College and Research Libraries


phonograph records and music scores, the 

loan of f r a m e d pictures f o r students' 

rooms, and the establishment of a visual 

education service f o r the loan and 

p r e v i e w i n g of motion pictures f o r class 

w o r k . F u r t h e r elucidation of the pro-

g r a m is unnecessary since most librarians 

are already f a m i l i a r in a general w a y w i t h 

the Stephens l i b r a r y p r o g r a m as inter-

preted in more than a dozen articles in 

l i b r a r y and educational j o u r n a l s . 

T h e question n a t u r a l l y arises, since this 

is a case history of one particular l i b r a r y 

p r o g r a m , as to h o w useful the results of 

the study are to other librarians. T h e 

answer, in this r e v i e w e r ' s humble opinion, 

is that D r . J o h n s o n has made a v a l u a b l e 

contribution to the w h o l e subject of li-

brary-teaching relations. E v e r y college 

librarian w i l l find in it a stimulating, en-

lightening, and constructive analysis of 

one approach to a difficult and perplexing 

problem. T h e intellectual interests of 

students are, f o r the most part, a function 

of their mental development. I n most 

colleges, u n d e r g r a d u a t e students receive 

their sharpest stimulus to learning in the 

scientific l a b o r a t o r y . O n l y in a v e r y 

limited degree is there the same stimulat-

ing association in the humanities and social 

sciences to spark the interest of students. 

T h e physical provisions in most college 

libraries f o r j u s t such stimulation are 

l a r g e l y lacking. B u t there is every reason 

to believe that if an opportunity is pro-

vided, the results w i l l be e q u a l l y stimulat-

ing. T h i s is w h a t Stephens attempts to 

do. 

O n the other hand, the Stephens pro-

g r a m is not the only approach to b r i d g i n g 

the gap between the l i b r a r y and its rela-

tion to instruction, as D r . J o h n s o n w o u l d 

be the first to agree. H i s scheme of de-

c e n t r a l i z i n g the book collections in a small 

college l i b r a r y is c o n t r a r y to at least one 

l i b r a r i a n ' s notion that the u n i f y i n g f u n c -

tion of the college l i b r a r y should be an 

important f a c t in the interrelation of 

k n o w l e d g e . F u r t h e r m o r e it h a r d l y seems 

possible that advanced students could do 

any really serious investigation w h e n li-

b r a r y resources in the social sciences and 

humanities are so w i d e l y scattered and 

w h e n only a skeleton collection re-

mains in the main library. D r . J o h n -

son's slogan " B o o k s A l l A r o u n d T h e m " 

brings to mind the remark of a M a i n e 

coast native. A s k e d w h e t h e r he spent the 

l o n g w i n t e r evenings in reading, he re-

plied, " N o ! R e a d i n g is bad. T o o much 

reading rots the m i n d . " T o o much read-

ing of the quality singled out by Stephens' 

students as their first choice f o r recrea-

tional reading w o u l d probably rot the 

mind. 

I t is regrettable that the author should 

have adopted the methods of the c o m p a r a -

tive school in the chapter on " A d m i n i s t r a -

tion and R e c o r d s " w h e r e circulation and 

cost figures in the p a r t i c u l a r instance .cited 

cannot be accepted as true criteria f o r 

measuring the l i b r a r y effectiveness of these 

institutions. I n spite of these shortcom-

ings, minor to be sure and permissible only 

as cavil a m o n g friends, D r . J o h n s o n has, 

by combining his sound teaching and li-

b r a r y experience, succeeded in g i v i n g us a 

vastly suggestive and stimulating analysis 

of a successful college l i b r a r y experiment. 

—Guy R. Lyle, Woman's College Li-
brary of the University of North Caro-
lina, Greensboro. 

A Code for Classifiers. W i l l i a m Stetson 

M e r r i l l . 2 n d ed. A m e r i c a n L i b r a r y 

Association, 1 9 3 9 . i 7 7 p . $ 2 . 

