PERIODICALS IN THE BUSINESS LIBRARY--HOW TO USE AND HOW TO FILE THEM
The Value of Periodicals
Periodicals are the most fruitful source of information for any
business, and there is periodical literature of value being issued
constantly on every conceivable subject. Every industry and profession
has its journals and in them will be found the latest and best
information.
The value of periodicals in a business organization was very ably
stated some time ago by the secretary of an electrical association, and
as this testimony is not from a librarian but from a practical business
man, it seems worth while to quote as follows:
"The technical or trade journal of today is the livest and most
'up-to-now' assistant a business man has. It is carefully edited,
well-printed, fully illustrated and thoroughly indexed both as to
literary matter and advertisements. It is the 'always ready reference'
of the minute, and the official, head of a department, or even
workman, who does not use it to its fullest capacity, is neglecting
one of his best friends. I have been surprised to find how many of
the larger companies are actually stingy when it comes to paying out
money for subscriptions to their trade and technical journals. They
talk about one, two or three dollars per year as if it were that
many hundreds; they look at the expenditure as if it were an expense
instead of an investment, which, properly handled, will bring good
returns.
"In no other way can any business man, no matter how high or low his
position, keep so fully abreast of the times in his business as by
early and careful perusal of his trade and technical periodical, from
its front to its back cover, and from no other source can he obtain
the 'immediately useful' so well as he can from a well filled and
indexed present volume of those same publications."
"Printers' Ink" has also stated the case as follows:
"The manufacturer, desirous of keeping his finger on the pulse at
Washington, who will spend ten dollars, or fifteen dollars, or
twenty dollars a year for business papers and other periodicals that
specialize with respect to business news from the national capital,
can be pretty well assured that he has every tip that could come to
him via the intelligence office, that asks a fee of fifty or one
hundred dollars per annum. Indeed, it has happened, not once but
dozens of times this past year or two that business journals, etc.,
carried information days and even weeks before it was sent out in
the mimeographed 'letters' and 'bulletins' which the former bureaus
distributed, marked 'confidential' and 'not for publication.'"
The Contents of Periodicals
Not only do periodicals contain lengthy articles on special subjects,
but every item in them from cover to cover is of value; for example,
in engineering periodicals the business library is greatly aided by
the current news notes on books, pamphlets, meetings and people;
information on state and federal legislation; prices of materials and
second-hand material for sale or wanted to purchase, new construction
notes, new devices and best makes of standard supplies.
The brief notes found in current periodicals, announcing the
publication of trade pamphlets, reports of state boards, special
committees, private corporations and bulletins published by
universities, lectures delivered at colleges and papers presented at
state meetings of associations, are most valuable guides in collecting
pamphlets, which although in many cases may be had for the asking,
represent a collection of valuable data which can not be replaced by
the expenditure of any amount of money and yet most of it costs only a
polite letter of request.
Aids in Selection of Periodicals
The business man or the business librarian will first of all desire to
select the periodicals that best cover the needs of his organization.
If he wishes to ascertain the titles of periodicals on special
subjects in order to obtain sample copies for examination, or if he
has the title and wishes to find the frequency of issue, the place of
publication and subscription price, there are several books that give
such information and which should be found in the public library of his
city. It is advisable also for him to see a list of all periodicals
which are on file at his public library with a view to examining those
which may be suited to his immediate needs. The following books will
give information about periodicals on special subjects.
Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual Directory with mid-year
supplement, published by N. W. Ayer, Philadelphia, $10.00.
2400 Business Books, published by H. W. Wilson Company, New York,
1920, price $5.00.
Severance Guide to the Current Periodicals and Serials in the United
States and Canada. A new edition will be published shortly by George
Wahr, Ann Arbor, Michigan, price $6.00. This new edition will contain
a list of House Organs published in the United States. A recent list
of House Organs may be found in Printers' Ink, August 29, 1918, and
subsequent issues, and a list of Employees' Magazines may be purchased
from Printers' Ink for twenty-five cents.
A list of periodicals published by the United States Government can be
obtained free of charge from Superintendent of Documents, Washington,
D. C.
The Checking of Periodicals
[Illustration: Sample of a daily and monthly periodical checking card.
Weekly periodicals are checked on the cards ruled for daily issues.
The back of the daily check card is ruled for "Ordered of," "Price,"
"Date" and "Bill date." They should be filed alphabetically and kept
in a file box on the librarian's desk for quick reference.
=Note.=--As this volume goes to press the Library Bureau announces new
forms for periodical checking cards which are an improvement on those
shown above.]
