College and Research Libraries


Grose and Jones on an acquisition system 
in the Newcastle University Library, al-
though no mention is rpade of extension 
of the system to automated bibliographic 
checking other than of receipts not item-
requested through the order subsystem. A 
paper by Coates and Nicholson on automa-
tion in the production of the British Tech-
nology Index is very germane, in particu-
lar the progress on an inversion algorithm 
for auto-generation of cross references to 
composite subject entries. Lastly, a report 
by Millar gives an example of use of the 
Newcastle system in statistical analysis of 
data collected in a maternity survey, with 
implications in terms of techniques for li-
brary management. 

The second theme revolves around gener-
al issues of the library as an environment 
for computer innovation. Vickery stresses 
perspectives on economic realities vs. user 
satisfaction and the functions of machine 
records. Jolliffe, Line, and Robinson dis-
cuss standardization of library systems and 
bibliographic records, concluding that nu-
merous constraints militate against ex-
change of library program packages above 
a limited subroutine level. They assert 
that "compatibility without rigidity" in 
records is necessary to a carefully planned 
library data interchange concept. Haw-
good completes the section with a prospec-
tus for a quantitative study intended to 
derive a "single benefit index" to guide al-
location of hypothetical added funds for 
library resource development. 

A section on the MARC idea in Great 
Britain yields what may be the best think-
ing yet in print on the nature of national 
and local catalog services based on cen-
tralized machine record distribution. Cow-
ard outlines the U.K. MARC Project status 
at the British National Bibliography, em-
phasizing requirements beyond those of 
detailed format of the machine record. 
Bregzis relates patterns of experience and 
future extensions of MARC data in per-
haps the most advanced local pilot project 
among the sixteen North American librar-
ies participating in the LC MARC experi-
ment. The remarks by Brown in a further 
seminar session reveal some thoughtful 

Recent Publications I 65 

consideration of the organization and use 
of national machine-readable data banks 
of bibliographic information. The melding 
of developments in national union catalogs, 
shared cataloging, and automation recw·-
ring in these discussions give the impres-
sion of vastly more synergism occurring in 
this group than in comparable American 
technical meetings. 

Two separate contributions by Barraclough 
on file structures for experimental 
MEDLARS tape searching and by Lannon 
on the IBM System/ 360 version of the 
Document Processing System developed 
for generalized textual searching at the 
U.S. Food and Drug Adminish·ation were 
included as a counterpoint to the more 
traditionally-oriented presentations. Both 
papers are food for thought for librarians 
who have been able to accept MARC but 
are skeptical about so-called information 
retrieval applications. 

This is, in sum, a remarkable and level-
headed survey of some current British 
work in library automation, well organized 
into a body of materials whose factual and 
pertinent observations are a valuable ad-
dition to the handful of titles on the "must" 
list. The publishers are to be commended 
for making it available on this side of the 
"Atlantic river."-Jay L. Cunningham, Uni-
v e?'sity of Califo1'nia, Berkeley. 

Telefacsimile in Libraries. By William D. 
Schieber and Ralph M. Shoffner. Berke-
ley: Institute of Library Research, 1968. 
137p . 

Recent months have seen considerable pio-
neering in new media by libraries. Com-
puter use and instantaneous transmission 
of library materials are at hand. Several 
experiments in facsimile transmission have 
taken place in various states. Among these 
have been projects by M.I.T., New York 
State Library, Houston Research Institute, 
University of Nevada, and University of 
California. The last one mentioned is the 
subject of this review. 

The California experiment, carefully mon-
itored, proposed: ( 1) to develop a set of 
procedures; ( 2) to analyze three elements, 



66 I C allege & Research Libraries • I anuary 1969 

a) performance of the system, b) nature 
of current and future demand for the sys-
tem and c) the cost of the system; ( 3) 
extraction of general principles for, a) de-
sign of systems for cooperating libraries, 
b) comparison of telefacsimile with other 
delivery systems, c) recommendations of 
the direction future research should take 
in the area. 

The machinery used was Xerox (LDX) 
Long Distance Xerography and the experi-
ment of one month's duration, involved 
points from Davis to Berkeley, with trans-
mission in one direction only. 

A great deal of material was assembled 
during and as a result of the experiment, 
including procedures, control sheets, 
sources for verification, timing, flow charts 
for all aspects of the operation, from re-
ques t of materials to final receipt by the 
requester. This material would doubtless 
be very valuable in any follow-up or ad-
ditional experiment planned. However, 
certain conditions were lacking to make it 
an exhaustive study. The distance covered 
was short. Only two stations were involved. 
Transmission was in one direction only. 
Only one type of machinery was utilized 
and the experiment lasted only one month. 

In contrast with this, the New York State 
experiment lasted five months and in-
volved twenty-six request transmission 
sites, fifte en receiving stations, and seven 
sending stations. These New York State 
stations w~re widely separated at locations 
such as Buffalo , New York City, Albany, 
Ithaca, and Potsdam . An elaborate system 
of switching was developed which made 
it possibl~ for Potsdam, with two receivers , 
to obtain facsimile copy simultaneously 
from two entirely different sending stations . 
Two types of machines were tested in por-
tions of that experiment. 

Several conclusions drawn by Schieber 
and Shoffner have also been made as the 
result of other projects. The cost is ex-
ceedingly high and the cost decreases as 
the volume of requests increases. The 
number of urgent requests was not great 
enough to assure sufficient volume to main-
tain a fea'iible cost per request. Machinery 
tends to break down , causing delays and 

pile-up of unfilled requests. In this experi-
ment 92.9 per cent of the LDX copy was 
acceptable. Although the interlibrary loan 
process was speeded up, the report states 
that the borrower often did not pick up 
the copy until several hours later. The 
work habits of the borrower evidently did 
not change much even with the high speed 
service. 

Since to date no machinery has been per-
fected to scan the printed page and to 
transmit simultaneously, the facsimile proc-
ess is very time consuming, requiring con-
siderable personnel. If this roadblock is 
removed, the reporters feel that the im-
plications for interlibrary loan will be 
much greater. Other factors also are in-
volved which determine the success of any 
facsimile project. A few of these are: 

1. Knowledge of location of materials, 
such as union lists, etc. 

2. Availability of materials. 
3. Support funds . 
4. Adequate staff. 
.5. A set of procedures. 
6. A fairly steady stream of requests with 

no unusual buildup which would bog 
down man power and machinery. 

Th e report points out that the time vari-
ability of demand is an important inherent 
constraint on the performance of the sys-
tem and that there is no way to prophesy 
this demand. The demand did vary from 
hour to hour, day to day, and week to 
week. 

The alternatives to facsimile are fairly ob-
vious: 

1. Conventional interlibrary loan. 
2. Delivery system by plane, h·ain, auto , 

bus. 
3. Purchase of the material. 

The report indicates that certain time ele-
ments are involved in each of these and 
that facsimile is th e only one which can 
provide service which is approximately 
equivalent in speed to direct on-site ac-
cess to library resources. 

Since, however, it has been concluded 
that facsimile is only justified for urgent 
requests and the cost declines as the vol-



ume of requests increases, it would be 
very difficult to justify the use of facsimile 
with the machinery currently available.-
Marion G. Hess, State University College, 
Potsdam, N.Y. 

A Report on the Consumer Survey of New 
Serial Titles. By A. Frederick Kuhl-
man, made for the Joint Committee on 
the Union List of Serials, Inc., and the 
Library of Congress under a grant from 
the Council on Library Resources, Inc., 
August 1, 1967. 84p. 

New Serial Titles, in the words of one 
reference librarian, "is one of the most im-
portant bibliographical aids ever devised." 
The purpose of NST is three-fold: ( 1) to 
list promptly information about serials 
which began publication after 1949, as an 
aid to acquisition; ( 2) to supply locations 
of these serials in libraries in the United 
States and Canada, to expedite interlibrary 
loan; and ( 3) to provide data for catalog-
ing. The publication itself has been de-
signed to supplement continuously the 
Union List of Serials and to eliminate the 
need for another edition of this massive 
work. 

After the publication of the third edition 
of the Union List, the Joint Committee on 
the Union List of Serials, Inc., initiated a 
study of New Serial Titles ( NST) to de-
termine the degree of "consumer" satis-
faction and to elicit suggestions for its im-
provement. With financial support from the 
Council on Library Resources, A. Frederick 
Kuhlman, assisted by an advisory commit-
tee, conducted a comprehensive study based 
largely on questionnaires and interviews 
with librarians who subscribe to and/ or 
contribute to NST. 

The Report of the study cites an extremely 
high level of approval of the performance 
of NST. The scope was considered to be 
satisfactory by 93.7 per cent of those re-
sponding; 84.7 per cent felt that it is suffi-
ciently representative of all fields of 
knowledge; 89.4 per cent indicated that 
the locations cited can meet interlibrary 
loan requests; 81.8 per cent reported that 
its record of bibliographical changes was 
adequate; and reactions to other aspects 
were also favorable. In spite of a general 

Recent Publications I 61 

satisfaction, the participants in the Con-
sumer Survey offered suggestions and im-
plicit criticism from which Dr. Kuhlman 
has extracted a number of constructive 
proposals for the improvement of NST. 

Although consumer satisfaction with the 
scope of NST was almost unanimous, there 
was strong support for including more 
government publications. There is already 
wide coverage of this type of serial, but 
Dr. Kuhlman recommends that municipal 
publications should also be included. An 
increase in coverage for other types of 
government publications actually is a mat-
ter of more comprehensive reporting by 
libraries in categories already included. 
This same principle should, he recom-
mends, be applied to other types and sub-
ject categories of serials for which report-
ing is presently inadequate. To accomplish 
this, he suggests that the number of sub-
scribing and contributing libraries should 
be selectively increased. The Special Li-
braries Association, the American Theo-
logical Library Association, and the vari-
ous divisions of ALA should, he feels, take 
the initiative in any such attempt at in-
creasing the number of libraries which 
conh·ibute to NST. 

Other suggestions in the Repo1·t include 
the prompt reporting of all changes in 
policies for lending serials ; the preparing 
of entries from the advance printer's copy 
of national bibliographies, resulting in 
faster bibliographical control of foreign 
serials; and the inclusion of LC classifica-
tion and card numbers when available. Of 
particular interest to the user of NST are 
the recommendations that bibliographical 
changes should be included in the same 
alphabet with new titles , and that monthly 
issues should be cumulated. It is notable, 
however, that the expansion of the list to 
include pre-1950 titles is not recommend-
ed. 

The Report is obviously of great value to 
all of those who are concerned with the 
policies governing NST. As Dr. Kuhlman 
remarks in his recommendations , NST 
should be considered to be "in its forma-
tive years," and changes in its scope and 
organization are a natural condition of its 
growth and of the changing needs of li-