ISSUE METHODS
=376.= In modern library practice, methods of book-registration
involving the use of ledgers or day-books have now been entirely
abandoned, save in a few proprietary and subscription libraries. It
will, therefore, be needless to describe charging systems so generally
discarded, and it will suffice if reference is made to the first edition
of this work, in which many forms were illustrated and explained.
=377.= The great objection to all charging ledgers in book form was
their want of movability and adjustability. The entries when once made
were fixed, either in a running sequence under a date of issue, a
borrower’s name, or a book’s title. If, for any purpose, it should be
desirable to manipulate the entries, in order to secure greater
accuracy, or some definite record of a special kind, the book ledgers
did not lend themselves to this sort of treatment. There was no kind of
movability possible, and questions which might be answered readily
enough if entries were movable and separate, could not be put to any
issue record in volume form. Chiefly because of this, the slip or card
methods of charging were introduced, which enable registration to be
conducted in a variety of ways for different purposes. It is impossible
to say when or where cards were first introduced, but as they have been
used for commercial purposes for years before the public library system
was established, it follows that many minds must have discovered the
utility and convenience of movable entries. There are many varieties of
card or slip charging in existence, and innumerable methods of working
or applying them. Movable entry systems are in every respect the most
interesting, not only because they present greater possibilities to the
ingenious mind, but because they are more scientific and more natural.
=378.= There have been numerous systems devised for recording issues of
books from public libraries, but in none have so many variations been
introduced as in the great group using cards as a basis. There is hardly
any limit to be put to the variety of ways in which cards can be used;
and, without describing every system in detail, it will nevertheless be
interesting to select and describe typical plans from among the more
practical varieties, as representative of each particular group. The
fundamental idea of all card systems of charging is that each book or
volume shall be represented by a movable card, which can be stored in
various ways when the book is on the shelf, and used to register or
charge the book, when issued, to its borrower.
=379.= When cards are used as movable entries, there is no need to keep
a column for showing date of return; and, before describing a method of
working, the following specimen ruling for a card is given:
+------------------------------------+
| =F 9432= |
| HOPE |
| |
| Prisoner of Zenda |
+========+=========+========+========+
| 8276 | Jul. 19 | 2641 | Nov. 6 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
FIG. 139.--Book Issue-Card (Section 379).
The first and third columns may be used for the borrowers’ numbers, and
the second and fourth for dates of issue, as shown above, or all four
columns may be used for borrowers’ numbers. The backs of the cards may
be ruled the same, without the heading. These cards are kept in a strict
numerical order of progressive numbers in trays or drawers. When a book
is chosen by a borrower, the card representing it is withdrawn from its
place, the borrower’s number and date of issue entered, the date of
issue stamped on the date label of the book, and the transaction is
complete when the book-card is placed in a tray, or behind a special
block bearing the date of issue. At the end of the day the cards are
all sorted up in numerical order, as far as possible, the statistics
made up from them, and they are then put away in the dated issue trays,
or behind date blocks in drawers. When a book is returned, its date and
number direct the assistant to the exact number of the book-card, which
is withdrawn, and at leisure replaced in the main sequence. No other
marking off is necessary, and the book is immediately available for
issue. Overdues gradually declare themselves, as day after day passes,
and the cards for books in circulation diminish in number as returns are
made. This is card charging of a simple kind, which is rarely used
nowadays, as in cases of overdues, queries, etc., it necessitates
reference to the borrowers’ register, and such references are always a
nuisance; but it forms the basis of all the more elaborate scientific
systems.
=380.= The pocket system of card-charging is that most used in the
United Kingdom, not only as a separate method, but also frequently in
connexion with, or as an adjunct to, indicators. This is a loose pocket
system in which each book is represented by a manila card (about 4 × 2
inches) ruled on both sides to take borrowers’ numbers and dates of
issues. Every borrower is represented by a card of a similar kind, but
one inch shorter (see Fig. 140). When a book is issued its card is taken
from the tray, and, with the borrower’s card, is placed in a loose
manila pocket, the date of issue is stamped on the date label inside the
book and the borrower receives the volume. It is customary in most open
access libraries to hand the borrower his card when his book is
discharged. If he does not want another book at the moment he retains
his card for the future, but if he does want another he selects one in
the usual way, and hands it and his ticket to the assistant at the exit
charging wicket, where the charge is made very rapidly by simply
selecting the book-card and “marrying” it with the borrower’s card in a
loose pocket. In some libraries the charges thus made are simply sorted
by book numbers and arranged behind projecting date guides in the issue
trays. In others this is postponed till the book numbers have been
carried on to the book-cards. Whatever method of registration is adopted
the ultimate result is that a complete charge is got by mechanical
means, which obviates the need for writing at the moment of issue. The
plan of keeping the book-cards in pockets inside the books has been
adopted in some libraries, but of course this destroys the value of the
system as an indicator to the staff of books in and out. At the same
time, in open access libraries particularly, it facilitates service at
the moment of issue. The conjoined cards of this loose pocket system
appear as in the diagrams on page 355 (Figs. 142-3).