The care of periodicals is one of the important pieces of work which
consumes a large portion of the business librarian's time. All
periodicals received by the business library are stamped, as soon as
the mail is opened, with the word "Library" and the name of the firm,
and checked on monthly or weekly card records, size 3 by 5 inches,
specially ruled for the purpose and obtainable from library supply
firms. This card record enables the librarian to know if all copies
to date have been received and on the back of the card also provides a
record of expirations and renewals of subscriptions. A notation may be
made also on this card of the names of persons to whom the periodical
is to be regularly sent.
[Illustration: The periodical indexes published by The H. W. Wilson
Company, New York City. This company also publishes an Index to Legal
Periodicals.]
The Indexing of Periodicals
After the periodicals are checked, the librarian should go through them
rapidly, keeping well in mind all the topics of particular interest
to the organization, and also special requests from individuals for
the latest information on subjects, which they have designated as
being of present value to them. It is a good plan also to ask heads
of departments who read periodicals regularly every week, to call the
attention of the librarian to any special articles which they think
valuable and to which they might wish to refer again. This strengthens
the librarian's reading and makes doubly sure that no information of
importance is overlooked.
All articles or items of importance are assigned a subject heading
(which will be discussed in the chapter on cataloging) and a card is
made for the subject card index to periodical material. The trained
librarian will know how to discriminate and reduce this indexing to a
minimum.
Some one may ask at this point why it is necessary for the librarian to
do subject indexing to periodical articles when there are good printed
indexes to them, such as Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature,
Industrial Arts Index, and the Agricultural Index, published by
The H. W. Wilson Company, New York City (samples and prices upon
application) and in addition The Engineering Index, recently acquired
by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and published monthly
in the Journal of that Society with an annual cumulated volume.
There are several reasons why subject indexing must be done by the
librarian; first because these printed indexes do not index many of the
periodicals which are of importance to the business library and second,
because in the periodicals which are covered by these indexes, there
are many items of importance to business firms which are too short to
be entered in the general printed indexes. The time element is also an
important factor in the business library, as the subject card index is
made at once and immediately ready for reference, while the printed
indexes are of necessity never strictly up to date. For example, an
engineering firm was desirous of keeping up to date on all increases
in gas and electric rates throughout the country, due to the increased
cost of production, on account of higher prices of materials. Various
journals reported such items each week, sometimes in not more than a
dozen lines. In such a case the librarian's minute reading and quick
indexing was invaluable, and gave a service not to be expected of the
printed index.
A word should be said, however, at this point in regard to the value of
printed indexes, for example the "Industrial Arts Index." Periodicals
are sealed books without indexes, and printed indexes are invaluable
working tools, first, because no business librarian will attempt
the impossible task of making a subject card for every article of
value in current periodicals, and second, because a live business
organization in these days of sudden changes in economic conditions
cannot possibly foresee every subject in which it may be interested.
When these unexpected subjects arise for which the business librarian
has not made provision, the printed indexes come to the rescue and
serve the need most admirably. The indexes to separate volumes of
individual periodicals, which the publishers issue at the completion
of each volume, and in many cases do not send unless requested to do
so, are not of great value because, with few exceptions, the subject
indexing is poor. Many of them invert the title of the article in
order to enter it under the most striking word which it contains,
without consideration of its real subject content, and without further
consideration of the three, four or more subjects on which the article
is very likely to contain valuable information.
The Circulation of Periodicals
After the periodicals have been read and subject indexed by the
librarian, as necessity requires, and this should be done immediately
on mail delivery, they are sent to the desks of the members of the
organization who are most vitally interested in any special information
which they contain. Methods of circulation vary in different types
of business libraries; some business libraries which serve a large
constituency prefer to make typewritten or mimeographed lists of
subject references to articles in the periodicals received during the
week, and circulate these lists throughout the organization, asking
the men to send to the library for any article they desire to read.
This method does not suit busy executives who have no time to read a
list and make a selection, and who wish the material itself put in
front of them.
Some business librarians route their periodicals, attaching a slip with
a list of names indicating the next person to whom the periodical is to
be sent, when a reader is finished with it. Other business librarians
send the individual periodicals direct to one man only, with a slip
attached calling his attention to the article of special interest to
him. As soon as he is through with the periodical, he puts it in his
outgoing basket and it is returned to the librarian, who sends it to a
second man, with a special note of the contents for him. This method
seems much more desirable than to route periodicals, because they most
often fail to route--they simply side track! The periodical gets laid
aside on some one's desk and the librarian does not know whether it is
being passed along promptly or not, whereas if the periodical is sent
direct to one individual and is not promptly returned, the librarian
goes after it, if it is important that it should go to someone else in
the organization, without unreasonable delay. In large organizations
with hundreds of employes to be reached, the routing of periodicals
is absolutely necessary. The practice of the librarian of one large
corporation is to subscribe for one copy of each weekly periodical for
every five men who desire to read that periodical and one copy of
each monthly periodical for every seven men. To insure quick routing,
the names of delinquents are put at the end of the list of those to
whom the periodical circulates, and the names of the men who have
proved that they pass on the periodical quickly are put at the top of
the list.
