College and Research Libraries


r-

stantive data, which fact tends to substan-
tiate the contention of R. A. Fairthorne 
that, in most instances, "information re-
trieval" really means "document retrieval," 
and in the final analysis, much of the work 
in so-called information retrieval has really 
been the invention of mechanical stack-boys. 

Librarians in general, and those engaged 
in library education in particular, can find 
small reason for pride in this volume. In-
novation in information systems is definite-
ly not coming from the library world, and 
only one library school is listed in this com-
pilation. Admittedly, such a catalog as is 
here reviewed can throw no light on the 
extent to which these unconventional sys-
tems represent a real advance over tradi-
tional library methods, but there seems to 
be little basis for believing that this trend 
toward the unconventional will not become 
an important force in the librarianship of 
the future. If librarians continue in their 
neglect of it, they may one day find them-
selves hopelessly outdistanced in the race 
to surmount the rising Everest of man's 
recorded knowledge.-]. H. Shera7 Western 
Reserve University. 

Information Retrieval Management. Ed. by 
Lowell H. Hattery and Edward M. Mc-
Cormick. Detroit: American Data Process-
ing, 1962. 151p. $ 15. 

This is a potpourri of papers, adapted 
from the proceedings of the Fourth Insti-
tute on Information Storage and Retrieval 
presented in February 1962 at American 
University. As with all such stews, some of 
the meat is tender and tasty, most of the 
vegetables are either underdone or so pap-
like as to inhibit taste, and one's favorite 
ingredient is either absent or illcooked. 
Such collections are becoming all too fre-
quent. At least five such volumes on vari-
ous aspects of the information sciences have 
appeared in the winter and spring of 1962-
63. These potpourries may have stimulating 
paragraphs or even whole papers. As books, 
however, they suffer from discontinuity, 
hastily presented ideas with little support-
ing evidence, and advice reminiscent of 
commencement addresses. Above all, they 
illustrate the paucity of our knowledge, both 

SEPTEMBER 1963 

empirical and pragmatic, of information sys-
tems. 

The volume at hand is no exception. Ac-
cording to the editors, the purpose of the 
papers is "to present a broader systems ap-
proach to the handling of technical infor-
mation." (This reviewer can ' t find the ref-
erent to "broader" in the Preface.) Of the 
eighteen papers in the volume, only nine 
seem to fit the . "systems approach." (Per-
haps this is the meaning of "broader.") 
This does not mean the other papers are 
poor. In fact, the better papers appear out-
side the "systems approach." 

The papers can be divided (although 
they are not physically so divided) into five 
general categories. The first explores cul-
tural and intellectual aspects, and exhorts 
the reader to do something under such titles 
as "What Must Give in the Documentation 
Crisis." However, one should not miss Saul 
Gorn's paper "Computers, Communication 
and Science-Extending Man's Intellect," a 
perceptive tour de force on "computer ap-
preciation." 

The second subject area examines man-
agement's relations to information centers. 
Edward McCormick's paper, the last in the 
volume, is a good summal"y. In fact, it 
should be read first. 

In the third area, the papers explore fac-
ets of communication. H. P. Luhn, as usual, 
writes well on "Automated Intelligence Sys-
tems." Helen Brownson reviews the state of 
knowledge of the communication habits of 
scientists-a state, and Mrs. Brownson agrees, 
largely unknown and unexplored. As Don 
Swanson so aptly put it, past studies have 
been "descriptive rather than diagnostic." 
· In the fourth category, three papers skim 
rapidly over various approaches to informa-
tion management. In one paper, by C. D. 
Gull, the reader is urged to answer such 
questions as "Is our present system satisfac-
tory?" without a clue as to what a "satis-
factory" system is. 

The final three papers describe the oper-
ating experience of three information cen-
ters-Esso Research and Engineering, Gen-
eral Electric Flight Propulsion Division, and 
the Science and Technology Division of the 
Library of Congress. 

