College and Research Libraries Letters On-Line Bibliographic Services To the Editor: A couple of the articles in the July 1977 issue of College & Research Libraries, one about on-line searching and the other about one of the data bases available for such searching, stimulate these comments. I was somewhat aghast at J. S. Kidd' s ar- ticle, "On-Line Bibliographic Services: Selected British Experiences." Although there are some good observations in it, the section on "The Decision to Subscribe" (p.288) seriously understates and misrepre- sents, I think, the scope of on-line searching and especially coverage of the social sci- ences. It seems to betray a lack of familiar- ity with this relatively new phenomenon in library service, at least as it's currently done in the United States. The unmentioned en- trance of Bibliographic Retrieval Services (BRS) into this fast-developing area adds to this impression. The appearance in the same issue of Mark Judman' s letter (p.334- 35) on Kidd' s earlier article helped to confirm my opinion. Judman's letter reflects the benefit of experience in providing on- line bibliographic search service. In the longer run, Kidd' s question, "Can you do something useful without the re- quester's intensive involvement?" is a good one. ·My answer is that a governing princi- ple of reference service also applies here, namely, that if one can ask a good question-clearly stated, well-defined, unambiguous-and show that one knows what one is looking for and is likely to rec- ognize it when found, then one can expect a good answer. Some of the points raised by Judman address this point and show how the principle is usually applied in interac- tive on-line searching. Computer people have produced a concise formulation to de- scribe what happens when this principle is not followed: garbage in, garbage out. Hermes_j). Kreilkamp's "The National Agricultural Library's Data Base: AG- RICOLA" seems to confuse the AGRICOLA COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES data base, which covers approximately 1970 through the present and is used primarily as a periodical index, with NAL' s catalog (p.298). One would not normally use AG- RICOLA, for example, to find titles of se- rials at N AL. Also, in the last paragraph of the article (p.303) he erroneously attributes to the University of Pennsylvania a study done at The Pennsylvania State University. The point made in the sentence he quotes, however, speaks well to the question above: "Working together, the scientist and librar- ian are likely to be more efficient than either one alone.-Charles G. Murphy, University Libraries, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Responses To the Editor: In one sense, Mr. Murphy's criticism is well taken, but he apparently forgets the normal delays between observation and re- port. The observations were made in the spring of 1975; the report appeared more than two years later. Scramble as I might, I could not keep up with the additions in· scope in the form of new files, etc., that the on-line services have made and continue to make. Murphy's reference to the Bibliographic Retrieval Services (BRS) is more of the same. More pointedly, it was not the part of the demonstration/test being conducted by the British at the time. Finally, I must reemphasize that I think there is no real disagreement between my- self, Judman, or Murphy. We all agree that on-line services are marvelous and that the best searches are likely to be those that in- volve an extensive transaction between the requester and the intermediary. Even the managers of these services admit, however, that such an ideal cannot he met often enough in practice. Most ..searches are done under less than ideal conditions. Thus, some exploration of the suboptimum seems I 47 48 I College & Research Libraries • january 1978 very much in order.-]. S. Kidd, College of Library a'T)d Information Services, Univer- sity of Maryland, College Park. To the Editor: Thank you for fmwarding me a copy of Mr. Murphy's letter. He is correct in de- tecting the errors on pages 298 and 303. The sentence on page 298 regarding the coverage of monographs and serials in AG- RICOLA should have read: ''all post-1970 monographs al!'il selected serial citations from approximately 5,000 journals." Pre- 1970 data are contained in NAL' s Diction- ary Catalog and the Bibliography of Agriculture.-H. D. Kreilkamp , St. Joseph's College , Rensselaer, Indiana. Browsing To the Editor: Robert Greene's negative conclusions (in the July 1977 issue of C&RL) on the effec- tiveness of browsing are unwarranted by the evidence he presents. His table 4 (p.316) does show that books found through brows- ing tend to be less essential than those found through other means. But if one mul- tiplies the number of books discovered times the mean value of those books (using the admittedly arbitrary numerical values he assigns), his table 4 would also show that- browsing ranks second (not last) among all the methods when usefulness is considered. A revised table is presented below. Library administrators should continue to exercise caution when considering closed stacks, especially when the shelflist is not readily REVISED TABLE Mean Total How Books Numbers Value Value Were of of of Discovered Books Books Books References in publications 108 2.25 243 Browsing in the libr 126 1.87 236 From ~rary catalo:fi 98 2.12 208 From co eagues 38 2.26 86 From memory 21 2.23 47 ALL METHODS 391 2.09 817* •Column does not add to same total because of rounding. available to the public. The author and editor should be complimented fot includ- ing the data readers need to draw their own conclusions.