BILIND SPOT IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH EXPENDITURE B Y E. J . CRANE 1325 Kingsgate Road, Columbus 21. Ohio
t h e f a c e of the g r e a t s u r g e of r e s e a r c h . Too often p a p e r s m u s t be t u r n e d down, delayed, o r cut too s t r e n u o u s l y . Abstracting and indexing j o u r n a l s a l s o a r e struggling. Some cannot c o v e r t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e f i e l d s completely. Some find full and effective indexing too expensive. A few scientific f i e l d s a r e not s e r v e d a t a l l by a b s t r a c t s and i n d e x e s , s t i l l the m o s t effective method of making information available. With Chemical A b s t r a c t s i n the p i c t u r e c h e m i s t s a r e s a i d t o f a r e b e t t e r a s t o availability of needed information than do o t h e r s c i e n t i s t s , but s t i l l approaching c o m p l e t e n e s s of c o v e r a g e , has i t s s t r u g g l e s . Indexing d e l a y s have o c c u r r e d i n a p e r i o d of prolonged rapid growth in world-wide c h e m i c a l r e s e a r c h , and full u s e f u l n e s s through wide distribution has been t h r e a t e n e d b e c a u s e of the n e c e s s i t y of i n c r e a s e d subscription prices. It i s p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e r e has been s o m e lag in t h e s u p p o r t of a b s t r a c t i n g and indexing s e r v i c e s b e c a u s e of e n t h u s i a s t i c hope f o r b e t t e r methods of gaining needed information by m e a n s of mechanized p r o c e d u r e s . A b s t r a c t s and i n d e x e s have been r e f e r r e d to a s constituting an obsolete method. N o method i s obsolete until a b e t t e r method has been found. The effort to use machines for literature searching i s e m i nently t o be commended and encouraged. C A i s constantly seeking b e t t e r methods. Some p u r p o s e s a r e being s e r v e d a l r e a d y in t h i s m e chanical m a n n e r and o t h e r s will follow, but i t i s the c o n s i d e r e d opinion of many w e l l - i n f o r m e d d o c u m e n t a l i s t s that a b s t r a c t s and indexes will continue to be needed f o r a long t i m e , p e r h a p s indefinitely, along with expensive m a c h i n e s that will s e r v e s p e c i a l p u r p o s e s in the l a r g e r i n s t i tutions. A b s t r a c t j o u r n a l s should not s u f f e r f o r s u p p o r t t i l l they a r e effectively r e p l a c e d . It will be difficult t o find effective plans f o r making r e s e a r c h funds e n c o m p a s s p r o v i s i o n f o r r e a l availability of t h e r e s u l t s obtained. Difficulty should not block a c c o m p l i s h m e n t . P a g e c h a r g e s f r o m r e s e a r c h funds now pay in p a r t f o r s o m e p r i m a r y publication. Recognition of t h e s h o r t s i g h t e d n e s s of neglect of the working p r o c e d u r e s f o r r e a l i z i n g availability i s u r g e n t . Such recognition will s u r e l y s t i m u l a t e the finding of ways t o m a k e r e s e a r c h funds s t r e t c h f a r enough t r u l y t o fulfill t h e i r whole p u r p o s e .
