THE UTILITY AND EFFECTIVENESS O F ABSTRACT CARDS IN TECHNICAL REPORTS* BY A L F R E D M. ANZALONE Plastics Technical Evaluation Center, Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, New Jeisey
f o r c h e m i s t s t o 5970 f o r m a t h e m a t i c i a n s . T h e r e m a i n i n g c o r r e l a t i o n s w e r e : 8470 f o r e n g i n e e r s , 73% f o r p h y s i c i s t s , and 7270 f o r a d m i n i s t r a t o r s .
T h e D e p a r t m e n t of D e f e n s e , s i n c e 1957, h a s r e q u i r e d t h a t a b s t r a c t c a r d s s h a l l b e included i n a l l t e c h n i c a l r e p o r t s published within i t s j u r i s d i c t i o n . T h e s e c a r d s m u s t be p r i n t e d f o u r t o a s h e e t , t h e n u m b e r of s h e e t s being d e t e r m i n e d by t h e n u m b e r of c a r d s r e q u i r e d . The c a r d s contain a c o m p l e t e c i t a t i o n , an a b s t r a c t , s u b j e c t h e a d i n g s , and u n i t e r m s . The c a r d s w e r e intended o r i g i n a l l y t o p r o v i d e l i b r a r i a n s w i t h a t o o l s i m i l a r t o t h e L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s catalog cards. To determin'e what other u s e s these cards m a y be s e r v i n g , ,the P i c a t i n n y A r s e n a l L i b r a r y d e c i d e d t o p o l l a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e g r o u p of O r d nance C o r p s l i b r a r y u s e r s . F i v e h u n d r e d q u e s t i o n n a i r e s w e r e d i s t r i b u t e d within t h e A r s e n a l , and fifty q u e s t i o n n a i r e s w e r e s e n t t o e a c h of eight o t h e r A r m y O r d n a n c e i n s t a l l a t i o n s . D i s t r i b u t i o n , , c o l l e c t i o n , and r e t u r n w e r e l e f t t o t h e L i b r a r i a n a t e a c h i n s t a l l a t i o n . Of t h e 900 q u e s t i o n n a i r e s d i s t r i b u t e d , 429 (4870) w e r e returned. Each respondent was asked t o keep a r e c o r d of all r e p o r t s r e c e i v e d f o r one week. He w a s t h e n t o i n d i c a t e t h e n u m b e r of t h e s e which contained a b s t r a c t c a r d s and a l s o t h e n u m b e r t h a t did n o t , but did include a n a u t h o r ' s a b s t r a c t . T h e s e r e s u l t s showed t h a t 4370 of t h e r e p o r t s contained a b s t r a c t c a r d s , 1970 contained only a n a u t h o r ' s a b s t r a c t , and 3870 contained n e i t h e r . T h u s , 6270 of all t h e r e p o r t s e x a m i n e d contained s o m e type of a b s t r a c t o r a b s t r a c t c a r d . P e r h a p s t h e m o s t significant hypothesis i n d i c a t e d by t h i s study w a s t h a t a c o r r e l a t i o n e x i s t s b e t w e e n t h e d e g r e e of u s e of t h e a b s t r a c t c a r d s and t h e vocation of t h e u s e r . All but one of t h e 429 r e s p o n d e n t s gave t h e i r v o c a t i o n s : 259 w e r e e n g i n e e r s , 6 1 w e r e c h e m i s t s , 4 1 w e r e p h y s i c i s t s , 22 w e r e m a t h e m a t i c i a n s , and 18 w e r e a d m i n i s t r a t o r s who did not o t h e r w i s e identify t h e m s e l v e s . T h e r e m a i n i n g 27 indicated mis cellaneous vocations. Of t h e 4 2 8 r e s p o n d e n t s who indicated t h e i r vocation, 354 found s o m e u s e f o r a b s t r a c t c a r d s . Correlating vocations with reported u s e (Table I A ) , we obtain a r e l a t i o n s h i p v a r y i n g f r o m 9530
TABLE IA Correlation Between Use of Abstract Cards and Vocation
TABLE IB
Vocations
95% (58 Out Of 61) 84% (216 out of 259) 73'70 (30 Out O f 41) 72% ( 1 3 Out O f 18) 59% ( 1 3 Out O f 2 2 ) 8970 ( 1 3 Out of 22)
Chemists Engineers Physicists Administrators Mathematicians Others (miscel.)