This volume, like others of the genera, is 
significant in its intimations of a future in 

437 



which traditional librarians will be forced 
into an even more passive position than the 
one they now occupy. Despite all their 
faults, the papers imply a dynamism that 
libraries are not yet prepared to accept .. 
This remark does not mean that librarians 
should jump on the band wagon of auto-
mation. Many of them are intellectually 
pretty shoddy affairs anyway (the antece-
dent here is band wagon, not librarians). 
It does mean that librarians do need to ex-
amine their whole concept of education, 
systems, and services and to determine where 
and how they can move from the passive 
to a dynamic stage.-Robert S. Taylor, Le-
high University. 

Information Retrieval Today. Papers Pre-
sented at the Institute Conducted by the 
Library School and the Center for Con-
tinuation Study, University of Minnesota , 
Sept. 19-22, 1962. Ed. by Wesley Simon-
ton. Minneapolis: Center for Continua-
tion Study, 1963. 176p. $5. 

Information retrieval, in its mechanized 
forms, has not yet become a textbook sub-
ject, and those who wish to be informed on 
the state of the art have two alternatives. 
One is to keep current with developments 
through journal and report literature, study-
ing and evaluating each item for reliability 
and pertinency. The second is not to worry 
until a particularly attractive conference or 
institute comes along, and then to take a 
cram course. The first is arduous and rec-
ommended only for the stout-hearted and 
the dedicated, of whom we need morel The 
latter is a prudent decision if one chooses 
the right conference. 

Those who chose to attend the Institute 
on Information Retrieval Today did, in-
deed, choose the right one. The speakers 
were well selected for knowledgeability of, 
and experience with, the topic, and the at-
tendants were largely librarians, giving a 
homogeneity of interests of which the speak-
ers could take advantage in shaping their 
remarks. Consequently, the proceedings were 
remarkably free from much of the jargon 
one sometimes confronts when engineers, 
mathematicians, systems specialists, etc., gath-
er to discuss this topic. · 

The goals of the institute were to present 
a well rounded picture of the present state 

of information retrieval, giving attention to 
both theoretical and practical aspects of tra-
ditional and newer methods. The historical 
development and probable future direction 
of the art were considered in light of users' 
needs and requirements. The success of the 
conference is partially the result of the bal-
ance achieved in realizing these goals. 

1 esse Shera's "Propaedeutic of the New 
Librarianship" sweeps across the develop-
ment of information storage and retrieval 
capabilities from medieval times to the pres-
ent, and Harold Wooster provides a look 
at the innovations to come in the near and 
distant future. Between these splendid ex-
positions of our past and our future, we 
have the bulk of the papers, constituting 
both theoretical and empirical observations. 
Calvin Mooers, G. 1ahoda, Ascher Opler, 
and I. A. Warheit discuss indexing and com-
puter practices, and Peter Scott reviews the 
graphic aids which make valuable contri-
butions to the field. Four systems currently 
in use or under study are described, those 
being: I) Western Reserve University's ma-
chine literature searching projects; 2) the 
University of Illinois, Chicago, study of data 
processing applications for technical proc-
esses; 3) the serials computer project of the 
University of California, San Diego; and 
4) MEDLARS. Each of the four have by 
now issued larger studies of the results of 
their researches and experiences, and the 
reader may wish to consult those studies for 
fuller treatment. Bernard Fry's presentation 
discusses relationships between user needs 
and the development of new information 
systems. 

The final paper is "The Librarian and 
the Machine" by Henry 1. Dubester, who 
makes a point which librarians should take 
to heart. He indicates that if more librar-
ians would look carefully at the pattern of 
work in their area with the same detail one 
must employ when flow charting for systems 
analysis and possible mechanization, this ex-
amination would yield improvements star-
tling in themselves. The observation is sup-
ported by the experiences of the University 
of Illinois project staff, who report many 
instances where poor routines and work pro-
cedures were brought to light. 

If asked to pick the outstanding paper of 
the institute, this reviewer would cite I. A. 

438 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES