he has p e r m i t t e d himself 
the l u x u r y o f some c o m m e n t s which might 
well have been reserved for the c o n c l u d i n g 
section, as, for e x a m p l e , "so f a r n o one has 
shown or proved that t r a i n i n g in the use of 
libraries really makes any a p p r e c i a b l e differ-
e n c e to anybody a n y h o w . " A p p r o a c h e d from 
this skeptical p o i n t of view, the task o f sum-
marizing the l i t e r a t u r e on this t o p i c must 
have proved tedious indeed. 

T h e b i b l i o g r a p h y is doubtless the most 
useful feature of the work. I t brings to-
g e t h e r an impressive array of over f o u r hun-
dred references to the s u b j e c t , drawn from 
the professional l i t e r a t u r e o f E u r o p e a n d 
the U n i t e d States. M r . B o n n c o m m e n t s on 
these items in six sections d e a l i n g with vari-
ous e d u c a t i o n a l levels, while in the seventh 

J A N U A R Y 1 9 6 2 79 



he evaluates the m a t e r i a l on testing. T h e r e 
is m u c h which is useful here, b u t the t e x t is 
so loosely j o i n t e d and l a c k i n g in cohesion 
that the r e a d i n g of it is r a t h e r difficult. I t 
may well be that the f a u l t lies i n the n a t u r e 
of the materials r a t h e r t h a n in any short-
comings of the c o m p i l e r . P e r h a p s the s u b j e c t 
might have b e e n more effectively a n d use-
fully presented as a fully a n n o t a t e d bibli-
ography arranged u n d e r q u i t e specific sub-
j e c t headings. T h i s a r r a n g e m e n t would have 
made it possible to get at materials which 
cut across e d u c a t i o n a l levels, such as instruc-
tion in the card catalog a n d in periodicals 
indexes. 

T h e c o n c l u d i n g section o f this book out-
lines r a t h e r neatly some f r u i t f u l topics for 
research a n d investigation; however, its 
value is somewhat d i m i n i s h e d by its sub-
j e c t i v i t y a n d the g e n e r a l air o f futility which 
permeates it. O n e takes the publisher, r a t h e r 
than the compiler, to task for the a p p a l l i n g 
deficiencies o f the i n d e x . I t was surely pre-
pared by s o m e o n e l a c k i n g i n knowledge of 
the basic principles of i n d e x i n g o r s u b j e c t 
h e a d i n g . T h e s u b j e c t s " C a t a l o g , " " P e r i o d i -
c a l s — I n d e x e s , " a n d "Audio-visual m a t e r i a l s " 
c a n n o t be f o u n d , b u t o n e can find such en-
tries as " P l a c e o f a college library in stu-
dents' e d u c a t i o n , " a n d " N e e d for c o n t i n u o u s 
change i n school library service." 

Mrs. B r y a n t , who deals with several b r o a d 
topics on which there is a copious a m o u n t o f 
literature, places realistic l i m i t a t i o n s on the 
m a t e r i a l which she summarizes. B i b l i o g r a -
phy, h e r e i n , does n o t i n c l u d e the descrip-
tion of books. Discussion o f the field o f in-
dexes relates to " p r i n t e d indexes in book 
form to l i t e r a t u r e f r o m a variety of sources, 
a n d p r i n t e d indexes to collections o f ab-
stracts o r title listings." A f u r t h e r l i m i t a t i o n 

c o n c e r n s the topic of i n f o r m a t i o n retrieval 
by m e c h a n i c a l means. T h e c o m p i l e r reminds 
us of the close ties between i n d e x i n g and 
cataloging, a n d indicates h e r i n t e n t to es-
chew all materials on the l a t t e r which are 
n o t p e r t i n e n t to i n d e x i n g . H e r bibliography 
is, therefore, selective, comprising 162 items. 

Despite the tri-partite title, the summary 
deals with the m a t e r i a l as o n e topic. Section 
1, l a b e l e d " C o m p i l a t i o n a n d a r r a n g e m e n t , " 
identifies the m a j o r p r o b l e m s in this area, 
i n c l u d i n g n a t i o n a l a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l bibli-
o g r a p h i c organization, comprehensive cover-
age vs. selectivity, use made of bibliogra-
phies, a n d p r o b l e m s of similar m a g n i t u d e . 
U n d e r the h e a d i n g " E v a l u a t i o n , " Mrs. Bry-
a n t c o m p e t e n t l y discusses the l i t e r a t u r e which 
proposes solutions to some of these prob-
lems. H e r c o n c l u d i n g section, " T a r g e t s f o r 
r e s e a r c h , " is a masterful summary o f the 
studies which ought to be u n d e r t a k e n in this 
highly significant field. She classifies the 
needs of the field, " i n descending o r d e r o f 
i m p o r t a n c e : research to d e t e r m i n e o b j e c -
tives, the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of basic cost data, 
and research in t e c h n i q u e s . " 

T h e i n d e x to this work reveals the same 
flaws described above. 

A word c o n c e r n i n g f o r m a t is indicated. 
P r e s u m a b l y this series was designed to be 
useful to libraries and library schools f o r 
many years to come, yet the f o r m a t exempli-
fies n e i t h e r beauty n o r d u r a b i l i t y . T h e r e is 
increasing evidence that the use o f cold-type 
composition does n o t n e e d to e n t a i l any 
sacrifice o f good looks. I t should be possible 
for the p u b l i s h e r to give us a series at a 
r e a s o n a b l e price which more nearly con-
forms to the l i b r a r i a n ' s standards o f good 
b o o k - m a k i n g . — D o r o t h y Ethlyn Cole, State 
University of New York, A l b a n y . 

r f T h e Future of Library Service. . . " 
T h e J u l y and October 1961 issues of Library Trends will be combined and is-

sued in book form in February 1962. Price will be $3.00. Frank L. Schick discusses 
these two issues in " T h e Future of Library Service and Education for Librarianship" 
in this issue of CRL, pp. 16-17. 

80 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