M R . M E R R I L L ' S second edition of his 
Code for Classifiers is a bona fide n e w edi-

1 8 6 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



tion. T o the three hundred sections of his 
1 9 2 8 edition, he has added sixty-five new 
sections involving nearly t w o hundred 
new rules. M a n y of the old sections have 
been rewritten, clarified, and amplified. 

T h e plan of the book is unchanged. 
T h e first division on general principles 
has been recast in the form of terse rules 
followed by discussion. T h o u g h the prin-
ciples remain the same, the approach to 
the w o r k has been vastly improved. T h e 
main part of the book remains, as before, 
a series of rulings on the classification of 
" b o r d e r - l i n e " books. T h e purpose of 
these rulings is, first, to secure consistency 
in the classification of similar w o r k s ; and 
second, to classify the w o r k in the most 
suitable and useful place. 

I n libraries operating on a strictly 
closed shelf system, the class number may 
be considered as little more than a loca-
tion number to be secured through the 
catalog. In a library w h e r e a large num-
ber of research workers has access to the 
stacks, close classification and consistency 
are of primary importance. W i t h o u t 
formulated policies, border-line books may 
be scattered among several classes accord-
ing to the interests and opinions of vari-
ous classifiers. T h e Code, embodying the 
practices of a number of important classi-
fiers, offers a ready-made decision book 
covering many of the most frequently met 
border-line topics. 

M u c h of the new material in the book 
deals w i t h topics which have recently de-
veloped or changed. Some of these topics 
are so new that they have received no ade-
quate treatment in printed classification 
schedules. T h e y may not be adequately 
defined in dictionaries or encyclopedias. 
O n such topics the rulings of the Code, 
accompanied by explanatory notes, defini-
tions, and discussion of classification poli-

cies, can save the classifier many hours of 
investigation and thought. T a k e for ex-
ample the topic "trailers for automobiles." 
In the indexes to D e w e y and to the L i -
brary of Congress classifications the topic 
is referred to under automobile engineer-
ing. M e r r i l l sends different phases of the 
topic to automobile engineering; t o u r i n g ; 
and other uses, e.g., habitations, theaters, 
etc. H e cites specific titles classified by 
D . C . and L . C . under these various head-
ings. I t may be objected by some that a 
classifier should know or be able to dig 
up such information. H o w e v e r , the fact 
remains that classifiers cannot specialize in 
many subjects and that most of them have 
little time for digging into new fields. 

T h e old material of the 1 9 2 8 edition is, 
of course, unchanged in many sections. 
T h e underlying principles and policies 
have not changed. Some sections have 
been rewritten w i t h additional explana-
tions or definitions. Some sections have 
been expanded. T h u s , the section on 
academy and learned society publications 
has been separated from series and society 
publications and has been given the ade-
quate treatment it lacked in the old edi-
tion. 

A n important change in the new edition 
of the Code is the omission of the D . C . 
numbers printed opposite main headings. 
A n o t h e r change is the inclusion of numer-
ous references to the practices of the L i -
brary of Congress, of the D . C . editors, 
and of some thirty other classifiers w h o 
responded to M r . M e r r i l l ' s request for in-
formation concerning their decisions. 
T h e s e citations often suggest interesting 
alternatives in classification. T h e y add to 
the authoritativeness of many decisions, 
and often they give valuable hints for 
further aids. T o meet a request, examples 
have been given for all rules. 

MARCH, 1940 18 7 



T h e r e are some subjects omitted w h i c h 

one wishes w e r e included. T h e section 

on bibliography of individuals m i g h t have 

given space to the tendency of a minority 

to keep these, so f a r as possible, out of the 

bibliography number and to send them, 

along w i t h biography of individuals, to the 

n a r r o w e s t possible subject position. 

