College and Research Libraries


Readex Microprint Publications 1950-1960. 
[New York: Readex Microprint Corp., n.d.J 
47p. On request. 

This year is the tenth anniversary of the 
first publications of the Readex Microprint 
Corporation. Since June 1950 they have is-
sued "more than 250,000 titles" on Micro~ 
print cards. This catalogue lists their publi-
cations by major categories, and includes a 
five-page index to help locate inclusive sub-
ject headings within these wide groupings. 

Southwestern Newspapers on Microfilm. Dal-
las, Tex.: Microfilm Service & Sales Co. 
(P. 0. Box 8066), [n.d.J 62p. On request. 

Five states in the southwestern region of 
the United States (Arkansas, Louisiana, New 
Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) cover a wide 
area with Dallas roughly at its center. This 
catalogue lists some four hundred publica-
tions (or approximately twenty million filmed 
pages) microfilmed in this area. The ar-
rangement is by state, broken down alpha-
betically by city. Coverage in Louisiana is 
very slight. Also listed are holdings of the 
Oklahoma Historical Society and the Arkan-
sas History Commission. Queries about these 
items should be directed to them and not 
to the publisher.-Hubbard W. Ballou ) Pho-
tographic Services) Columbia University Li-
braries. 

Studies in Cataloging 
and Classification 
Cataloging and Classification. By Maurice F. 

Tauber. Subject Headings. By Carlyle J. 
Frarey. (The State of the Library Art, Vol. 
1, Parts l-2) Ed. by Ralph R. Shaw. New 
Brunswick: Rutgers University Graduate 
School of Library Service, 1960. 271, 92 p. 

This is part of the series forming Dean 
Ralph Shaw's review of "perhaps forty per-
cent of the entire range of librarianship and. 
bibliography," and it is a grand job. The 

NOVEMBER 1960 

task of surveying the literature has been 
well done. The "state of the art" is clearly 
and comprehensively presented. The evalua-
tion of this state is penetrating. And the 
consequent proposals for research projects 
are the sound result of mature understand-
ing. 

One example from the first section of the 
book may help describe the method of these 
studies. The literature on the question of a 
divided catalog is summarized in five pages 
and the evaluation is then: 

Do the studies aid a librarian in making 
a decision in regard to the division of 
the catlog for a particular library? The 
answer must be no, unless a particular 
library catalog is examined in relation 
to particular groups of users. It would 
seem that . what evidence is available 
supports division for almost any catalog 
of any size. The presence of guesswork 
and rationalization, however, suggests 
that further study of the arrangement of 
the catalog is desirable. 

As a consequence, three proposals are made 
for further study-one a statistical study of 
entry duplication in divided catalogs of vari-
ous sizes; a second to test a three-way split 
into authors, subjects, and titles; and the 
third an experiment in the horizontal di-
vision of the catalog by date periods. Later, 
in a summary chapter entitled "Program for 
the future," a fourth study is proposed to de-
termine the administrative efficiency of filing 
in a divided catalog. The author expresses 
conviction that division of catalogs may lead 
"to the harmonious shift to printed catalogs 
for subjects for older portions of the collec-
tion"; and similarly penetrating observations 
are made under the other topics discussed. 

The author's proposals for research proj-
ects were the motivation for the CLR grant: 
"The Council early considered the possibili-
ties for basic research in library problems. 
A necessary preliminary step appeared to be 
a listing of the problems and a survey of the 
present state of knowledge regarding them 
in order to permit a selection of topics offer-
ing promise to investigation." This book sug-
gests eighty-five of these topics in cataloging. 
They include seven each in the areas of de-
scriptive cataloging, classification, "collec-
tanea" files, and documents; and a lesser 

497 



number each for shelf lists, the sheaf catalog, 
expansion of card catalogs, centralized cata-
loging, and eleven other areas. It is notable 
that nine topics relate to the potentialities 
of book catalogs and ten to the use of card 
catalogs. Each of these proposals is thought-
fully designed; and they deserve the careful 
consideration of librarians in colleges, spe-
cial libraries, library schools, and elsewhere. 

The author of this first section has per-
formed a superior job of achieving balance, 
has chosen topics with a sure sense of the 
important, and has turned in a fine piece of 
judgment on the cataloging art. It would be 
impossible for such a study as this to take 
into consideration all the literature, and 
cover all aspects of catalog work, and pro-
pose every substantial research project. But 
two observations may be offered. 

Even accepting the general pattern for the 
eighteen studies in this Rutgers series, one 
may question the logic of devoting the bulk 
of each volume to a review of the literature 
instead of devoting a greater proportion of 
space to a detailed evaluation of the "state 
of the art" and to a somewhat more elabo-
rate description of the proposals for research 
projects. 

A more fundamental question concerns 
the omission of some areas of cataloging 
from this study. One might claim that a tol-
erable degree of sophistication has been 
achieved in such traditional areas as descrip-
tive cataloging, shelf listing, temporary cata-
loging, recataloging, or union catalogs. Prog-
ress in these areas is still needed, but they 
are not the most troublesome areas. Rather, 
peripheral areas of cataloging may currently 
form the major blocks to efficient and eco-
nomical processing and thus are deserving 
of more attention from librarians. Six areas 
may be suggested for consideration: 

The teaching of cataloging, in library 
schools, where "a wider aim" is still called 
for. 

Catalog department manuals and in-serv-
ice training, where princi pies of personnel 
administration and coordination with library 
schools might be studied. 

Serials, where formidable problems should 
not be ignored and where research may re-
veal further areas for cooperative treatment. 

Non-book materials, where difficulties with 
manuscripts, maps, microfilm and archives 
make them excessively expensive to process. 

498 

Work flow or organization, which is often 
the key log on which the cataloging jam de-
pends, and library surveys almost always 
point to the organization of work and peo-
ple as a key. 

And, finally, cataloging in the context of 
librarianship, since it is now clear that, in 
comparison with the past fifty years, the next 
fifty will see a considerably changed relation-
ship of card files to lists, indexes, and other 
means of bibliographic control. 

The last point suggested for consideration 
may be extremely summarized as "Why cata-
log?" In the second edition of The Univer-
sity Library~ Wilson and Tauber quote a 
statement to the effect that, although the dic-
tionary catalog has served libraries well, "the 
next fifty years may well tell a different story, 
if timely and adequate steps are not taken. 
It would be courting disaster to go on in to 
the second half of the twentieth century 
without fundamental rethinking of the na-
ture and function of the dictionary catalog." 
And the Council on Library Resources in its 
first annual report saw librarians as being 
dismayed by the profusion of publications 
and confounded by "the difficulties of learn-
ing about the existence of p articular books . 
. . . So also with the finding media (bibliog-
raphies, indexes, etc.): the librarian com-
plains of their number, their planlessness on 
an over-all basis, their enormous duplication 
yet enormous gaps, their lack of specific 
adaptation to the contents of his own collec-
tions .... " And card catalogs are part of 
this web; but where is the over-all plan? 
\Vill book catalogs serve in part? Will part 
of the record be stored in machines? Can 
national lists carry a greater burden? How 
little local cataloging · can be effective? How 
can syndetic devices fuse these parts in to an 
effective instrument of local bibliographic 
control? Fundamental work on providing 
access to book collections might today pro-
duce fresh paths. 

The section on Subject Headings is han-
dled with equal competence, and Professor 
Frarey has so usurped this field that a re-
viewer may be excused for having little to 
say. This is a model of organization. The 
literature summary is lucid and its evalua-
tion is sharp and perceptive. The proposed 
research is based on the general conclusion 

. that "our library economy now accepts as 
axiomatic the role of the subject catalog as 

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



a member of a team .... It is clear that 
available evidence points to a limited and 
circumscribed role for the subject catalog in 
the team play, and that a definition of this 
role is essential to a determination of func-
tion, the prescription of rules and tech-
niques, and an evaluation of effectiveness." 
Further, the subject catalog appears to satisfy 
about 75 percent of its users, despite its im-
perfections, and it "is likely to continue to 
be an essential feature in effective library 
service. The evidence suggests further that 
there is an excellent chance that a highly ef-
fective subject catalog can be perfected." 

The author maps out a major t:ampaign to 
achieve this effectiveness; and it includes the 
necessity to understand classification, bibliog-
raphy, and indexes at the very least. The 
seven proposed studies are monumental in 
scope, but they are fundamental to real ad-
vancement in the techniques of subject ac-
cess. This is a sound and scholarly piece of 
work. 

Professors Tauber and Frarey show clear 
evidence of the complexity of what is both 
an art and a science. Cataloging is the back-
bone of librarianship and its effectiveness is 
today challenged by larger and more spe-
cialized book collections. There are innum-
erable areas of librarianship needing study; 
some of these are worthy of foundation sup-
port and a few will prove fruitful. It takes 
wisdom to select the significant few, and the 
Rutgers Library School is to be commended 
on commissioning such superior products.-
David C. Weber, Harvard University Li-
brary. 

A Librarian About Books 
Books in My Baggage. By Lawrence Clark 

Powell. Cleveland: World Publishing 
Company, 1960. 255 p. $4.50. 

This most recent book by Lawrence Powell 
collects and revises essays previousely pub-
lished in limited editions entitled: Islands of 
Books, The Alchemy of Books, and Books 
TVest Southwest, and moreover includes half 
a dozen new pieces. Therefore this book 
makes available more Powell speeches and 

NOVEMBER 1960 

essays, thus performing a real service. 
Lawrence Powell is one of the very few 

librarians who can write well and enthusi-
astically about books. Most librarians write 
about the physical book-some on methods 
of classification and processing while others 
have the bibliographical approach. Powell 
writes unashamedly about the contents of 
books without hesitating to commit himself 
by praising them. He wastes no time ex-
coriating those he does not like-those have 
been rejected prior to writing. He does not 
pass as a literary critic; he is a librarian 
writing about books. His purpose is to in-
duce people to read those books he en joys. 

The literary world is indebted to him for 
his early discovery and championship of 
Lawrence Durrell. He has had continuing 
ardor and support for Robinson Jeffers, 
Frank Dobie, and Henry Miller. His long-
time enjoyment of D. H. Lawrence is ex-
pected by those who know of his catalog of 
the Lawrence manuscripts and of his long 
friendship with Frieda Lawrence. His en-
thusiasm for James Joyce follows naturally 
this taste as discerned in these articles on 
his favorite liter::tture of the 20's and 30's. 

Lawrence Powell acquires books with zeal 
and discrimination, in spite of dealing in 
large figures. He has done the West Coast 
a service of magnitude and permanence in 
building up the UCLA collections by more 
than a million volumes during his seventeen 
years as University Librarian. Tales of some 
of his adventures in this process, found in 
the section "Bookman in Britain" make fas-
cinating reading. 

Many people associate the circumstances 
of their first reading of a particular book 
with their appreciation . of the text. Not 
always does this added experience add en-
joyment or deeper understanding for an-
other reader. As a critical device it is ex-
traneous and cannot shed much new en-
lightenment on classics already extensively 
treated by eminent scholars. One of the least 
successful sections of this collection recounts 
the time and place of Powell's own introduc-
tion to some very good books. Mor~ useful 
are some of his "bookscapes," brief essays 
about American writers identified with a 
particular area, such as Jeffers in Carmel, 
Norris and Sterling in Northern California, 
Steinbeck in Southern California, and Dobie 
in Texas. 

499