College and Research Libraries By G . F L I N T P U R D Y Investigating Library Problems In the following statement the librarian of Wayne University and editor of "Re- search and Experimentation" for this journal, points out why Waples' "Investi- gating Library Problems" is highly signifi- cant to librarianship. WHETHER or not we like the point of view for which it stands, or the form in which that point of view is pre- sented, here is a little volume which none of us can afford to ignore—unless we be- lieve the status quo in library service to represent perfection. If our libraries are not perfect—if our profession does not know everything about itself and its prob- lems that is knowable, Investigating Li- brary Problems1 has much of importance to offer us. T h a t we have heretofore had in our professional literature not a single volume dealing with the principles in- volved in the systematic study of our problems must seem very strange to the student of other phases of the social struc- ture. From our genesis we have been strangely aloof from introspection. T h e reasons are fairly apparent. W e have not had much time for self-analysis. For half a century our energies were absorbed in developing methods for administering our geometrically growing collections and for making them available to a wide variety of users for a wide variety of pur- poses. T h e task was (and is) a diffi- cult and complex one. In considerable measure we have succeeded. W e are 1 Waples, Douglas. Investigating Library Prob- lems. University of Chicago Press, 1939. u n d e n i a b l y e x c e l l e n t housekeepers. Furthermore, we have had, and still have, a great deal of missionary work to do. Not everyone recognizes the social importance of print and of its complete availability. Hence the emphasis, par- ticularly of our colleagues in the public li- braries, upon publicity. Then, too, the picking-fly-specks-out-of- pepper type of "research" is a bit out of our line. W e have always been largely literary folk, or bibliographers, or both. W e have taken pride in the breadth of our learning, or in its depth in some par- ticular field of scholarship. F e w of us have had much contact with, or faith in, the so-called scientific method in its ap- plication to social phenomena. W e have seen too many of the results of the positi- vistic logic of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to be impressed with its omnipo- tence. It has occurred to us but recently, and been acknowledged reluctantly, that perhaps the method of science actually constitutes a tool of some value to us in the definition and solution of some of our problems. Whatever the reasons, Professor Waples is the first to give us an introduction to research methodology written specifically for librarians. T h a t at least four other books dealing with the same general sub- ject are either in preparation or contem- plated may be indicative of an important trend in librarianship. Perhaps, after a period of virtual stagnation, we are about to embark on a new and potentially fruit- MARCH, 1940 12 7 f u l course of action. A f t e r half a century of rapid progress we reached a plateau in many aspects of our development. Having remained on that plateau for more than a decade we are beginning to wonder where lies the road that leads beyond. W e have reason to question the permanent and absolute validity of our old assump- tions—hypotheses that have served us well, almost as well as Euclid's axioms for cen- turies served the mathematician. D r . Waples believes that some of our traditional assumptions have outlived their usefulness and are tending to pro- mote stagnation, that in any case our pro- fessional structure is unlikely to be greatly expanded or improved on its present foun- dations. Whether or not we agree, there is only one answer. W e must carefully and systematically inspect both founda- tions and superstructure, and render them termite proof. W e are certain to find some shaky timbers. Indeed several have already been located and pointed out. Investigating Library Problems is our first inspector's manual. It is a manual of the barest outline type, however—some- what in the*"nature of a guide to the literature of research in librarianship. T h e author informs us in his preface that it is his purpose . . merely to integrate the references by supplying connective tis- sue." It will therefore be useful to the practicing librarian primarily as a guide book rather than as a treatise on research methodology. It represents a first step, and an important one if for no other reason than that it is the first. Its some- what vaguefgroping, which will irritate many a librarian, is not primarily a result of Professor Waples' charming talent for writing completely around a point with- out quite touching it, but rather of the complex nature of the subject treated. T h e difficulty of writing about research in library problems, and still more of ac- tually investigating the problems, is one which we share with all students of so- cial phenomena. T h i s difficulty is im- plied in Waples' own w o r d s : " T h e assumptions which constitute library sci- ence are based on differences in publica- tions, upon differences in readers' uses for publications, and upon the interrelations of the t w o . " T h u s we are dealing not only with the little understood complexi- ties of print, but also with the less under- stood variables of human nature. Hence our problems are extremely difficult to in- vestigate intelligently—but difficulty is not necessarily impossibility. However, the complex nature of library problems emphasizes the importance of caution in their investigation, and par- ticularly in the application of conclusions. T h e r e has been much stupidity, and not a little dishonesty, in social research, from which w e may well profit. Both have resulted largely from impatience—from a very natural desire for answers, for prompt solutions to practical problems. T h e error is one which we are almost certain to duplicate in some degree. Its seriousness will be inversely proportional to the degree of intelligence and detach- ment which we can muster. The scientific method is slow, and it is not omnipotent. Intelligently employed, it is a useful tool. It is our sincere hope that this journal will become a potent instrument for the stimulation and interpretation of research in those aspects of librarianship which f a l l within its province. T o that end we hope to report on all such research con- cerning which we can procure information. Y o u r cooperation in keeping us informed concerning all research projects, however unpretentious, is hereby solicited. 142 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES