College and Research Libraries Review Articles T h e Future May Be Better Fifth Annual Report for the Period Ending June 30, 1961. Council on Library Re- sources. 66p. T h e five year summary of the Council on L i b r a r y Resources gives ample evidence of the dedication of the board and its officers to aid in the solving of a variety of library problems. F o u r broad areas of concern have received attention and grants. T h e s e are: improvement of the means of bibliographi- cal access, improvement of the means of physical access, improvement of the adminis- trative basis of library work, and fact-finding and p l a n n i n g for research and development. T h e renewal of the initial grant from the Ford Foundation for another seven to ten years is heartening. T h e 155 grants already made give promise of helping to solve a va- riety of problems that beset libraries. O f these, 63 were still in progress at reporting time. A few projects turned out not to yield the hoped-for solution; some of them may merit further study and investigation. T h e grants for improvement of biblio- graphical access fall into the broad categories of standardization, improvement of biblio- graphic operations, coordination of effort, and improvement of bibliographic tools. Noteworthy is the assistance toward develop- ing an i n t e r n a t i o n a l cataloging code. T o date the Council has aided with studies of card-catalog stock and card-catalog reproduc- tion. A satisfactory card duplicator is still needed—the grants in progress may offer so- lutions. B e t t e r means of compiling bibliog- raphies and keeping them up to date are badly needed. T h i s reviewer is still skeptical about automatic indexing, but is prepared to reverse j u d g m e n t if evidence is forthcom- ing. T h e new grant from the Ford Founda- tion directs the Council to concentrate its work in the field of technical storage and re- trieval. Cooperative processing may be feas- ible under some situations, but wide applica- bility to various types of libraries with different classification systems seems imprac- tical. T h e need for bibliographies of micro- forms is likely to increase rather than dimin- ish as libraries increase their holdings of microforms. More crucial is the improve- ment of bibliographical tools—the new U n i o n List of Serials, the guides to records of manuscript collections, and the inventory of musical scores are steps in the right di- rection, as are ways and means to aid in col- lege library book selection as distinct from the acquisition of materials for large research collections. The second broad category of grants re- lates to improvement of access to materials. Grants for broadening and strengthening the Farmington Plan, for the service of the U n i t e d States Book Exchange, for photo- copying and aiding the i n t e r n a t i o n a l flow of books and resources for Slavic studies only scratch the surface. Grants for improved use of storage space include the Yale Univer- sity selective storage plan and the University of Chicago's Study of Patterns in the Use of Research Library Materials, and should have broad application. T h e Fussier-Simon study, Patterns in T h e Use of Books in Large Re- search Libraries, is a noteworthy c o n t r i b u t i o n . T h i s study or a summary of it should be made available so that the techniques used may be applied to other disciplines and in more libraries. Deterioration of paper plagues all libraries. T h e Virginia State Library grants may not help us markedly with books now on our shelves but may in time mean that some of the later twentieth-century pub- lications will last. ( T h e five-year report is printed on " P e r m a l i f e " paper). Preservation includes b i n d i n g and fire protection. Grants in these areas may yield notable advance. Copying techniques are of importance to many institutions and individuals. T h e legal- ities of copying have been investigated and reported to the library press. T h a n k s to the Council on Library Resources, we have the first journal to appear in microform. Re- trieval of microtext as well as improved means of handling and reading microforms concern many of us. 2 6 8 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 Some thirty grants have b e e n made to im- prove the administrative bases of library work, among them, i n t e r l i b r a r y c o o p e r a t i o n , the survey of federal libraries, p r o m o t i o n of the use o f library services, setting o f stand- ards for school libraries, i m p r o v e m e n t of cir- c u l a t i o n systems, the p l a n n i n g of library buildings, and the testing of supplies and e q u i p m e n t . O v e r twenty