-]oseph ]. Lauer, Lockwood Memorial Library, State University of New York at Buffalo . To the Editor: As an avid browser, my interest was sparked by Robert Greene's "The Effective- ness of Browsing," but by the time I had finished, my interest had turned to irritation over the faulty interpretation of the data. Although preliminary, the data are quite interesting; but in arranging it, Greene not only deprives it of all meaning but reveals an attitude that is discouraging to find in a librarian. In his summary table Greene di- vides all books checked out into "essential" and "not essential" categories, including all books that are "interesting," "useful," and "of no value" as nonessential. He finds that browsing produces a small share of the es- sential books and recommends the reevalua- tion of open stacks since the main argument for them is that they permit browsing. Greene should have realized that, given that division, the results were inevitable. · Webster's defines browsing as "look[ing] over . . . an aggregate of things casually, especially in search of something of inter- est." This is not the method most people would use when searching for an "essential" book. Thus the article merely says that people who aren't looking for essential books won't find them. But more disturbing is the attitude that seems to lie behind this grouping, an at- titude that groups an "interesting" or "use- ful" book with those that have "no value." I have checked out innumerable books as the result of browsing, and very few could be termed essential for the simple reason that they were on subjects I was encountering for the first time. But this is precisely what makes browsing so valuable-it can open up doors and broaden horizons, it can make one aware of topics never even heard of. I know that I have profited immensely from browsing, and I hate to see a librarian, · of all people, disregard that experience. It is just what is needed in an era of increasing specialization .-Owen Smith, Fresno, California. Response To the Editor: Thank you for the opportunity to reply to the critical comments of Mr. Smith and Mr. Lauer. The purpose of my study was to show the relationship between the ways in which a book is discovered and its subsequent value to its borrower. The study was preliminary in that there were no data gathered to ex- utters I 49 amine possible contaminating variables (such as the purpose for which a book was borrowed). I would not advocate closing li- brary stacks or any other change from the status quo based on such a preliminary in- vestigation. I do, however, advocate further study of the value of browsing and other ways of finding out about books based on the relationship established in this study.-Robert]. Greene, Kennesaw Col- lege, Marietta, Georgia. The third volume of the series indexes the 1976 editions ot ten major French ·language journals : L' EXPRESS , REALITES , LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR . PARIS-MATCH . LE FRANyAIS DANS LE MONDE . LE MONDE HERBDOMA- DAIRE . JEUNE AFRIQUE , LE MONDE DE L' EDUCATION . ACTUALITE, and LES DOSSIERS ET DOCUMENTS DU MONDE . This Index provides access to the French point of view on current events in Fra and in the world. It is conveniently arranged in twenty-six categories based on those used in weekly news-magazines, including Business and Economy , World, Nation. Religion . Education, Literature, Environment Medicine and Health , and Films . ' FRENCH PERIODICAL INDEX is an invaluable research tool. useful not only in courses in French language and Cultura Perspectives . but also in individualized instructional programs. Announcing: ·Old Mobile Fort Louis de Ia Louisiane 1702-1711 by Jay Higginbotham Old Mobile was the first permanent settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains-the "Jamestown" or "Plymouth Rock" of that vast territory known as Louisiana, an area which embraced nearly half of the present United States. Yet the beginnings of colonization in "La Louisiane" has long been a neglected field of early American history, due largely to the difficulty of utilizing widely scattered source materials in diverse countries and languages. Jay Higginbotham, through extensive travel and extraordinary diligence, has managed to overcome these barriers; the result is a monumental work of historical scholarship, based almost entirely on archival research. Using a wealth of hitherto untapped sources in France, Canada, Mexico, Cuba and Spain, Higginbotham describes in exacting detail movements from Canada. through the Great Lakes region and early voyages up and down the Mississippi River. Eminent historical personages such as Bienville, lberville and Tonti are brought more clearly into focus than ever before and important figures-Robinau de Be'cancour, Charles Levasseur and Dugue de Sainte·Therese, among others-are identified and delineated for the first time . As might be expected, there is an abundance of heretofore unpublished material on the American Indians, vital to the ethnologist and archaeologist as well as to the historian. Aside from a massive bibliography and index and 64 pages of rare illustrations, the text is supplemented by 8 appendixes which present heretofore unexploited data on missionary activity, slavery, land grants and population figures. $25.00. Postage Paid LCCN: 77·89698 ISBN: 0-914334-03-4 A must for any library covering American History • Exquisite limited edition • 587 Scholarly pages • 8 Appendixes • 64 Pages of rare illustrations • Massive bibliography • Comprehensive index • Finest Quality paper • Hardbound with 4·color jacket • Typeset in Janson Order from: Rockwell Publications 1551 Spring Hill Ave. P.O. Box 66607 Mobile, Alabama 36606