T o sum up, w e can say that there w i l l 

be m a n y differences of opinion concerning 

various decisions in the Code for Classi-

fiers. T h e r e w i l l be, as M r . M e r r i l l says, 

frequent need to m o d i f y one's o w n copy of 

the Code to meet local needs or types of 

service. T h e book is a valuable addition 

to texts f o r l i b r a r y schools and it is an 

indispensable tool f o r the classifier's desk. 

—Elizabeth D. Clark, University of Mis-
souri Library, Columbia. 

Archives and Libraries. A . F . K u h l m a n , 

ed. A m e r i c a n L i b r a r y Association, 

1 9 3 9 . i o 8 p . $ 1 . 7 5 . ( P l a n o g r a p h e d ) 

T H E PROCEEDINGS of the C o m m i t t e e on 
A r c h i v e s and L i b r a r i e s of the A m e r i c a n 

L i b r a r y Association, published in 1 9 3 7 and 

1 9 3 8 w i t h those of the C o m m i t t e e on P u b -

lic D o c u m e n t s , are issued as a separate 

publication in 1 9 3 9 . T h e papers included 

w e r e presented at a joint meeting of the 

A . L . A . C o m m i t t e e on A r c h i v e s and L i -

braries, P a c i f i c coast members of the 

Society of A m e r i c a n A r c h i v i s t s , and the 

Historical R e c o r d s S u r v e y . 

T h e first f o u r papers report on the 

progress of the inventory and publications 

of the H i s t o r i c a l R e c o r d s S u r v e y by C o l -

onel J . M . S c a m m e l l , regional d i r e c t o r ; 

the immediate and long range p r o g r a m s 

f o r the survey of L u t h e r H . E v a n s , 

national d i r e c t o r ; and proposals f o r en-

suring the perpetuation of the results of 

the survey. D o r s e y W . H y d e , J r . , of the 

N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s , makes t w o suggestions: 

first, a national p r o g r a m f o r the establish-

ment of adequate archival agencies; and 

second, the immediate appointment of cen-

tralized " f i n d i n g " bureaus to keep up to 

date c a r d files on changes a f f e c t i n g the 

status of archives listed in the survey in-

ventories. T h e o d o r e C . B l e g e n , of the 

M i n n e s o t a H i s t o r i c a l Society, describes 

the m a n u a l on the w r i t i n g of local his-

tory, presumably l a r g e l y by amateurs, 

w h i c h he is preparing f o r the Social S c i -

ence Research C o u n c i l . 

T h e t w o papers on cataloging by E v a n -

geline T h u r b e r of the N a t i o n a l A r c h i v e s 

and G r a c e L e e N u t e of the M i n n e s o t a 

H i s t o r i c a l Society illustrate concretely the 

f u n d a m e n t a l differences between the cata-

l o g i n g problems of the archivist and of the 

manuscript c u r a t o r . A f a i l u r e to recog-

nize these differences is responsible f o r 

the chaotic condition of so m a n y archival 

catalogs. 

A description of three outstanding w e s t -

ern manuscript repositories by their respec-

tive curators is f o l l o w e d by an exposition 

of the application of microphotography 

in their respective institutions. T h e 

papers as presented at the conference w e r e 

accompanied by photographic exhibits. 

H e r b e r t I . Priestley describes the B a n -

c r o f t L i b r a r y , G e o r g e P . H a m m o n d the 

Spanish archives in the U n i v e r s i t y of N e w 

M e x i c o , and C a p t a i n R . E . H a s e l d e n and 

L o d e w y k Bendikson, the H u n t i n g t o n L i -

b r a r y . 

V e r n o n D . T a t e of the N a t i o n a l A r -

chives summarizes the discussions on the 

application of microphotography to archi-

v a l w o r k . D r . H a m m o n d points out t w o 

of its limitations. H i s institution has been 

forced to the expense of m a k i n g enlarge-

ments of its films because of damage f r o m 

careless use in the projectors and com-

plaints of eye strain involved in extensive 

188 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES