College and Research Libraries


FOSTER E. MOHRHARDT and BLANCHE L. OLIVERI 

A National Network of 
Biological-Agricultural Libraries 

Efforts to gain systematic control of the entire range of biological and 
agricultural literature are reviewed. In view of the need manifest 
therein, an efficient network of biological-agricultural libraries is being 
developed to serve the science communities in those fields. M ED LARS 
is already operational, and N AL is now developing a network in the 
bio-agricultural fields. Problems in the way of its satisfactory establish-
ment are discussed, and the elements of such a system are enumerated. 

INTRODUCTION 

THE 1966 CONFERENCE of the American 
Library Association sat at the center of 
two concentric circles. The smaller or 
inner circle, covering greater New York, 
includes one of the most significant con-
centrations of books and libraries of all 
times-at least 30 million volumes. The 
New York public library, the Columbia 
University library, the ten to twenty 
other significant academic library collec-
tions plus more than one thousand out-
standing special libraries provide a 
scope and depth of information that is 
in many ways incomparable. Our second 
circle, with a radius of 250 miles, en-
compasses the Harvard-Cambridge-New 
Haven area in the north and the Wash-
ington, D. C. metropolitan area library 
complex in the south. Within this larger 
area the number of volumes has doubled 
to more than sixty million and the range 
and depth of subjects have measurably 
~ncreased. Sitting in the center of this 
library affiuence we might assume that 
all is well in the scholarly library field 

Mr. Mohrhardt is Director of the Na-
~ional Agricultural Library and Mrs. Oliveri 
is Assistant Director for Coordination Ser-
!Vices. This paper was read to the Agricul-
~ure and Biological Sciences Subsection of 
iACRL in New York City on July 14, 1966. 

and that practically any research work-
er's needs can be met in this relatively 
confined geographical area. The director 
of the Columbia University library, 
Richard Logsdon, viewed with pride the 
strength of these collections in the great-
er New York area, and reported in can-
dor last year: 

But lest you be lulled into believing that 
all is well in the library world, let me now 
give the specialist reader's view. With all 
of these resources, libraries are still falling 
short of meeting the full demands of read-
ers, in these days of upgraded elementary 
and secondary curricula, new specializations 
at the ~ollege and university level, and the 
incredible expansion of research, particular-
ly in the sciences. At Columbia, for exam-
ple, I cannot think of a single field in which 
members of the faculty could not find us 
lacking in significant source material,l 

We who work in the larger circle with 
a sixty to seventy-five million volume 
total recognized the fact that many of 
the needs of research workers, scholars 
and students are unmet by all of these 
collections. 

As the horizons of interest of our 
scholars and students increase, and as 
the production of papers and publica-

1 Richard H . Logsdon, " The Vast Resources of 
New York City and the Developments Which Will 
Occur in the Next Decade" (A privately printed ad-
dress of April 15, 1965) , p. 14. 

/9 



10 I College & Research Libraries • January, 1967 

tions double in output with predicted 
regularity, most libraries have recog-
nized their individual inability to meet 
even a share of their users' requirements. 

We will have to redouble our efforts 
and rechallenge our ingenuity and im-
agination to maintain even our present 
levels of service. There are many nights 
when we go home from our libraries 
wondering if there are any boundaries 
to the quest for information. William 0. 
Baker, one of our greatest scientists and 
research directors, says, "Unlike material 
consumption-of food, clothing, housing, 
even, perhaps, of automobiles-there is 
probably no limit to human needs for 
knowledge."2 

Many of us today are aware of the 
fact that new paths must be opened and 
new approaches developed in the field of 
librarianship. Librarians for several dec-
ades have been aware of the fact that 
the handling and servicing of publica-
tions has become a problem beyond the 
competence of conventional systems. It 
has only been in the last decade how-
ever, that scientists and research workers 
recognized these difficulties. 

Librarians and scientists also know 
that individual efforts are no longer suf-
ficient, and that regional and national 
programs are needed to handle success-
fully the requirements of research work-
ers, students, and others. 

BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE 

The American Institute of Biological 
Sciences established in 1960 the Biolog-
ical Sciences Communication Project to 
"study, define, and improve the flow of 
fundamental and applied biological in-
formation from the scientist producer to 
the scientist consumer."3 

The project's proposals, particularly as 
they applied to the national scene, were 

2 William 0. Baker, "Communication Science-Today 
and Tomorrow," in Science and Society: A Symposium 
(Rochester, N.Y.: Xerox Corp., 1965), p. 100. 

8 AIBS. Biological Sciences Communication Project. 
Communique, 1-61 (June 1961 ), 2. 

probably too advanced and comprehen· 
sive for the early 1960's. Unfortunately, 
they were not put into operation. The 
project is now a part of George Wash-
ington University and still serves as an 
effective center for research, education, 
and special studies in the biological sci-
ences communication field. 

Looking for a broader base of biolog-
ical representation, a new effort to in-
ventory, evaluate, and systematize the 
national handling of biological informa-
tion was initiated in a conference on 
communications for biology held at 
Cherry Hill, New Jersey, November 
1965. The conference participants were 
carefully selected to cover comprehen-
sively the whole field of biology, from 
the central core of basic, discipline-ori-
ented biology to the mission-oriented 
and more applied fields of agriculture 
and medicine. Among the recommenda-
tions made at the meeting that apply 
particularly to librarains are the follow-
ing. 

IX. That biological vocabularies or the-
sauri including definitions and hierarchical 
structures be developed under the joint ef-
forts of scientists, science information spe-
cialists and societies for use in indexing and 
handling of biological publications and 
communication .... 

X. That it be the responsibility of the 
federal government to insure acquisition 
and reasonable availability in the United 
States of all significant publications in biol-
ogy from any part of the world. 

A. Reasonable availability includes ( 1) 
prompt cataloging of publications, ( 2) 
an express announcement in English fot 
all titles of publications collected, ( 3) 
plus selective dissemination of this title 
information. All services should be pro 
vided by utilizing existing organizations 
both public and private. The prime ob 
jective is to facilitate rapid transmission 
of copies of original documents to thE 
individual through a local institution a 
minimal cost. 

B. A Council at the national :Ievel should 
be urged to assume over-all responsibil 



A National Network of Biological-Agricultural Libraries I 11 

ity for implementation of this program 
in · cooperation with the appropriate bio-
logical organizations and societies. Spe-
cific delegation of broad subject areas 
should be made, utilizing as document 
sources the National Library of Medicine 
and the National Agricultural Library 
and recognizing outstanding specialized 
collections that have been developed at 
local institutions, such as exist in mam-
malogy, ichthyology, mycology, bryol-
ogy, and photosynthesis. 

XI. That library services to the biologist 
at the local level must be immediately 
strengthened and local libraries must be 

, brought into the national planning at an 
early stage so that they can provide better 
services. 

That academic and other research in-
stitutions recognize the need for adequate-
ly supported library service in developing 
all research programs, and that federal as-
sistance for research include provision for 
libraries.4 

In addition it was proposed that a net-
work of libraries, data centers, documen-
tation centers, and information centers 
be implemented to carry out the con-
ference recommendations and meet the 
needs of biologists for information. 

It is to librarians that the biologists 
have directed their request for aid. We 
are the specialists who are expected to 
provide solutions. 

LIBRARY NETWORKS-A NATIONAL 

RESPONSIBILITY 

Today we can readily recognize the 
problems, identify broad needs, and sub-
scribe to the idea of a national bio-agri-
cultural network. The difficult problems 
arise in designing, organizing, and op-
erating an efficient network of informa-
tion services. Since the organization of 
the American Library Association al-
most .a hundred years ago, libraries in 
this country have been utilizing most of 
the fundamental elements necessary for 

4 Conference on Communications for Biology. Cherry 
Hill, N.J.: Nov. 22-23 , 1965. Report. pp. 7-8. 

an effective network. We have a na-
tional interlibrary loan system, stand-
ardization of catalog cards through the 
Library of Congress, codes and rules for 
subject headings, storage centers, and 
arrangements for division of collecting 
responsibility in some subject fields. Yet 
each of these elements now in operation 
contains exceptions, limitations, and de-
ficiencies that can be improved only by 
broader planning and better structuring. 

