College and Research Libraries author—is that on "Facsimiles and Fakes." (In observing of the facsimile that "an exact copy is a menacing thing to those who pursue originals," frequently figuring "in the night- mares of collectors," and causing booksellers "more trouble than almost any other factor in their business;" Carter records further that the facsimile has also been known to prove upsetting to "the studied equanimity of librar- " \ tans T h e book is characterized throughout by excellence of treatment and has good measure both of M r . Carter's poignant style and wit and of his temperate and sensible approach to matters of collecting. T h e latter quality is perhaps best demonstrated in his discussions of " R a r i t y , " "Condition," and " T h e Chrono- logical Obsession;" while examples of the former are found in his strictures on such things as "Deckle-Fetishism," "Esteemed," "Issue-Mongers," and "Point-Maniacs." An interestingly handled aspect of the vol- ume is the labeling that is present in a number of places to identify certain bibliographical features. T h e endpapers (one word accord- ing to C a r t e r ) are rather interestingly done, being labeled as either "paste-down" and " f r e e , " with clear indications of the "head," "fore-edge," "hinge," and "tail." This treat- ment is carried on, too, through the pages of front matter, and also in the body of the book under such topics as "Shoulder-Notes," "Side- Notes," " M a r g i n s , " and "Guide Letters." From "Abbreviations" to " Y e l l o w - B a c k , " ABC for Book-Collectors is a sound and valuable work. It is a book that ought to be included with the book-collecting literature of all academic libraries and on the personal shelves of a great many librarians as well.— Edward Connery Lathem, Dartmouth College Library. Technical Methods in Libraries Library Organization and Management of Technical Reports Literature. B y B e r n a r d M . F r y . ( T h e Catholic University of America Studies in Library Science, ed. by James J . Kortendick, N o . i ) Washington, T h e Catholic University of America Press, 1953- UOP. $2.50. The Use of Photography for Clerical Rou- tines: A Report to the American Council of Learned Societies. By Ralph R. Shaw, Washington, American Council of Learned Societies, 1953. 85p. $1.00. Although these two monographs deal with different subjects, they are reviewed together here because they represent the type of de- tailed studies which are necessary if librarians are going to place technical problems in their proper perspective. Fry's comprehensive treatment of reports literature and Shaw's report on the intensive application of the photoclerk to library clerical routines should be welcomed as professional efforts to ap- proach the problem of controlling a special type of material and to reduce the costs of operations, respectively. Fry's monograph discusses the nature and scope, administration, sources, processing, cata- loging, storing, and security problems of tech- nical reports, which have become increasingly abundant in recent years. It is estimated that about 75,000 unpublished technical reports are issued annually in the United States by re- search projects supported by the Federal Government. Thousands of other reports are also being produced by private agencies not on contract with the government. How to acquire, organize, record, and service them represent important questions to the research librarian. F r y has isolated the background of and present experience with reports literature. He also discusses the Technical Information Service of the Atomic Energy Commission, and provides such helps as a glossary of terms, four appendices on related data, and an ex- tensive bibliography. T h e librarian of the college, university, or special library which collects large quantities of technical reports will find this publication a useful guide. In both the discussion and the 14 exhibits, there are data which are up-to- date and practical. T h e work as a whole emphasizes the significance of security classifi- cations to documents which are primary sources for progressive research. It is also clear from Fry's observations that the situa- tion in regard to reports literature is likely to continue to be complex, and that there is a need for trained workers in the field. It is easy for some to criticize library tech- niques and routines and to accuse librarians of giving them undue emphasis. It is fortu- nate, however, that there is available a Ralph Shaw, first to be awarded the Melvil Dewey 456 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES Medal, who takes an active concern in trying to do something about techniques. In The Use of Photography for Clerical Routines, which Shaw describes as " a cooperative report in the fullest sense of the term," we have an example of an experiment which might well be a pattern for similar studies in the future. First used f o r two years at the U.S. Depart- ment of Agriculture Library, the photoclerk has been applied to clerical routines in the current experiment in three large public li- braries, six large university libraries, one small university library, and one library of the federal government. One other library has applied the photoclerk, but is not included in the report. T h e n libraries, as of December 3 1 , 1952, reported savings on one-time ap- plications of $10,049.11, and savings on con- tinuing applications of $26,604.48. T h e ex- periments covered more than 130 different kinds of operations. T h e report lists 129 types of operations. Of these, 41 were suc- cessful in all libraries in which they were tried. It is also worth noting that "None of the procedures tested by two or more li- braries was unsuccessful in all the libraries in which they were tried." Among the major categories of routines in which there were applications were the fol- lowing: administration, reference and bibliog- raphy, circulation, acquisition, cataloging, serials work and bindery. Among the im- portant implications for management which were reported included the following: librar- ians working with the photoclerk were forced to think about routines which were in practice, new ideas were suggested, policies and basic organizations were reviewed, operations were integrated and sometimes eliminated, forms were reduced and simplified, errors were re- duced, service was increased quantitatively and qualitatively, maximum use of lowest grade skills was permitted and the scientific management approach was demonstrated. T h e report suggests that any library which has occasion to copy as many as 25,000 to 30,000 items a year (whether they be catalog cards, overdue notices, personnel records, reserve requests, etc.) could justify the equip- ment. T h e ingenuity used in applying the systems rather than the size apparently is the determining factor. "College and special li- braries, with their much greater bibliographic load and specialized reporting," notes Shaw, "could probably justify the equipment almost regardless of the size of the library." This report should be carefully examined by all administrators. Undoubtedly, applica- tions will differ from library to library. There is reason to believe, however, on the basis of the evidence presented by this report that librarians may have available to them a time-saver of considerable importance.— Maurice F. Tauber, Columbia University. Reference Tools for U.S. Government Documents Three important reference tools for use with U.S. government documents have just been brought back into print through the cooperation of J . W . Edwards, Publisher, Inc. and the A C R L - A R L Committee on the Reproduction of Bibliographic and Reference Works. T h e publications a r e : Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909 ( 1 7 3 6 pages, $ 1 6 . 3 0 per copy) ; A m e s , Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893 (1594 pages, $41.60 per copy); Poore, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States, 1774-1881 ( 1 4 0 0 pages, $ 1 4 . 4 0 per c o p y ) . Orders should be placed with J . W . Edwards, Publisher, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan. M r . Edwards has information on other titles which have been approved by the Joint Com- mittee and which will be republished when there is sufficient indication of need. Index to Volume X I V T h e Index to Volume X I V will appear in the January, 1954, issue. In the past, the prep- aration of the Index prevented prompt issuance of the October number, so in the future the index for a previous volume will be a part of the January number. OCTOBER, 1953 40 7