=381.= The following diagrams show one of the principal systems of card
charging now used in British libraries. Each book has a small triangular
pocket inside the front board, in which is placed a small book-card (2 ×
1⅛ inches) of manila, on which is written the class number, author and
title of the book it represents. In cases of duplicate copies it is
advisable to write the accession number on the book-card to facilitate
stocktaking. Each book also has a date label inside the front board
facing the book pocket (Fig. 141).
+---------------------------+
| 4622 A 32 | } Book-card
| BALFOUR | } projection.
+---------------------------+
| 5916 30 Mar., 1908 | }
| RICHARD GARNETT, | }
| 1 Museum Street. | }
+---------------+ | }
{ | \---+------+ }
{ | \ | | } Borrower’s
{ | \ | | } card
{ | \+------+ } projection.
{ | \ | }
{ | \ | }
{ | \----+ }
{ | \ | }
Pocket. { | \ | }
{ | \ | }
{ | \|
{ | | }
{ | | }
{ | | } Pocket.
{ | | }
{ | | }
{ | | }
+---------------------------+
FIG. 140.--Book and Borrower’s Cards combined in Pocket (Section 380).
Each borrower has a neat linen-covered or other card bearing the name of
the library, the name, address and number of the borrower and the date
when the card was issued, or better, when it will expire, if periodical
renewals are demanded. When a book is issued, the borrower hands his
card and the book chosen to the assistant, who takes the book-card from
the book pocket and places it in the pocket of the borrower’s card,
stamps the date of issue or return on the date label and issues the
book. The charges are then arranged in trays as described below, and
thus give a perfect record without writing.
----------------------------------+
|
|
+-------------+ |
| E 100·3 | |
| BALFOUR | <------- Book-card.
| BOTANY | |
| | |
+----|___ | |
| `---.__ | |
| `. | |
| \| |
Book }--> | \ |
Pocket.} | \ |
| \ |
| + |
| ! |
| | |
+---------------------+ |
|
FIG. 141.--Book Pocket and Card.
=382. Charging Appliances.=--An important part of a card method is the
tray for holding and displaying the cards, and of this there are a
number of kinds in use in libraries using indicators and in those
working without them. For many reasons, but above all for economy of
space, it is best to use a comparatively small-sized charging card, the
advantage being that all the accessories, such as trays, guides, etc.,
are correspondingly small, cheap and easily handled.
<---------- 1¼″ ----------->
+--------------------------+
| | ^
| Watson | |
| (John) | |
| | |
| 30 Thornhill Square. | |
| | |
| 5963 | |
| | |
| 30th Sept., 1906. | 3″
| | |
+--------------------------+ |
| | |
| BOOKTON | |
| | |
| PUBLIC | |
| | |
| LIBRARIES. | |
| | |
+--------------------------+ V
FIG. 142.--Borrower’s Card with Pocket.
+--------------------------+
| |
| Watson |<--{ Borrower’s
| (John) | { Card.
| |
| +------------------+ |
| | E 100·3 |---|<--{Book-
| | | | {Card.
| | Balfour | |
| | | |
+---+------------------+---+
| |
| BOOKTON |
| |
| PUBLIC |
| |
| LIBRARIES. |
| |
+--------------------------+
FIG. 143.--Borrower’s Card and Book-card conjoined.
=383.= A standard size of card tray made of wood is shown in Fig. 144.
This tray (_b_) is provided with a rod (_a_) for securing the guides
(_e_) in a continuous slot (_c_) at the bottom, to carry and secure the
slot-fastening (_f_) of the guides (_e_). It has cut-away sides to
facilitate the handling of the cards; a back slide or block (_d_) to
retain the cards at any convenient or required angle; angle-bars and
catch-pieces of brass (_g_ and _h_) to secure a series of trays firmly
in place, and prevent upsetting or knocking about. For every kind of
card charging, whether in connexion with an indicator or without, this
style of single tray, capable of indefinite expansion, is preferable to
drawers or frames divided into compartments. Each tray will hold with
its guides approximately 1000 cards, and, when divided up into hundreds,
any number can be found quite rapidly.