Every current major study of libraries, 
information services, and communica-
tion has pointed to the federal govern-
ment as a major factor in stimulating, 
supporting, and organizing networks for 
these services. As Adlai E. Stevenson 
pointed out in a discussion of science 
and technology: 

Electricity had been harnessed :fifty 
years in the United States before it was 
put to work on the farm. It was political 
will that put it there. 

It was political initiative which built 
TV A, the Grand Coulee Dam, the super 
highways, years after we knew how. 

It was a political trigger which started 
the huge programs of research in science 
in universities and private industry.5 

Let us tap this political potential to 
serve us in network development! 

J. C. R. Licklider, who has recently 
studied library potentials, also directs 
us toward federal interests. 

What has the federal government's appara-
tus for scientific and technical information 
to do with "problems in information re-
trieval"? Three things: First, it has prob-
lems, large and deep, which it is mounting 
a vigorous effort to solve. Second, it offers 
to scientists and engineers a great and 
valuable informational resource that is 
much less well known and well understood 
than it should be among some of the peo-
ple who could best use its help and who 
could best help it. And, third, the inte-
gration of national resources in the informa-

5 Adlai Stevenson, "Science and Technology in the 
Political Arena" in Science and Society: A Symposium 
(Rochester, N.Y.: Xerox Corp., 1965), p. 7. 



121 College & Research Libraries • January, 1967 

tion field must involve both the federal re-
sources and the resources outside the gov-
ernment .... 6 

In private conversation with me he 
has pointed out that-

The MEDLARS project at the National Li-
brary of Medicine, the network of ~tate­
based information centers to be established 
under the State Technical Services Act of 
1965 the Atomic Energy Commission and 
Nati~nal Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration computer-based abstracting and in-
dexing services, the new computer-based 
chemical information system of the Chem-
ical Abstracts Service, and the numerous 
information evaluation and analysis centers 
are all examples of large-scale information 
transfer experiments which will lead to im-
proved systems design and integration. 

What have we established thus far? 
First, that individual libraries and even 
small groups of libraries are no longer 
.adequate for the general needs of re-
search workers, scientists, and students. 
Second, biologists and agriculturalists 
have now directly challenged us to find 
the techniques and methods to give 
them ready access to the totality of 
world information in biology. Third, 
within the tradition of American library 
experience we have the basic elements 
for a national network or system. Fourth, 
the role of the federal government in li-
brary support and stimulation has been 
well established during the past decade. 
Fifth, many government agencies now 
have specialized networks providing in-
formation which can be fed into the 
total biological-agricultural network. 
Where do we go from here? 

The National Library of Medicine, 
through its MEDLARS project and other 
activities, already has in operation an 
experimental network for the broad 
health-centered fields. The National 
Agricultural Library is now developing 

e J. C. R. Licklider, "Some Problems in Information 
Retrieval" (A paper prepared for presentation August 
27 1965 at the Western Computer Conference in San 
Fr~ncisco ) . 

the base for a broad nationwide bio-
agricultural library network. Before out-
lining the steps already taken by the 
National Agricultural Library it is neces-
sary to reemphasize certain guidelines 
that must be accepted by all of us if we 
are to progress rapidly in a shared, co-
operative, effective national netw?rk.. 

Network Planning and Orgamzatwn. 
A functioning national network for bio-
logical-agricultural information will re-
quire: ( 1) formalizing of agreements 
and arrangements between the partic-
ipating libraries; ( 2) increased sharing 
of responsibilities; ( 3) increased co-
operation in acquisitions; ( 4) standard-
ization of procedures; ( 5) re-educati<?n 
of users. 

Much of what we are referring to 
here has .also been discussed in library 
circles under the rubric .. compatibility." 

CoMPATIBILITY 

Librarians are individualists. For al-
most one hundred years we have uti-
lized various types of standardization 
and classification: subject headings, cat-
alog card format, etc., yet each library 
introduces modifications and elabora-
tions for its own particular needs. A 
national network for biology and agri-
culture will require us to review these 
individual modifications and determine 
which are necessary and which are 
merely traditional and perhaps out-
moded. The standardization of our li-
brary activities leading toward a high 
degree of compatibility will cause the 
first feeling of uneasiness on the part 
of cooperating librarians. We object to 
being cogs in a machine or merely pur-
veyors of packaged objects, but these ob-
jections are not necessary. 

In .a recent talk, William Welsh of the 
Library of Congress reminded us that-

Although standardization of certain elements 
of catalog card data has been realized since 
the advent of the LC printed card in 1899, 
maximum benefits to be derived from such 
standardization have not yet been achieved. 



A National Network of Biological-Agricultural Libraries I 13 

Despite evidence of increasing use of LC 
cards . . . there is also present more than 
a strong suspicion that many, if not most, 
libraries adapt the LC card to render it 
compatible with their system. 

The era of automation creates the op-
portunity to re-examine the present biblio-
graphical record and to produce a machine 
output of that record which will serve the 
needs for which libraries exist and hope-
fully, thereby, eliminate or markedly re-
duce the inefficiencies implicit in "adapta-
tion."7 

The confrontation between librarians 
and computers is taking place today 
and the relationship between the com-
puter systems and the librarians at the 
Library of Congress and the National 
·Library of Medicine fail to show any 
impairment to library service through 
computer usage. The National Library 
of Medicine, with a computerized cata-
loging system now in operation, reports 
that both the users and librarians are 
well satisfied with the new services. 

For the purposes of this paper and to 
eliminate a factor that can overshadow 
the fundamentals of network develop-
ment, we will not involve ourselves with 
the problems of computer usage and 
mechanization of the system. These are 
tools that will be used as the system de-
velops. At this time they are not the bas-
ic elements of the system. 

ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM 
If the Agriculture and Biological Sci-

ences Subsection of ACRL should de-
cide to assume responsibility for aiding 
in the development of a national bio-
aaricultural network, it will immediately 

0 

be necessary to define the scope of the 
following elements: 

1. A national plan. This would involve 
both immediate and long range ac-
tivities. 

2. Establishment of a responsible agent 
or center for the system. 

7 William J. W elsh, "Compatibility of Systems" (A 
paper presented at the Conference on Data Processing 
in University Libraries). Drexel Institute, 1965. 

3. Establishment of a referral apparatus. 
4. Identification of financial support. 
5. Delegation of responsibilities. There 

would be a need to formalize acquisi-
tions policies, cataloging, services, 
and subject specialization. 

Those who have studied the general 
needs and bases for library networks 
have stressed the importance of explor-
ing new fields of service in addition to 
the conventional handling of books, jour-
nals, other published information and 
bibliographies. Since the local librarian 
under a standardized network system 
would be relieved of many routine con-
cerns about limitations of acquisitions, 
cataloging, and the immediate availabil-
ity of a wide range of subject informa-
tion, new oportunities will be present-
ed at the local and regional level for li-
brarians to develop challenging projects. 
These could include indexing in depth 
for special fields, selective abstracting, 
preparation of state of the .art or re-
view papers, and the provision of more 
and better personal service to the cli-
entele. In addition, opportunities would 
be open for libraries to handle a broad-
er range of information including much 
unpublished information such as data, 
laboratory notes, unpublished symposia 
papers, etc. 

NAL NETWORK PLANS 

The National Agricultural Library's 
plan for a network is being developed 
in three phases. First, coordination with-
in the Department of Agriculture. Sec-
ond, formalized cooperation with agri-
cultural universities and experiment sta-
tions. Finally, cooperative arrangements 
with all other biological-agricultural in-
formation units. 

The library's coordinator of scientific 
and technical information works with 
counterparts in each agency of USDA. 
All department agencies make ·a pre-
clearance check before preparing exten-
sive bibliographies and translations and 



14 I College & Research Libraries • January, 1967 

report to the library any studies, sur-
veys, or projects involving vocabularies 
or research and development in scientif-
ic communication and documentation. 