Availability f o r g e n e r a l u s e of the r e s u l t s of r e s e a r c h i s a frequsently overlooked or u n d e r e s t i m a t e d e s s e n t i a l among the objectives of s c i e n t i f i c inquiry. P r o v i s i o n of r e s e a r c h funds f o r doing the investigational work i s g e n e r o u s . Often t r a g i c a l l y inadequate i s p r o v i s i o n f o r s y s t e m a t i c ally r e co r d h g the new information obtained and f o r keying i t to s e r v e f u r t h e r p r o g r e s s effectively. As a m a t t e r of purposeful allocation and a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of r e s e a r c h funds a way should be found to round out undertakings f o r full utility. Stopping s h o r t tends t o defeat t h e m o s t significant f a c t o r f o r p r o g r e s s . Stopping s h o r t - - t h i s i s p e r h a p s u s u a l l y not recognized a s o c c u r r i n g . It h a s been c u s t o m a r y f o r individual scientist.s through t h e i r p r o f e s sional o r g a n i z a t i o n s (d.ues and s u b s c r i p t i o n s ) plus l i b r a r i e s and o t h e r s u b s c r i b e r s t o finance m u c h of the r e c o r d i n g and keying of new s c i entific information. Too often i t i s taken f o r g r a n t e d that they c a n continue t o do t h i s a d e quately. With r e s e a r c h booming, individual s c i e n t i s t s and h a r d - p r 'e s s ed l i b r a r i e s cannot c a r r y the giant's s h a r e of the load. T h e r e a r e billions f o r r e s e a r c h , inadequate m i l l i o n s f o r s t o r i n g the valuable product. What d o e s i t avail to build mountains of i n f o r m a t i o n if much of the new knowledge is not filed effectively? Too often a s c i e n t i s t who could u s e the new information f o r application o r f u r t h e r scientific p r o g r e s s i s without e f f e c tive m e a n s of l e a r n i n g a l l that o t h e r r e s e a r c h w o r k e r s in his field have a c c o m p l i s h e d . I s it w i s e t o build a magnificent and potentially u s e ful s t r u c t u r e filled with u r g e n t l y needed t r e a s u r e and then not p r o v i d e f o r adequate a p p r o a c h e s , enough d o o r s , and unlocked r o o m s ? It is recognized t h a t i n competitive i n d u s t r y a c o n s i d e r a b l e d e g r e e of s e c r e c y i s r e a s o n a b l e and that s o m e informat.ion l e a r n e d i n g o v e r n m e n t a l l a b o r a t o r i e s m u s t be c l a s s i f i e d . E v e n s o , i n d u s t r i a l s e c r e c y and national c l a s s i f i c a tion probably g o f u r t h e r than f a r s e e i n g wisdom would d i c t a t e . However, the p u r p o s e h e r e i s not t o plead f o r t h e overcoiming of r e l u c t a n c e t o publish, but r a t h e r to s e e k a r e a l i s t i c attitude toward the s u p p o r t of both p r i m a r y and s e c o n d a r y publication of scientific: i n f o r m a t i o n f r e e l y i n tended f o r g e n e r a l u s e , a s m o s t i s . Too m a n y s c i e n t i f i c j o u r n a l s publishing o r i g i n a l p a p e r s a r e unatble t o do t h e i r b e s t in
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E . J . CRANE
In t h e s e days of booming r e s e a r c h , a b s t r a c t journals have a growing t a s k which p r e s e n t s many p r o b l e m s . But t h i s i s no t i m e t o f a l t e r . The need f o r such s e r v i c e s grows with t h e i r
task. After a l l , the cost of availability is but a tiny fraction of the cost of r e s e a r c h . Not tiny a t a l l i s the utility of availability of scientific information,
SYMPOSIUM O N DOCUMENTATION AND SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION IN CHEMISTRY, Milan, Italy, November 9-10, 1961 Sponsored by the IUPAC, the F e d e r a t i o n of Scientific and Technical Societies of Milan, and the Lombardy Section of the Italian Chemical Society, and organized by the F r e n c h C e n t e r of Technical Documentation and Exchange, the symposium will tentatively cover: (1) Publication of L i t e r a t u r e Status of the publication of chemical l i t e r a t u r e ; methods of improvement. New methods of publication. Gaps in the chemical l i t e r a t u r e in c e r t a i n languages. The t r a n s l a t i o n problem.
( 2 ) Documentation and Information S e r v i c e s Status of t h e s e s e r v i c e s (public and p r i v a t e ) in the various c o u n t r i e s ; cooperation among t h e m . Methods used f o r collecting, using, and distributing l i t e r a t u r e ; improvement of methods. Availability of l i t e ratu r e. (3) C u r r e n t and Retrospective L i t e r a t u r e Reference S e r v i c e s Status of chemical l i t e r a t u r e r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e s and t h e i r possible p r o g r e s s . Cooperation among l i t e r a t u r e r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e s . Questions on s t a t u s r e p o r t s . New types of l i t e r a t u r e r e f e r e n c e s e r v i c e s , e.g., Chemical T i t l e s .
(4) Automation of Information Retrieval Exposition of e x p e r i m e n t s , in p r o g r e s s o r projected, on automatic coding of d a t a , selection of l i t e r a t u r e , and information r e t r i e v a l , with machines o r electronic c o m p u t e r s . Linguistic, s e m a n t i c , and machine construction p r o b l e m s that m u s t be faced. Attendance will be limited by invitation t o 50 o r 60, except f o r the opening s e s s i o n , which will be public. Texts of p a p e r s o r communications m u s t be in the s e c r e t a r y ' s hands ( M r . Luigi Satta, 18 via T u r a t i , Milan) by August 31 f o r distribution to p a r t i c i p a n t s before the meeting.
