ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
EDITORIAL
OCTOBER 1961, Vol. 33, No. 11 APPLIED JOURNALS, ACS Director of Publications, C. B. Larrabee Editorial Director, Richard L . Kenyon Assistant to the Director of Publications Joseph H. Kuney Assistant to the Editorial Director. Rodney N. Hader Director of Editorial Research, Robert F. Gould
ANALYTICAL
CHEMISTRY
Editor, LAWRENCE T. HALLE~T Managing Editor, ROBERTG. GIBES
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Robert J. Kelley
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Contributing Editor: R. H. Miiller Aduisory Board: F . E . Beamish, C. E. Bricker. D. D. DeFord, E. C. Dunlop, C. L. Luke, W. J. Mader, H. V. Malrnstadt, W. B. Mason, F. W. Mitchell, Jr., M. L. Moss, N. H . Nachtrieh, L. B. Rogers, B. F. Scrihner, Sidney Siggia, F . H. Stross Advertising Management REINHOLD PUBLISHING CORP. (For Branch Offices see page 145 A)
Soviet Scientific Literature
LAUNCHING THE FIRST Soviet Sputnik late in 1957 led to much soul OF
searching as to the relative status of science in the U. S. us. the U.S.S.R. Had U. S. scientists been reading Soviet technical literature, this development probably would not have come as such a surprise. A recent National Science Foundation survey shows that out of a group of 150,000 chemists, physicists, and biologists, approximately 2.5% read Russian. The majority of those are of Russian descent and learned the language a t home and not through formal courses. Surprisingly, only 1% read French and 4 % read German. At present, there are approximately 91 Soviet journals being translated, almost all of which are cover-to-cover translations. NSF supports about half of these while U. s. and British government agencies support an additional 25. Private groups in the U. S. and Great Britain account for another 24. NSF granted over $1 million to support this program in the year ending June 30th. Most of the NSF work is done by private groups. NSF states that there are about 22,000 subscribers to translations of 50 of these journals for which subscribers pay about $400,000 a year. Up until the first of the year, the Office of Technical Services (Dept. of Commerce), had been supplying cover-to-cover abstracts of some 100 Russian journals. This effort was discontinued because there were only 188 subscribers to the service. Also surprising is the fa.ct that in 1960 only 237 of 578 depository libraries for government publications had the Monthly Index of Russian Accessions. This bibliographic tool was found in only 16 university libraries, 146 company libraries, and 55 institutes and professional societies. Technical Translations, a monthly OTS publication, has only 1845 subscribers. This lists all of the Soviet translations made by government and private groups in the U. S. and Great Britain. One government official believes, however, that though the number using these Soviet sources is limited, they do so intensively and effectively. The reasons for this seeming lack of interest in the Soviet literature are obscure, but in this discussion they are immaterial. Whether IT.F. scientists feel they are too busy or that there is nothing new to be learned from Soviet sources is a moot point. The point is that apparently, on the one hand, those making use of the translations find them very valuable while, on the other hand, such use isn't as widespread as could reasonably be expected. What can be done about this? One survey to be conducted by ACS, with NSF support, will try to ascertain the needs of ACS members in the area of Soviet technology. Another study supported by NSF will undertake to determine the degree of use of Soviet journals currently translated under that organization's sponsorship. Meanwhile, we are concerned that apparently many scientists feel t'hey can ignore foreign developments as being of no interest.
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