Agricultural Vocabulary Project. A 
basic authoritative agricultural/biolog-
ical vocabulary for information storage 
and retrieval of published literature and 
unpublished research is well under way. 
This will serve the entire Department 
of Agriculture, the land-grant univer-
sities as well as other government-wide 
vocabularies which have interests in 
these fields. In November 1965 our first 
agricultural-biological subject category 
list was published. The list consists of 
fifteen major fields which are further di-
vided into ninety-eight groups similar in 
structure to the COSA TI subject category 
list. This framework provides subject ap-
proaches for both published literature 
and unpublished research reports. Early 
this year we were fortunate in securing 
the cooperation of four land-grant in-
situtions (Pennsylvania State U niver-
sity, Purdue University, Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology, and the Uni-
versity of Wyoming), each of which pro-
vided the services of a librarian to assist 
us in developing the basic vocabulary. 
Our next steps are evaluation and build-
ing the reference structure. 

Scientists in each of the major disci-
plines covered by the vocabulary will 
now evaluate the terms and provide us 
with an approved basic list. At the same 
time we will be developing specialized 
lists such as taxonomic names .and names 
of chemical substances. The basic vo-
cabulary should be issued by June 1967. 

Library of Congress Classification 
Scheme. Publication of the Dictionary 
Catalog of the National Agricultural Li-
brary, 1862-1965, made it possible for 
the library to change the classification 
scheme it had been using for the past 
one hundred years. 

Correspondence with the land-grant 
institutions showed a trend in agricul-

tural libraries toward using the Library 
of Congress classification scheme. There-
fore, we changed to the LC schedules 
in January 1966. Now two of the na-
tional libraries .are using the same sub-
ject classification. 

Future Plans . We have now reached 
the point where we are making more 
extensive contacts with universities, ex-
periment stations, and industrial instal-
lations in furthering the cordination of 
agricultural information. 

We recently sent a questionnaire to i 
all libraries of land-grant universities 
and experiment stations to gather pre-
liminary data for developing an agri-
cultural network. (I) We are trying to 
identify the state services which are pro-
vided to federal employees headquar-
tered within the state. For example-are 
direct routing, lending, reference, or 
bibliographic services being provided 
USDA employees? (2) We want to find 
out which libraries will be willing to 
assume archival and national service 
responsibilities . for state and county 
bureau publications, and for state, coun-
ty, and municipal publications produced 
within their state. ( 3) We .are also try-
ing to identify various subjects or geo-
graphic areas for which libraries will 
assume similar responsibilities. 

An additional activity essential to a 
network is an inventory of agricultural 
information resources · throughout the 
country. Over three hundred and forty 
have been identified within the Depart-
ment of Agriculture alone. Our attention 
is now directed to other governmental, 
academic, industrial, and historical in-
stitutions. This provides potential com-
ponents of the network bases for refer-
ral activities. We hope to eliminate un-
necessary duplication, to expand essen-
tial areas, and to tailor our future ac-
tivities in accordance with recommenda-
tions received. 

Decentralization Concept. We have 
two formal agreements already executed. 



A National Network of Biological-Agricultural Libraries I 15 

The University of California at Davis 
has assumed national responsibility for 
agricultural machinery catalog acquisi-
tion and servicing. The Tennessee Val-
ley Authority has assumed national col-
lection and servicing of publications on 
fertilizers. 

The Davis agreement represents our 
first cooperative endeavor, and makes 
available the most comprehensive col-
lection in the United States of agricul-
tural machinery catalogs and related 
materials. The TV A agreement was a 
logical follow-up to the Department of 
Agriculture's termination of most ferti-
lizer research and the TV A's national 
responsibility and capability for per-
forming such research activities. 

Both agreements provide for assump-
tion of national responsibility for acquir-
ing and disseminating pertinent infor-
mation. They will provide national bib-
liographic, reference, and interlibrary 
loan services. 

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

The ultimate aim of the National Agri-
cultural Library is to make possible the 
utilization of tapes provided from its 
mechanized system, and an interchange 
of tapes within the bio-agricultural net-
work. The library's system is progressing 
on a phased basis. 

