Your committee have understood their business to be the preparation of a
note to be addressed to the publishers of periodicals, setting forth the
views of librarians in regard to the issue of title-pages, etc., with
periodicals. They, therefore, submit as their report the accompanying
draft of such a note, with the recommendation that it be sent to the
publishers of all leading periodicals, and that a committee on this
subject be continued, to receive and act upon any correspondence that
may be called out.
THORVALD SOLBERG, }
}_Committee_.
W. I. FLETCHER, }
_Note to publishers of periodicals, as to the furnishing in proper form
of title-pages and contents. This note was drawn up by a Committee of
the American Library Association and was approved by the Association._
As a result of much dissatisfaction among librarians with the
irregularities and uncertainties connected with the issue, by publishers
of periodicals, of title-pages and "contents" of volumes, the American
Library Association has had a special committee considering the subject
with a view to drawing up a suitable memorial to be presented to such
publishers, looking to the securing of more uniformity and propriety in
this matter. After mature consideration the committee have prepared the
following recommendations as embodying the minimum of improvement which
may reasonably be hoped for.
1. Title-pages and tables of contents should always accompany _the
number completing a volume_, and not the first number of a new volume.
[They should be _stitched in, and not sent loose_.] There are several
cogent reasons for this recommendation:
(_a_) In many cases it is a serious detriment to the usefulness of a
set in a library, if a completed volume cannot be bound until the
receipt of the next number.
(_b_) More important is the need that the numbers of a volume shall
constitute the volume in its entirety, so that as they are bought and
sold there shall not be the necessity of handling also another number
belonging to a different volume in order to complete the first. Now
that libraries are buying periodical sets and volumes in such large
numbers for use with Poole's and other indexes, it is of great
importance to the book trade, as well as librarians, and must have a
real bearing on the business interests of the publishers, that this
matter, often trifled with, shall receive due attention. Publishers
must come to feel that if it is necessary (which it generally proves
not to be) to delay a completing number a day or two in its issue in
order to insure its completeness in this respect, the delay is
abundantly compensated for.
2. Title-pages and contents should be furnished _with every copy_ of
the issue of a completing number. We earnestly believe that by
inserting title-pages and contents in all cases publishers will at once
put a premium on the preservation and binding of their magazines,
suggesting it to many who otherwise would not think of it. In the long
run the demand for back numbers to make up volumes must more than
compensate for the extra expense of putting in the additional leaves.
The policy of sending title-pages and contents only to those calling
for them is suicidal, as it results in flooding the market with numbers
from which volumes cannot be made up and by destroying the hope of
making up sets weakens the demand which would otherwise exist for
volumes and numbers of the periodical in question.
If an alphabetical index, in addition to a table of contents, is
furnished, which is the preferable practice, the former should be paged
to go at the end of the volume. When such an index is furnished, and no
table of contents, the index should be printed to follow the
title-page.
3. As to the form in which title-pages and contents should be issued:
they should be printed on a two-, four-, or eight-leaved section,
separate from other printed matter, either advertising or reading.
Nothing is more important in binding volumes to stand the hard wear of
our public libraries than that none of the earlier leaves in the volume
shall be single leaves pasted in. One of the greatest abuses of the
book trade at present is the disposition to have title and other
preliminary leaves pasted in. Librarians find to their cost (what is
not so obvious to the book manufacturer) that this does not work. An
absolute requirement for good bookmaking is that the first and last
portions of the book especially shall be good solid sections--no single
leaves, nor do most librarians or owners of private libraries like to
include advertisements, in order to secure these solid sections for
binding. We feel sure that it is abundantly worth while for the
publishers to squarely meet this demand.
4. Admitting that there may be cases in which it is practically
impossible to furnish title and contents with the completing number of
a volume, we would recommend for such cases that such a separate
section as has been described be made and furnished with the first
number of the new volume, stitched in _at its end_, not at its
beginning. The last-named practice is likely to cause more trouble to
librarians than any other that is common, as it is difficult to remove
the section without making the number unfit to place in the reading
room.
We would like to call the attention of periodical publishers to the
difficulties arising from the common practice of printing some first or
last leaves of reading matter on the same section with some pages of
advertising. Most librarians prefer to remove the advertising leaves
before binding the magazines. The practice referred to makes it
necessary to bind in some advertising leaves or else take off and paste
in single leaves of reading matter, sometimes three or four in one
place, which is very inimical to good binding. Publishers are advised
to have all advertising pages printed on separate sections if possible.
Desiring to meet, so far as possible, the views of publishers in regard
to the matters referred to above, the committee will be pleased to hear
from any to whom this note may come.