[Illustration: FIG. 144.--Elevation and Plan of Card-charging Tray
(Section 383).]
=384.= The guides are generally made of steel, enamelled and figured, or
from vulcanized fibre, xylonite or aluminium, bearing the numbers
stamped upon them. Every charging system of this kind should have a set
of nine guides for each thousand numbers, numbered simply 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, or having the hundreds running progressively throughout,
100, 200, 300, 400, etc. There should also be at least two complete sets
of date guides, numbered from 1 to 31 inclusive, a set of alphabetical
guides (for unclaimed borrowers’ cards) from A to Z, and the
miscellaneous guides for fines, marked 1d., 2d., 3d., 6d., etc.,
“Overdues,” “Renewals,” “Guarantors Notified,” etc. All these are
necessary for working card-charging as described in this Chapter.
=385.= It is advisable to provide a card-sorting tray, which may be a
simple rack divided into narrow compartments representing thousands. The
compartments need not be more than an inch wide, as the cards can lie
just as easily on their edges as flat, and with greater economy of
space. Where fiction is kept in a separate series of trays, or the
book-issue cards are classed, then, of course, some modifications will
be required both in book-issue and sorting trays.
[Illustration: FIG. 145.--Card-charging Trays in use (Section 378).]
=386.= The indicator, as a library tool, is almost entirely an English
appliance, and it is somewhat curious, considering their love for, and
extensive use of, mechanical contrivances, that American librarians have
never taken kindly to it. Various abortive experiments have been tried
at Boston and elsewhere with indicating devices of several patterns, but
the almost universal opinion of American librarians is against
indicators in any shape or form. This holds good as regards colonial and
foreign libraries generally, though one or two Canadian and Australasian
libraries have adopted indicators of an English design. In England, on
the contrary, the invention of these appliances has gone on
unremittingly for sixty years, and there are about twenty different
varieties, each possessing its own merit or ingenuity.
=387.= An indicator is a device for indicating or registering
information about books, in such a way that it can be seen either by the
staff alone, or by the public and staff both. The information usually
conveyed to the public is some kind of indication of the presence or
absence of books, and the methods of accomplishing this almost
invariably take the form of displayed numbers, qualified in such a way
as to indicate books _in_ and _out_. Thus, small spaces on a screen may
be numbered to represent books, and their presence in the library
indicated by the space being blank, or their absence from the library
shown by the space being occupied by a card or block. Or, colours may be
used to indicate books in and out, or a change in the position of the
block representing a book. No doubt the idea of the mechanical indicator
was early evolved from the needs of the first public libraries. The
first practical application of it was in 1863, when Mr Charles Dyall,
then Librarian at the Hulme Branch of the Manchester Public Libraries,
had one made for actual use by the public and the staff. This seems to
be the very earliest English indicator, and Mr Dyall is entitled to full
credit as the pioneer inventor.
=388.= The ELLIOT INDICATOR, 1870, is very fully described in a pamphlet
entitled “A Practical Explanation of the Safe and Rapid Method of
Issuing Library Books, by J. Elliot, inventor of the system.
Wolverhampton, 1870.” This pamphlet gives diagrams and descriptions of
the Elliot Indicator in substantially the same form in which it exists
at the present day. The numbers are alongside the ticket shelves or
spaces, and a specially thick borrower’s ticket is used with coloured
ends to show books out and overdue. The indicator is a large frame,
divided into columns by wide uprights carrying 100 numbers each, which
correspond with the little shelves, formed of tin, dividing each column.
There are 100 shelves and numbers in every column, and the indicator is
made in several sizes, according to the width of the borrower’s card
used. The public side is covered with glass. The method of working is
simple. The borrower scans the indicator till he finds the space
opposite the number he wants vacant. This indicates that the book he
wants is in, and he then hands his ticket to the assistant, stating the
number of the book he requires. The assistant enters the book number and
date of issue in the borrower’s card, and inserts it in the indicator in
the space against the number. The book is then fetched, and before issue
it is registered on a specially ruled day-sheet, by means of a stroke,
to record the day’s circulation for statistical purposes. When the book
is returned its number directs to the space on the indicator occupied by
the borrower’s card, which is withdrawn and returned to the owner, when
all liability for fines is cleared. Overdues are detected by means of
differently coloured ends to the borrowers’ cards, or the periodical
examination of the indicator. This indicator, which occupies a very
large amount of counter-space, has been, or is, in use at Wolverhampton,
Newcastle-on-Tyne and Paisley.
+-----+----------------------------+ { Space
| 491 | |<-{ for
| +----------------------------+ { Ticket.
| 492 | |
| +----------------------------+ { Ticket in
| 493 | ########################## |<-{ space,
| +----------------------------+ { indicating
| 494 | | { book out.
| +----------------------------+
| 495 | |
| +----------------------------+
| 496 | |
| +----------------------------+
| | |
+-----+----------------------------+
FIG. 146.--Diagram of Elliot Indicator (Section 388).
[Illustration: FIG. 147.--A Library Indicator, as seen from the side of
the public.]
=389.= COTGREAVE INDICATOR, 1877.--This indicator is that which has been
most used in this country, and was the invention of Alfred Cotgreave,
then Librarian of the Wednesbury Public Library, in 1877. An account of
its structure and working from one of the descriptive circulars issued
in connexion with it will enable anyone to gather a good idea of its
appearance and use:
“It consists of a wooden or iron frame, fitted with minute zinc shelves,
generally 100 in a column. Upon each of these shelves is placed a small
metal-bound ledger (3 inches × 1 inch), containing a number of leaves,
ruled and headed for the number of borrower’s ticket, and date of issue,
also date of return or other items as may be required, numbered or
lettered at each end, and arranged numerically in the frames. One part
of it is also lettered for entries of date of purchase, title of book,
etc. The metal case has turned-up ends, and the numbers appear on a
ground coloured red at one end and blue at the other, one colour showing
books _out_, the other books _in_; other colours may be used if
preferred. The _out_ numbers can be covered altogether with a date slide
if required. The change of colour is effected by simply reversing the
ledger in the indicator frame. The public side of the indicator is
protected by glass.
“The _modus operandi_ is as follows: A borrower having chosen a book
from the catalogue, consults the indicator, and finding the required
number to be on _blue_, denoting _in_, asks for the book corresponding,
at the same time tendering his library ticket. The assistant withdraws
the indicator ledger, makes the necessary entries, inserts borrower’s
ticket, and reverses the ledger, which then shows the _red_ colour,
signifying _out_. He then hands out the book asked for. The borrower’s
ticket will remain in this number until he changes his book, when his
ticket will, of course, be transferred to the next number required, and
the returned number will be reversed again, showing by the _blue_ colour
that the book it represents is again _in_, and is immediately available
to any other reader requiring it. The entries need not be made at the
time of issue, but may stand over until a more convenient time.
“When a book is not required the ticket is returned to the borrower, and
acts as a receipt, exonerating him from liabilities.”
There are many ways of working this indicator in order to obtain certain
records or notifications of overdues, and nearly every library has some
modification of its own.
It is not necessary to trace the history of the indicator in any further
detail, because, with one exception, the forms described comprise all
that have been introduced to any extent in English public libraries.
=390.= Another indicator which has been introduced to some extent was
invented in 1894, and has several features which may be described here.
It consists of a series of wooden blocks, each of which is numbered with
250 numbers in gilt figures, and each number has a slot under it large
enough to hold a book-card with red coloured or white ends, bearing the
same number as the slot. These blocks can be built into columns of 1000
with the numbers running consecutively, the whole being lodged in a
glazed frame. This indicator differs from other varieties in having the
numbers qualified by the red or white line of the card under the numbers
to indicate books _in_; when the slot is blank, the book is _out_. “The
withdrawal of the book-card is the method of indicating books out, and
it is the union of this card with the borrower’s card which forms the
basis of the subsequent registration. When a book is issued the
assistant withdraws the card from the recorder and places it in the
reader’s ticket, which is formed like a pocket, fetches the book, stamps
it with the date of issue, and so completes the transaction at the
moment of service. Afterwards, the readers’ pocket tickets containing
the book-cards are assembled and arranged according to classes in
numerical order. They are then posted, by book and reader numbers only,
on to a daily issue sheet or register, and the date of issue is stamped
on each book-card, if this has not already been done at the moment of
service. The conjoined book- and reader-cards are then placed in a tray
bearing the date of issue, in the order of classes and book numbers, or
in one series of book numbers as may be needful.” In other respects this
charging system resembles the card methods described in Section 380.
