Keeping up with Technical Books' EDITH PORTMAN Mellon Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
T
HE PERIODICAL literature is adequately covered known and a fair estimate of the value of the work may by Chemical Abstracts and similar journals. In be formed from a knowledge of the author and the pubpractically every field of professional interest, one or lisher, and from discussions with others. Quite often more periodicals devote a section to current abstracts, personal acquaintance with a writer has more weight and the specialist considers i t of utmost importance to than any amount of sales talk. consult these sources regularly. Often he need search To make a leisurely examination of a book is without no further. doubt the most satisfactory procedure, though the maAn original source of information and one that indi- jority of us must rely on other sources, such as aucates trends in new developments is the patent litera- nouncemeuts, advertisements, and reviews. Publisbture. It has been asserted that the keen observer of ers are glad to send their announcements and advertiseforeign patents can predict new products and processes ments freely and frequently to anyone who wishes to with a fair degree of accuracy several years in advance be placed on mailing lists for special classes of publicaof any other published descriptions. If possible, the tions. But in considering for purchase have a care. searcher does not restrict himself to United States Many are the pitfalls for the unwary, and it has been patents, because normally French patents are issued my observation that chemists have low sales resistance. much more promptly, and both German and British Naturally, advertisements have but one p u r p o s e t o patents are laid out for public inspection before they sell the product. Their glowing descriptions frequently are issued, thereby revealing the new invention alike to overrate the book and fail to give such important facts associates and competitors. as number of the edition, latest copyright date, and Another source of original material constantly used number of pages. Where a table of contents is given, by chemists is the trade literature issued by manufac- it is often too general and fails to describe the work turers. Here are found many reliable data, detailed de- fully, or it may even impart an erroneous impression. scriptions of processes and products, and illustrations of Librarians have long urged publishers to furnish special equipment not published elsewhere. clear, concise statements about their books and to give There are many guides to the important contributions dates of both the original and the revised editions. of the past, and standard texts on any particular subject There can be no objection to sales efforts provided they are well known. It is with the difficultyof securing ac- are honest publicity. Librarians welcome recent innocurate up-to-date information about new books that vations of certain publishers who include the date of both the chemist and the librarian are vitally concerned, every title in their catalogs. whether the object is the purchase of the book or merely It would be helpful to everyone concerned if new its use for reference or reading. books were announced separately from those that are When we are fortunate in having access to the new more than several months old. Recently we received publications in a good technical library, the problem is an advertisement of a new edition of an important simplified; or, if we learn of the forthcoming book work. To be sure, no date was given for the original through a personal recommendation or otherw~se,we or for the new printing, but it did state that the new may procure i t from the publisher for free examination. edition was a thorough revision and entirely rewritten. But often, with the book a t hand, the librarian, and On the reverse of the leaflet was a description of ana t times even the specialist, cannot form a fair opinion other book that was said to present accurate informaof its worth without careful study. There are, fortu- tion and to cover a range of material never before innately, some clues, some evidences of care or carelessness cluded in one compact volume. Who would be without in preparation by which we may be guided. A preface such treasure-trove? Yet upon investigation it was that states the purpose of the author and the scope of found that "never before" was really never before 1937 the work; a table of contents that indicates logical and s o m e little lapse of time in these changing days of thorough treatment; and, perhaps most indicative of technical progress. all, a good index and accurate bibliographic refereucesThen, too, it is well known that publicity covers only these are sure signs of careful and scholarly preparation. a portion of the books published. The submerged Other indications of good workmanship which should minority may contain a wealth of knowledge which not be overlooked are format, illustrations, and arrange- would reward the persevering seeker. There is no easy ment of subject matter. method of discovering these riches, but there are some Usually authorities in a specialized field are well handy tools. One of t h e s e t h e Publishers' Weeklybrings together the publishers' announcements for the 1 Pxsented before the I>i&ion of Chemical Education of thc American Chnnical Sorivty, 106th meeting, I'ittshurgb. Pennsyl- bene6t of the book trade. Books printed each week are listed alphabetically by authors, with bibliographic vania. Scorcmber 7. 1443.
details and occasional brief annotations. In addition, twice a year i t issues a book promotion number devoted to forthcoming books. Mr. Martin Matheson has suggested that the American Chemical Society might, through Chemical and Engineering News, profitably publish a quarterly list of technical books to be issued during the ensuing 90 days. Since only books in chemistry and chemical technology would be involved, it would seem a simple matter for an assistant editor to write periodically to the publishers asking for titles, authors, tentative publication dates, and probable prices of all new books to be published during the prescribed period. No doubt the publishers would welcome the opportunity to cooperate, and certainly the profession would benefit enormously. Many journals such as Science, Chemical and Metullurgical Engineering, and Nature report books recently received. The Current List of Medical Literature includes a selection from approximately 200 books added to the Army Medical Library each month, and there are other worth-while announcement lists. The notes on new books a t the end of each section in Chemical Abstracts are particularly helpful because they include foreign titles. Librarians also find useful the entries in Industrial Arts Index, the ASLIB Book List, and the Enzineering Index. One of the best sources of information on recent titles is New Technical Books, a quarterly bulletin of the New York Public Library. I t not only reports new technical books in each class, but also includes brief descriptive notes. Publications of government agencies are easily overlooked. Though announcements appear in some technical journals, for the most part we must rely on the semimonthly List of Selected United States Government Publications. This list, arranged by subject with annotations and prices, may be obtained free upon application. A subscription price of $2.00 a year is required for the more complete United States Gmernment Publications Monthly Catalog, which includes processed publications but omits press releases and administrative, regional, and confidential publications. Monthly lists of the publications of the Bureau of Mines, the Geological Survey, and the Department of Agriculture are available upon request to the issuing offices. Several years ago Mr. D. G. Lege~man,~ of the Reinhold Publishing Corporation, conducted a survey to determine what factors influence the librarian's purchase of scientific and technical books. A total of 652 questionnaires was sent to various types of libraries, including special libraries of research laboratories, government departments, and industrial organizations. The 446 replies indicated that librarians depend largely upon the reviews in scientific periodicals. Second place was given to publishers' announcements and advertisements. The results of a similar survey of 42 libraries in the Pittsburgh district, made by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Special Libraries Association, gave corresponding results. It would seem then that librarians still consider reviews the "best single source of informaPublishers' Weekly. July 27. 1940,pp. 23840.
tion" for book selection, in spite of the lapse of time between the appearance of the book and the most dependable reviews. Quite recently the Institute of Radio Engineers inaugurated a policy of publishing book previews prepared from page proof, thereby securing in each instance publication of the review by the time the book is available for sale. The early receipt of the page proof from the publishers and the availability of high-grade speedy reviewers are important considerations, but the editors feel that they are making satisfactory progress in mastering these difficulties. In addition to timeliness, what may the seeker for the best in technical literature require of a good book review? Certainly the first requisite would be full bibliographic details: exact title of the book; author; publisher; place; date; pagination; and price. To "strike the keynote of the book," stating the purpose and planned scope of the work and how well it has been fulfilled, to give the experience and training of the author, the type of reader for whom he has written, definite information on the content of the work rather than a tabulation of contents, to evaluate the book, giving a fair estimate of its worth in comparison with similar texts and earlier editions-all these are desirable. With reviews as with books, the time spent in careful preparation adds to their value and, in consequence, the more thoughtful and critical reviews are often late in appearing. In general, reviews in scientific periodicals are considered better than the reviews in trade journals, which are often inclined to be too generous. We are all familiar with the excellent signed reviews in the publications of the American Chemical Society, where reviewers are selected because of their knowledge of the subjects treated and are given precise instructions. As reviews are published in many scattered magazines i t is not always easy to find the ones of particular interest. The object of the Rmim Index, a quarterly guide for college and reference librarians, is to serve as a key to reviews in leading journals. It merely refers to the reviews and does not give opinions nor information from them. As only a small number of the periodicals it indexes are devoted to pure and applied science, its usefulness to the scientist is limited. The Technical Book Review Index, on the contrary, actually quotes a t considerable length from the reviews themselves. It covers approximately 800 scientific and technical journals and assembles, in condensed form, information from the best reviews of the previous month. Sponsored by the Special Libraries Association, i t is published monthly, except in July and August, under the able supervision of Mr. E. H. McClelland, Technology Librarian of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Mr. McClelland, by the way, was responsible for the original Technical Book Review Index (1917-28) of which the present index is a direct descendant. Though not intended as a guide to all technical books-its purpose being evaluation and appraisal-still it often does give the reader his first acquaintance with many new books. In fact, i t constitutes
the most serviceable source of information for the evaluation of recent technical books. It is for groups distant from large libraries that this service has proved most valuable. More than 200 Army Air Field Libraries are among its subscribers, as well as a number of organizations in foreign countries. We librarians believe that the index is a unique and important aid in the auest for the new method. the better wav. ,. as resented in technical literature.
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The continued effort to keep abreast of the steady flow of new books is indeed a time-absorbing undertaking. As the Queen said to Alice in "Alice Through the ~ ~ ~ k ic s ~~ o where ~, - ~ see, l it ~takes ~ all~ the, ~ running you do to the place, If you want to get somewhere else, you must run twice as fast as that!" To make Progress it would seem that we too must follow the Red Queen's advice. a.
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