The monthly and annual author in-
dexes of the Bibliography of Agriculture 
were automated in August 1964. The 
programing and testing of the subject 
index system is underway, and will pro-
vide for the first time monthly subject 
indexes to the Bibliography of Agricul-
ture in addition to the annual cumula-
tion. Automation of the citations them-
selves, scheduled for 1969, will permit 
the preparation of periodic bibliogra-
phies on specialized subjects, selective 
dissemination of pertinent scientific in-
formation, and responses to demand 
searches. 

The Pesticides Infmmation Center, 

which is currently issuing a computer-
produced permuted title index, will 
change over to the new computer-based 
system being developed by the Da-
tatrol Corporation. The new Pesticides 
Documentation Center will include a re-
trieval system for special bibliographies 
and demand searches, with selective dis-
semination if warranted. 

Eventually we hope to have on file 
and to service a user profile for any bio-
agricultural institution in the country 
which desires selective dissemination to 
be made from the total mechanized sys-
tem. 

DISCUSSION 

Several questions immediately arise as 
a result of this discussion and the sum-
mary of our program. First, we probably 
will have to determine who would be 
the initial participants in such a system. 
For practical purposes it would prob-
ably be best to limit the initial partic-
ipants to land-grant universities and 
other major agricultural libraries, or to 
mount a smaller more varied pilot proj-
ect. 

Next a determination will have to be 
made concerning the extent of cover-
age and service. Since the network is 
primarily a practical device, a priority 
should be established for the types of 
materials to be handled in the system. 
For example how would we arrange 
priorities for the following: 

1. Would it be best to begin the net-
work for service on publications most 
used? 

2. Or would it be preferable to special-
ize on those least used? 

3. How about the publications that are 
hardest to identify and acquire? (For 
example, symposia and conference pa-
pers.) 

4. What is the interest in publications 
that are hardest to handle because of 
their size and other factors? 

5. Report literature? 



16 I College & Research Libraries • January, 1967 

6. Theses? 
7. Newspapers? 
8. Basic and comprehensive historical 

collections in subject fields? 
9. Rare books? 

These and others must be examined be-
fore we establish priorities. 

A network arrangement can give 
valuable assistance in solving our serious 
storage problems. As long as we work 
independently or with highly informal 
and indefinite exchange and cooperative 
programs, each library is faced with a 
mounting problem of storage of publica-
tions. Under an effective national net-
work system, however, we never need 
to concern ourselves, since we have a 
continuing certainty that someone holds 
responsibility and will have .available 
for us the publications whenever they 
are needed. 

INTERNATIONAL 

As our circle widens we must look to-
ward a truly international network. The 
National Library of Medicine is already 
furnishing its tapes to special libraries 
in various European countries and is ex-
ploring the possibility of contracting for 
bibliographic and abstracting aid abroad. 

We in agriculture are greatly depend-
ent upon services from other countries 
in bibliographic a,nd abstracting fields. 
The Commonwealth Agricultural Bu-
reaux furnishes the widest abstracting in 
agriculture. We also utilize abstracting 
and indexing services issued by the 
USSR, the Netherlands, France, Ger-

many, .and Japan. The nucleii for an 
eventual international system will be 
strong national agricultural-biological li-
braries, or in some instances regional 
organizations set up to provide expand-
ed library services. In the agricultural 
field highly effective regional groups 
are now operating in Latin America, the 
Scandinavian countries, the "Socialist 
countries," and in Great Britain. Other 
elements in the eventual network will be 
subject-oriented centers such as the In-
ternational Rice Research Institute in 
the Philippines, which is already serving 
as an international center. 

Leadership for the establishment of 
such an international system can be ex-
pected from the International Associa-
tion of Agricultural Librarians and Doc-
umentalists, the Food and Agriculture 
Organization, and our own National 
Agricultural Library. 

The World Congress of Agricultural 
Librarians and Documentalists, held in 
Washington last year with represent-
atives from thirty-five countries, record-
ed its urgent wish to take the first steps 
toward an international bio-agricultural 
network. Each country is as eager to 
share its intellectual resources as it is to 
call upon those of other countries. We 
have a need, we have an interest, and 
we have an enthusiasm on the part of 
librarians and those they serve in every 
part of the world. The National Agricul-
tural Library is ready to move today in 
the establishment of the first phase of 
both the national and international net-
works. • •