[Illustration: Samples of 3 by 5 inch charging cards. These cards may
be purchased in ten colors, ruled in either four or six columns. Some
business librarians put the borrower's record on a white card, and the
record made under the name of a periodical on a colored card. Some
business librarians omit the date of circulation. The initials on the
right hand card shown above, are those of the men in a business office
who are to have the periodical sent to them regularly. The cards
bearing the names of the borrowers should be filed in a charging tray
in alphabetical order, as should also the cards bearing the names of
the periodicals. In a business library, it is not necessary to file by
date as is done in public libraries.
Books loaned from a business library may be charged in a similar
manner, i.e. a card bearing the name of author and title of the book
taking the place of the card bearing the title of the periodical as
shown above. The book card is kept in a pocket, pasted on the front or
back cover of the book, when the volume is not in circulation.]
The circulation or routing slip which is attached to each periodical
bears the following: "Please keep this magazine in circulation. To be
of value it must reach every man on this list within a week. If you
cannot read it now, send it on without checking off your name and it
will be returned to you later. Mark at the right of your name the page
number of any article that you believe should be indexed for future
reference."
A simple loan record on 3 by 5 inch cards specially ruled and of which
illustrations are shown, should be kept under the name of the man to
whom the periodical is sent, and also under the name of the periodical,
in order that the librarian can tell on a moment's notice where any
issue of a periodical is and also what each man has charged against
him. Books and other library material may be charged in the same manner.
Business men in general, so experience proves, exercise no particular
responsibility either to return material or to replace it, for the
business organization has no rules for lending, and the responsibility
of knowing what material is out of the library, where it is, and that
it is brought back or replaced, falls upon the librarian. The business
librarian with his loan record as a guide tactfully asks if the
business man is finished with the material, and if so, collects it; in
some cases the collection is made without asking, when a visit to a
man's office clearly shows that the material is side-tracked and dusty.
This is one of the most tedious duties which falls to the business
librarian's lot, but one of the most important ones, for the function
of the librarian is to get material used freely, and not hoarded.
Business men who always get what they want from their library on a
moment's notice do not appreciate the time and patience such service
requires on the part of their librarian, for no genius is involved in
the case of the librarian who always has ready on the shelves what
is needed. Often a business man who literally wants material on a
minute's notice, is the one who is most careless in cooperating with
the librarian by returning material, and who does not want to stop a
moment to have a loan record made. Sometimes a business man gets in a
hurry for library material, which the librarian says he already has,
but which he insists is not in his office, whereupon the librarian goes
to his office, and pleasantly and often humorously unearths it from the
bottom of the pile of material on his desk or table.
In the matter of the loaning of material the business librarian
certainly has to be characterized by the words "long suffering," for he
must make no excuses and deliver material in spite of the delinquencies
of others. If some one at this point protests that it is unfair to the
business librarian, the answer is, that the business man has a right
to do as he pleases with his own, and that the business librarian
exists to save a busy man from the error of his ways, for it must
be remembered always that the business library is organized to give
service to men of affairs, burdened with large responsibilities. All
business men are not careless in returning material, and certainly
minor employes have no right to be, but it will have to be admitted
that business men, who never think of taking the trouble to return
material are in the majority.
[Illustration: A corner of bound periodicals in the library of H. M.
Byllesby & Company, Chicago. The worth while periodicals devoted to
any one industry are comparatively few and bound volumes do not take
up so much space as might be imagined. A three foot shelf will hold
six or seven years of one periodical.]
The Binding and Filing of Periodicals
After the current periodicals have made their last tour of the
offices they come back to the library to be filed for future use.
What disposition shall be made of them? Shall important articles be
clipped and filed and the remainder of the periodical thrown away, or
shall a complete file be kept for six months or a year and then thrown
away, or shall files be kept complete and bound for permanent books
of reference? The latter method represents the best library practice
for the following reasons. No business organization or business
librarian is prophetical enough to foresee exactly what information
will be useful to keep in a business library for future use, when one
considers the variety of valuable material found each week in the
periodicals, which cover the activities of a certain line of business.
Complete files of bound periodicals constitute one of the most valuable
reference aids that any business library can possess. Clipping valuable
periodicals might in some instances be compared to cutting out an
article from a valuable encyclopedia.
