College and Research Libraries T h e Library Technology Project By F R A Z E R G. P O O L E 1 W O U L D L I K E to tell you something of the purposes of the Library Tech- nology Project and give you a brief cross- section of its activities. T h e original concept was that the pro- ject should be a testing-standardizing- research program. Sometimes, we tell people that L T P is a "Consumer's U n i o n " for libraries. T h i s conveys part of the idea, but not all of it. Specifically, the project is engaged in four major areas—each involving library supplies, equipment, and systems. 1. T h e project tries to provide librar- ians with objective information. 2. It is working on the development of national standards. 3. It conducts testing programs. 4. It fosters research and development programs. Although we sometimes think of Li- brary Technology as a sort of combined National Bureau of Standards, Con- sumers Union, Battelle Memorial Insti- tute, and Information Please for librar- ies let me hasten to add that we have a long way to go before L T P can really describe its program in these terms. Ob- viously, the project does not have final answers to all of the questions we re- ceive, and there are instances in which the answer has to be, "we don't know." Obviously, too, there are many testing programs, standardizing programs, and research programs yet to be undertaken. In truth, the project has barely scratched the surface. Some have asked, why all this emphasis on testing, standardization, and research? We believe the answer is that libraries have reached the point at which it is no longer feasible for them to operate ex- cept at the highest level of efficiency. Mr. Poole is Director, ALA Library Tech- nology Project. This paper was presented at the forty-sixth annual Conference of Eastern College Librarians at Columbia University, November 26, 1960. Not, that is, if they are to play the im- portant part in the cultural life of the coming decade that they should play. Let me cite an example. I know of a university library where the librarian and the cataloging staff have been experi- menting for six months in an effort to determine what method they should use for reproducing catalog cards. T h e y have tried machine after machine, spent hours talking to salesmen, run time studies and cost studies, and still have not reached a decision. T h e actual time spent on this one problem, I have no way of knowing. But I do know that this example can be multiplied hundreds of times in other libraries—on problems of copying equipment, circulation systems, and mi- croform reading equipment—to name only a few. In the future, such drawn- out decisions could undoubtedly be re- peated with facsimile equipment and electronic data processing equipment. T h e point is that librarians should be too busy now—and most assuredly will be in the future—to spend unnecessary time on such decisions. Every machine, every item of supply, every potentially useful system, should be so thoroughly tested and evaluated that the librarian can sit down with the basic facts of his own operation at hand and from pub- lished data be able to determine quickly and easily what he requires for his par- ticular situation. 366 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 Library Technology's basic purpose and untimate goal is to be able to sup- ply librarians with exactly this kind of objective information. T h e project is not an end in itself but only a means of en- abling librarians to expend their full time and energies where their real pur- pose and interests lie—with people and with books. T h i s is the aim of Library Technology. But how does it operate? What sort of projects does it undertake? What has it accomplished? T h e project, as you know, is spon- sored by ALA. It has offices in Chicago near ALA headquarters. It was originally scheduled to expire on April 30, 1961, but there is so much yet to be accom- plished it is hoped some means for its continuation and expansion can be found. T h e original grant from the Council on Library Resources provided routine operating expenses. Individual projects undertaken by L T P are funded sepa- rately by the Council, upon presentation of carefully developed proposals. Of the Library Technology programs now underway, these may be of particu- lar interest: 1. T h e most important systems study is that on circulation control, scheduled for completition this winter, with a re- port due for publication in the spring. T h i s program is being conducted by George Fry 8c Associates, one of the coun- try's outstanding management consultant firms, under the guidance of an advisory committee of librarians. T h e assistant director of L T P , Forrest Carhart, is chairman of the advisory committee. T h e r e is every indication that this study is going to provide answers to many of the questions on circulation systems that have long been in doubt. As part of the report it is expected that a "do-it-your- self" systems kit will be made available to librarians so that they can evaluate and select circulation systems tailored to their specific requirements. 2. Somewhat less than half completed is a study on catalog card stock being conducted by William Barrow of the Vir- ginia State Library. T h i s program is not only comparing existing rag card stocks but is also evaluating new card stock made of chemical wood fibers, in accord- ance with the specifications for perma- nent/durable paper developed by the Virginia State Library. Preliminary tests indicate that this new stock is far more permanent and almost—although not quite—as durable as rag stocks, at about half the cost. T h e new stock does not yet have the same excellent erasing prop- erties as does rag stock, but there is rea- son to believe that these qualities can be improved substantially in future runs. 3. Last June, Sectional Committee Z85 of the American Standards Association was established to develop standards for library supplies and equipment. T h i s committee is sponsored by ALA and ad- ministered by the Library Technology Project. T h e director of L T P is chair- man of Z85 and also of the subcommittee on steel bookstack standardization. T h e assistant director of L T P is chairman of the subcommittee on library supplies. As chairman of the subcommittee on library furniture, we have E. Sigurd Johnson, professor of furniture manufacturing and management of North Carolina State College, who serves as special consultant to the Library Technology Project. T h e development of standards under ASA procedures is a somewhat slow proc- ess, but there is every reason to believe that this committee will develop many useful and practical standards where none exist today. 