=391.= The only other indicator which is designed on an entirely
different principle from any of the foregoing is the Adjustable
Indicator proposed by the author in a paper read before the Library
Association in 1895, and published in _The Library_ for 1896, with
illustrations. This was a practical proposal for an adjustable indicator
in which its size should be limited by the number of books in actual
_circulation_, and not by the number in _stock_. There is a very
important point here, as a library with a stock of 30,000 volumes would
require an indicator occupying about thirty-eight feet run of counter
space. If it never had more than 4000 volumes out at one time, these
could be shown on the limited indicator above named within a space of
not more than six or eight feet. This is a most important question, and
it is inevitable that, in many libraries where conditions and feeling
are opposed to progressive changes, this continual growth of indicator
space will force library authorities into the serious consideration of
less crowded methods.
=392.= On the principle of limiting the indicator to one particular
class of literature, several varieties have been introduced at Brighton,
Wimbledon, Glasgow and Lewisham. So many libraries now use indicators
for Fiction only that there is some advantage in having special
appliances for the purpose. The Glasgow indicator consists of a series
of detached columns with adjustable number-blocks representing the
books, arranged so that insertions can be made at any point. The
Lewisham or Graham indicator is an alphabetical one, and consists of an
ordinary pigeon-holed frame, into which fit small numbered blocks of
wood or metal bearing the names of authors and similar blocks with the
numbers of their works. The chief advantage of this form is that it is
self-contained, and requires no key to enable borrowers to ascertain
what are the titles of books indicated _in_. A simple reference to the
author’s name in the ordinary catalogue enables this to be done. An
indicator on similar lines has been invented by Cotgreave, who applied
the idea to a magazine indicator.
+---+----------------+
Out .. | ● | ARGOSY. |
|---+----------------+
In ... | ○ | ART JOURNAL. |
+---+----------------+
FIG. 148.--Diagram of Periodicals Indicator (Section 393).
=393.= Indicators are occasionally used for recording and indicating the
issue of the parts of periodicals, both in lending libraries and
reading-rooms. The reading-room indicator simply shows what periodicals
are in use or available, in cases where they are kept behind a barrier
instead of being spread over tables or racks. There are examples of this
indicator at the Public Libraries of St Saviour’s, Southwark, and
Finsbury. The principle is simple. The titles of magazines are mounted
upon narrow blocks of wood, arranged loosely in columns so as to be
adjustable, within a glazed frame. The back of this frame is open to the
staff only. Against the end of each title a hole is drilled to take a
round peg which is coloured black at one end and white at the other. The
white ends are shown when a magazine is _in_, and when it is issued the
peg is reversed to show the black end. This indicates _out_.
=394.= As a substitute for indicators, and an approach to open access,
many libraries provide a show-case for new books on the lending library
counter, to enable readers to see the additions as they are made. In
some libraries these show-cases are not glazed on the public side, so
that the readers have the additional privilege of examining the new
books as well as merely seeing them. Certain libraries, like Birkenhead
and St George’s-in-the East, Stepney, have whole departments of books
arranged behind wire or glass within seeing distance of the readers, and
they have the option of choice by bindings and titles, which, if not
much better, is as good as choosing from catalogue entries, and at any
rate gives the semblance of freedom and closer touch with the books.
=395.= At one time a considerable controversy, often conducted with
surprising feeling, raged in England over the respective merits of
indicator and open access methods. This continued from about 1894, when
James Duff Brown inaugurated the safe-guarded open shelf plus
card-charging method at Clerkenwell (now Finsbury Central) Library. His
liberalizing action necessarily threatened the property of those who
owned indicator patents--some of them librarians unfortunately--and an
astonishing number of objections to each method were then discovered by
the advocates of either (some of them honest). The younger librarians
will have none of this controversy. It is a purely impersonal question
as to which is the better system, and the gradual extension of the open
access system seems to have settled the matter in its favour. It is
clear that with advancing education the public will question the right
of the libraries to erect barriers, however ingenious and practical,
between the books and their readers. All that it seems necessary to say
here is that librarians should be able to examine both systems in actual
working, study the results obtained, and form their own conclusions
without having their integrity or morality challenged because of their
conclusions.
=396.= BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brown, J. D. Charging Systems. _In his_ Library Appliances, p. 20.
Dana, J. C. (_Ed._). The Charging System. _In_ Mod. American Lib.
Econ., 1909.
Plummer, M. W. Loan Systems. U.S. Educ. Rept., 1892-1893, vol. i., p.
898.
Stewart, J. D., and Others. Open Access Libraries, 1915.
Vitz, C. P. P. Loan Work. A.L.A. Man. of Lib. Econ., Preprint of
chapter xxi., 1914.
For articles see Cannons, E 84-106, Lending Library Methods.