One of the values of having periodicals bound is that they do not get
lost or misplaced or carried off so readily, as a separate number or a
clipping would. Bound volumes do not take up so much space as might at
first thought be imagined, for a three-foot shelf will hold the bound
volumes of the larger size periodicals for a six or seven years period,
and the number of worth while periodicals devoted to any one industry
(excluding of course the annual volumes of societies) are comparatively
few, and twelve to fifteen sets would be the maximum for any one
business library.
The replacing immediately of a lost or mutilated periodical is one of
the important duties of the business librarian, for it is reasonably
sure that the lost or mutilated number has something of real importance
in it, else it would not have been so treated by any member of the
organization; it is also important to replace it as soon as possible,
because often back numbers are difficult to obtain.
Business men as a rule know nothing of the principles of satisfactory
binding and generally give the work to commercial printing
establishments who misplace pages and sections, and make mistakes in
titles and volume numbers in lettering the backs. If a business house
does not have a librarian to supervise its binding, it should be
careful to select if possible a bindery which specializes in library
binding and will do the work in accordance with the best library
practice. An illustration is shown of correct position and style for
lettering the backs of bound volumes.
[Illustration: The "L. B. pamphlet box," the "Wood C. C. pamphlet
case" and a heavy cardboard box covered with book cloth made by H.
Schultz & Co.]
It is not advisable to bind the volumes of every periodical received,
for many are only of passing interest, and while it is advisable to
keep such an unbound file for a year or two, at the end of that time
the librarian will be guided by his experience and use discretion in
disposing of out of date material.
[Illustration: How the back of a bound periodical should be lettered.]
The best method of preserving the current numbers of periodicals which
are to be permanently bound or preserved without binding is by the use
of Library Bureau pamphlet boxes, or similar makes, made in a variety
of dimensions.
The "L. B. pamphlet box" is made of heavy chip-board covered with
glazed paper or black cloth, and half of one side doubles back on
itself permitting of easy consultation without removal of the contents.
These boxes stand on edge like books and are dust proof.
"Wood C. C. pamphlet case" is made of seasoned wood and covered
with durable paper. This case has a closed top and open back and is
therefore not dust proof and has to be taken off the shelf to consult
the contents. For general use the L. B. pamphlet box is preferable
for business library work. Some business libraries also use a specially
made box of heavy cardboard covered with book cloth and with a card
label holder on the back, similar in style to the "Wood C. C. pamphlet
case," and which can be made by any good paper box factory, at prices
ranging from fifteen to twenty cents each on quantities, according to
the size desired. H. Schultz and Company, 519 West Superior Street,
Chicago, Illinois, advertise quotations on stock of this kind. A
photograph is shown of the style of boxes used by the National Safety
Council, Chicago, for filing copies of current circulars which are
distributed to their members.
[Illustration: File boxes used by the library of the National Safety
Council, Chicago, for current circulars for distribution to their
members]
The Clipping of Periodicals
Clipping may be legitimately indulged in, when an article of interest
is found in a single number of a periodical, to which the library does
not subscribe. Newspaper items, of course, must always be clipped and
there will be always material like printed leaflets which will require
the same kind of filing as clippings.
Clippings are best filed in vertical file units, and methods of filing
and indexing are discussed in Chapter VI. The "U-File-M" binder strips
manufactured by the U-File-M Manufacturing Co., Syracuse, New York, are
exceedingly useful and satisfactory for fastening clippings, single
sheets or thin booklets into vertical file folders. These strips
need to be visualized by samples in order to clearly understand how
they work, but they can be described in general as gummed strips a
half-inch in width and 11 inches long with forty-four gummed tabs
one-eighth of an inch wide affixed, which can be pulled out from under
a protecting strip with the finger nail. The eleven-inch strip or any
cut off portion, can be glued horizontally or vertically into a folder
and papers or clippings attached by the gummed tabs.
Business firms who wish to keep up with any special information
appearing in the daily press often employ a press clipping bureau.
Such service always furnishes quantity rather than quality, as no
attempt is made to select only items of real value. For example, a
firm specializing in the manufacture of canned milk ordered a clipping
bureau to send it all newspaper clippings on milk and among the
clippings sent was one of a milkman arrested for speeding, and similar
clippings were frequently sent. If very special information from the
daily press is desired the clipping should be done by a person within
the organization who has intimate knowledge both of the subject and of
the need.
SOME DEALERS IN BACK NUMBERS OF PERIODICALS
Abrahams Book Store, 145 Fourth Avenue, New York City.
F. W. Faxon Company, Boston, Massachusetts.
The H. W. Wilson Company, New York City.