4. W e are now completing a report on the results of a thorough laboratory test covering what we call quick laminating equipment. T h i s process is not suitable for rare documents, but librarians are already using the equipment for the protection of many other kinds of li- brary materials. Our tests were designed to find out how efficient the process is, S E P T E M B E R 1 9 6 1 367 what mechanical problems the equip- ment might be subject to, and for what uses the process might be most suitable. T h e report on this program will be pub- lished in the ALA Bulletin, probably in the March issue. 5. One of L T P ' s major testing programs got underway in July when William Hawken, formerly head of photographic services, University of California, began a year's study of book copying equip- ment. T h e results will be published as a handbook which should be a useful tool for librarians who must decide what photocopy equipment to buy. T h i s is the first really comprehensive test pro- gram ever undertaken on photocopy pro- cedures and equipment. 6. One of the minor problems in librar- ies is the lack of a good, sturdy, inex- pensive pamphlet box that requires little space to store and can be knocked down if needed. T w o weeks ago the project received the first lot of samples of a new pamphlet box that is sturdier than al- most any similar container on the mar- ket, can be shipped flat, set up and knocked down as often as desired, and costs only sixteen cents to manufacture in standard sizes. With a normal mark- up, this is still only half as expensive as comparable boxes. This first run of two thousand will go to libraries all over the country for field testing before we ask the suppliers to make them available. Some of you will be receiving letters in the near future, asking for your assistance in testing and evaluating these boxes. 7. A year ago we initiated a major re- search program at Battelle Memorial In- stitute to develop a machine to mark books—or, I should say, to prepare la- bels for marking books. This program has run into difficulties which are only now being solved. There are still prob- lems to overcome, but it seems definite that we shall eventually have a device that will prepare an unusually legible label, with an adhesive that will adhere to any book-covering material, and do so far quicker than is possible with present methods of hand marking. 8. As the studies of Mr. Barrow and others have shown, acid is perhaps the single most destructive element in the deterioration of paper and it has been demonstrated that paper can be dam- aged by acid migration from one sheet to another. Other familiar hazards to valuable documents are insects, moisture, and fire. At the request of one of the state archives commissions, Library Technol- ogy is about to begin a preliminary pro- gram, which may later lead to a full scale research project, on the develop- ment of new containers for manuscripts and other archival materials. 9. Of the hundreds of letters received by L T P , the second most common question asks for assistance in choosing equip- ment with which to duplicate catalog cards. No thorough systems study of cat- alog card reproduction has previously been made. Sometime ago the Library Technology Project requested a full- scale proposal covering such a study. T h i s proposal is expected to be ready next week and if it looks as good as we think it will, we will submit a request for funds for this study in the near fu- ture. 10. Another program of interest was in- itiated in September to develop per- formance standards for library binding. T h i s project, jointly sponsored by the ALA and the Special Libraries Associa- tion is being conducted in two phases. Phase I will attempt to identify the vari- ous binding needs of libraries and will make recommendations for Phase I I dur- ing which performance type standards and acceptance tests for such standards will be developed. As we all know, the Class A binding standards developed jointly by ALA and L B I have served librarians well for some 25 years. But Class A specifications are written around specific materials and methods. With the development in re- (Continued on page 374) 368 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 weekly, classified bibliographies, Woe- chentliches Verzeichnis, which four years later were cumulated into semi-annual bibliographies, Halbjahresverzeichnis, ar- ranged alphabetically by authors. A third step in this series are national biblio- graphies which are similar in arrange- ment to the semi-annual bibliographies and which include publications for peri- ods of five years, Mehrjahresverzeichnis. T h e first in this series comprised publica- tions for the years 1951-1955. T h e latter aims to include not merely publica- tions in the actual possession of the Li- brary, but also German trade publica- tions of foreign countries. A separate periodicals bibliography for the years 1945-1952, Zeitschriften was completed in 1958. It will be the first in a new series of periodicals bibliographies. Another spe- cial bibliography for official publications was prepared for publication in 1960. Finally, mention should be made of the bi-monthly Das Deutsche Buch, a selec- tive bibliographical bulletin which is dis- tributed primarily among scientific in- stitutes, libraries, booksellers, publishers, and German diplomatic missions. In conclusion due credit should be given to the staff of the Deutsche Biblio- thek. There were only four employees in 1946 when the library was first organized. At the end of 1959 there were 137, in- cluding ten laborers and fourteen train- ees. Compared to the size of staffs of other large national libraries and biblio- graphical centers the number of librar- ians and clerical workers is small indeed. T h e i r contribution to librarianship un- der difficult post-war conditions has se- cured them a prominent place in the li- brary world. T h e Library Technology Project (Continued from page 368) cent years of new materials and methods for binding, it has become desirable to develop performance type standards. Similarly, it has become apparent that the various end-uses of many library ma- terials may require more than one type of binding. Some of you have already been visited by members of the survey team for this project. None of the programs I have just de- scribed has been completed. In fact, one of the first lessons we had to learn was how long it requires to obtain final re- sults in such cases. T h e program on quick laminating equipment for exam- ple, was begun in September 1959, but it will be March 1961 before the report is published. Since this first venture, we have learned several things that will help speed such programs, but there is still an irreducible minimum for many test- ing projects. We expect to publish reports on cer- tain adhesives, on pressure sensitive tapes, on laminating equipment, and on the circulation control study during the spring. Reports of other programs will follow as rapidly as possible. If the project is continued it will be able to conduct many more of these basic studies that will free librarians from some of their time-consuming ad- ministrative problems. 3 7 4 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