Mr. FLETCHER: The committee have corresponded with some of the magazine
publishers, and if any are disposed to consider what is here proposed an
ideal system, your attention may be called to the fact that several of
our magazine publishers are carrying it out. For instance, Houghton,
Mifflin & Co.--I am not mentioning them as superior to others; others
might be mentioned--but in their reply to a tentative letter Houghton,
Mifflin & Co. say that "in all of our publications every one of these
recommendations is strictly carried out." They took pride in replying to
us that they believed they were doing exactly what we wanted--and
several other publishers.
G. M. JONES: I understand the report to recommend that title-pages and
indexes be fastened into the last number of the volume. Now it seems
that in many cases it would be very much better to have them left loose.
The case is this: In almost all public libraries of any size periodicals
are put into some kind of a binder. On many accounts binders which
perforate are the best, but we do not wish to perforate title-page and
index, if we can help it, especially the title-page, and I would like to
inquire why the committee considered it so essential that the title-page
and index should be fastened into the number?
Mr. FLETCHER: These questions were all considered by the committee, and
I would say when I first drew up my suggestion on this point it was that
title-page and index should be sent loose; but I found an overwhelming
argument against that, when we came to consider that they were desired
to be with every completing number; that those completing numbers are
sold to the people in railroad trains and elsewhere and are coming into
the second-hand periodical market, where we must look for many to make
up our sets. Now as to the point which Mr. Jones has spoken of. If the
magazine is to be perforated to be put in the binder, as the completing
number is to have the title and index, as we proposed, in a separate
section, it can be removed by undoing the stitching, or sewing, if it is
sewed. That can be done before it is put into the binder. Of course
there is no necessity for ruining, the stitching in its entirety. There
may be some little objection there, but it is so slight that it seemed
to the committee entirely counterbalanced.
Mr. JONES: Mr. Fletcher's reply is perfectly satisfactory on that point.
W. S. BISCOE: One other suggestion: Do I understand from Mr. Fletcher,
if there is a table of contents, that the index be put after the
title-page?
Mr. FLETCHER: No, the suggestion is that if there is an alphabetical
index and a table of contents, the index should be planned and arranged
at the end of the volume, but that if only an index is furnished, and no
table of contents, that would be in accordance with the usual practice
in such cases--the index should go, like a table of contents, after the
title-page.
Mr. BISCOE: If there is no table of contents the alphabetical index is
to go after the title-page? It seems to me desirable that it should
always go at the end of the volume.
Mr. FLETCHER: I am very glad that point has been called attention to. I
should like it if Mr. Biscoe would suggest an amendment. According to
the report, when such an index is furnished, and no table of contents,
the index should be printed to follow the title-page. We might say: if
an alphabetical index is furnished, it should be paged to go at the end
of the volume.
T. L. MONTGOMERY: Was not the committee's report to provide for the
printing of the alphabetical index in the place of a table of contents,
thereby making it one section?
Mr. FLETCHER: The advantage of that would be that there would be
something to go with the title-page to make up the section. The
title-page should be part of a section for binding as a separate
section. I wonder if most of the librarians present haven't had the same
exasperating experience which I have so often had with those title-pages
which are separate leaves, and have to be pasted into the volume. There
is hardly any practice so vicious in bookmaking as having the title-page
pasted in. It almost always pulls out before the book is in any other
respect at all dilapidated.
A. G. JOSEPHSON: I would suggest that the committee recommend that both
a table of contents and an index should be furnished.
Mr. FLETCHER: The committee would entirely agree to that, and it could
very easily be done. If an alphabetical index, in addition to the table
of contents, is furnished, a practice to be preferred might be to
consolidate them.
Pres. CARR: I think, Mr. Fletcher, you should be able to modify your
report, before printing, to incorporate those suggestions.
F. W. FAXON: If the committee is trying to get at an ideal arrangement,
it might be well to suggest that the publishers of magazines have some
one who knows something about the contents make the index. We have a
magazine in Boston that persists in indexing articles under "a" and
"the," and proper names under "John" and "James." But if the committee
is trying to get a rule that the publishers will be most likely to
adopt, it seems to me they might suggest that the index be published in
each concluding number of a volume, even though the index is put in
place of that many pages of text. Of course it would not do to suggest
that these pages be taken out of advertising, but as the text usually
costs the magazine something, publishers would probably be willing to
devote four of the pages they would have to pay for to an index, which
would cost them much less.
Mr. FLETCHER: I think it would interest the Association to know of an
example that Mrs. Fairchild sent me some time ago of the way these
indexes are made. Some periodical in New York had an article on motive
power for the canals, and in the index it appeared under "Mule, Must the
Canal Go?"
The report was approved and referred to the Council.