grants related to fact-finding a n d p l a n n i n g for research in library develop- m e n t . T h e largest g r a n t went to the R u t g e r s University G r a d u a t e School o f L i b r a r y Serv- ice f o r its " T a r g e t s for R e s e a r c h " series. Five volumes in eighteen parts have b e e n issued. T h e y t e n d to be anthologies o f library lit- erature a n d are d i s a p p o i n t i n g in f o r m a t and too i n f r e q u e n t l y spell out the ways and means f o r future study. T h e final category of grants relates to the a p p l i c a t i o n of math- ematics a n d m e c h a n i c a l a n d e l e c t r o n i c de- vices to library work. T h e t e x t of the five year survey a n d the a n n u a l r e p o r t for 1960/61 merit close read- ing a n d reflective t h i n k i n g . T h e young C o u n c i l has m a t u r e d in these five years. Some " c r i p p l i n g f r u s t r a t i o n s " may be eased as a result o f large and small grants. T h e m a j o r i t y o f the grants were for less than .$10,000—seed corn that is well worth while. T h e larger grants, n o t a b l y the L i b r a r y T e c h - nology P r o j e c t , with all of its various facets, is to be c o n t i n u e d . Some of the frustrations r e m a i n with u s — t h e grants may n o t yield a final solution, b u t b e t t e r t e c h n i q u e s may result in gradual i m p r o v e m e n t . T h e second p o r t i o n of the fifth a n n u a l re- port relates to the fiscal year 1960/61 with fifty-nine grants t o t a l i n g over a m i l l i o n a n d a h a l f dollars. Seven grants were extensions o f earlier ones. A n u m b e r o f projects were com- pleted; notably, the mechanization o f biblio- g r a p h i c o p e r a t i o n s which made possible the conversion of the Current List of Medical Literature to t h e Index Medicus, m a k i n g use of the m e c h a n i z a t i o n o f p r o d u c t i o n , al- though f u r t h e r work needs to b e d o n e on retrieval o f i n f o r m a t i o n for subdisciplines o f m e d i c i n e . A r r a n g e m e n t s for the p r o c u r e m e n t of foreign p u b l i c a t i o n s u n d e r P u b l i c L a w 4 8 0 are u n d e r way, and the study o f circu- lation systems u n d e r t a k e n by G e o r g e Fry a n d Associates was published by the A L A in 1961. I t is good to know that the C o u n c i l is un- d a u n t e d and is still seeking solutions for problems n o t yet solved o r even identified, a n d is p r e p a r e d to receive suggestions a n d a p p l i c a t i o n s from individuals a n d organiza- tions for future investigations. Doubtless there are more worthwhile a p p l i c a t i o n s than money to grant. Some proposals will n o t merit e n c o u r a g e m e n t , b u t j u d g i n g from the first five years, the b e g i n n i n g has b e e n good — t h e f u t u r e may be even b e t t e r . — F l o r a B. Ludington, Mount Holyoke College Library. Retrieval Systems The State of the Library Art—Volume 4, edited by R a l p h R . Shaw. P a r t 1, N o t c h e d Cards by F e l i x R e i c h m a n n ; P a r t 2, F e a t u r e Cards (Peek-a-Boo Cards) by L a w r e n c e S. T h o m p s o n ; P a r t 3, P u n c h e d Cards by R a l p h Blasingame, J r . ; P a r t 4, E l e c t r o n i c Searching by G e r a l d J a h o d a ; P a r t 5, Cod- i n g in Yes-No F o r m by D o r a l y n J . Hickey. New Brunswick, N. J . : Rutgers, the State University, G r a d u a t e School of L i b r a r y Service, 1961. 3 7 3 p . $8.00. As the r u n n i n g head, b u t n o t the title page, shows, volume f o u r o f the State o f the L i b r a r y A r t is a b o u t retrieval systems. T h i s volume is a useful survey of some of the p e r i p h e r a l frontiers of l i b r a r i a n s h i p which e x t e n d i n t o d o c u m e n t a t i o n . T h e authors have worked hard on a difficult assignment a n d have produced a c r e d i t a b l e first a t t e m p t to describe their topics. T h e extensive refer- ences are the nucleus o f a good bibliography. D r . J a h o d a has made the greatest contribu- tion to the l i t e r a t u r e with his part, followed by Miss H i c k e y a n d Dr. T h o m p s o n , in my o p i n i o n . T h e c o n t e n t s o f the v o l u m e are o f such interest that the authors a n d t h e editor should m a k e every effort to publish a second, m u c h revised and improved edition w i t h i n a year. I t is difficult to review this volume with- out b e i n g so critical as to distress the authors a n d e d i t o r if n o t to a l i e n a t e them from the reviewer. T h e value o f the b o o k is reduced by defects i n organization and p r e s e n t a t i o n MAY 1 9 6 2 2 6 9