83% (354 out of 428)
Total
Use of Author's Abstract When There Is No Abstract Card
~~~
It w a s a l s o questioned w h e t h e r t h e a u t h o r ' s a b s t r a c t w a s u s e d i f a n a b s t r a c t c a r d w a s not included. T h e s e r e s u l t s have a l s o b e e n r e l a t e d t o t h e vocation of t h e r e s p o n d e n t s . In T a b l e I B we s e e a l m o s t t h e s a m e r e l a t i v e u s e as b e f o r e , e x c e p t f o r t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e group. However, t h e r e w a s only a 1% d i f f e r e n c e between p h y s i cists and a d m i n i s t r a t o r s i n T a b l e IA; and t h e 370 d i f f e r e n c e between t h e m h e r e is not c o n s i d e r e d significant Next, e a c h p e r s o n w a s a s k e d t o i n d i c a t e how he obtained h i s r e p o r t s f r o m t h e l i b r a r y . T h e r e p l i e s showed t h a t 4470 v i s i t e d t h e l i b r a r y , 3870 r e q u e s t e d r e p o r t s by m a i l , 10% by telephone, and 970 indicated n o p a r t i c u l a r method a t all. If we c o m p a r e ( i n T a b l e 11) p e r s o n a l v i s i t s with mail r e q u e s t s as t h e m e t h o d f o r obtaining r e p o r t s , we find t h a t t h e p r e f e r e n c e s by vocation f o r m two d i s t i n c t g r o u p s . One g r o u p i n c l u d e s t h e c h e m i s t s and m a t h e m a t i c i a n s , who, c o n c e i v a b l y , p r e f e r , two t o o n e , t o v i s i t t h e l i b r a r y , s e a r c h through t h e c a t a l o g s and i n d e x e s , and t h e n obtain t h e d e s i r e d m a t e r i a l s a c r o s s t h e d e s k . T h e s e c o n d g r o u p c o n s i s t s of t h e e n g i n e e r s , p h y s i c i s t s , and a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , who a r e evenly divided between b o r r o w i n g L i b r a r y m a t e r i a l s i n p e r s o n and by m a i l . H e r e again, a c o r r e l a t i o n c a n b e m a d e between t h e vocation of t h e u s e r and t h e method u s e d t o obtain r e p o r t s .
.
"Presented before the Division of Chemical Literature, ACS National Meeting, St. Louis, Mo., March 28, 1961.
33
A L F R E D M. ANZALONE
34
TABLE Il CORRELATION BETWEEN METHOD FOR OBTAINING LIBRARY MATERIAL AND VOCATION USER: GROUP 1: Personal Visits
Mail Requests
Phone Requests
Chemists:
59
22
Mathematicians: 23
11
125 2.1
44
2:l
GROUP 2: Eneineers: 246
268
85
49
18
l!l
Physicists:
49 1:l
Administrators: 21
22
21
1:l
The m a i n objective of t h i s study w a s t o d e t e r m i n e t h e r e a s o n s f o r u s e of the a b s t r a c t c a r d s . Of t h o s e replying t o the f o u r c h o i c e s given, 33% indicated t h e y u s e d a b s t r a c t c a r d s t o r e q u e s t t h e r e p o r t a t a l a t e r d a t e , 34% u s e d t h e m in compiling a p e r s o n a l bibliographic f i l e , 7170 u s e d t h e m a s a s u b s t i t u t e f o r reading t h e r e p o r t i t s e l f , and 44% u s e d t h e m a s a p r e l i m i n a r y t o reading t h e a c t u a l r e p o r t . ( T h i s 44% i s c o m p a r a b l e t o t h e 467'0 obtained i n 1950 by Gray1 who s u r v e y e d u s e of a u t h o r ' s a b s t r a c t s in t h e p h y s i c s l i t e r a t u r e . ) The p e r c e n t a g e s include m u l t i p l e a n s w e r s given by s o m e r e s p o n d e n t s . A f i n a l q u e s t i o n w a s designed t o e l i c i t cons t r u c t i v e c r i t i c i s m f r o m t h o s e r e s p o n d e n t s who did not indicate any u s e of a b s t r a c t c a r d s . N e v e r t h e l e s s , e v e n a few of t h o s e who d o u s e t h e m a t t i m e s gave c r i t i c i s m s . P r o b a b l y they would u s e a b s t r a c t c a r d s extensively i f s o m e changes w e r e m a d e . A l t o g e t h e r , t h e r e w e r e 238 r e p l i e s i n d i c a t ing r e a s o n s f o r n o n - u s e o r l e s s f r e q u e n t u s e of a b s t r a c t c a r d s ( T a b l e 111). Nineteen p e r c e n t . of t h e s e indicated t h e y would u s e the c a r d s i f s o m e changes w e r e m a d e , 15% specified d e f i n i t e l y t h a t they had no u s e f o r a b s t r a c t c a r d s , and 11% did not know t h a t a b s t r a c t c a r d s could be detached f r o m the r e p o r t s . All r e a s o n s cited a r e given in Table 111. Of 429 q u e s t i o n n a i r e s r e t u r n e d , 837'0 of the respondents considered the c a r d s useful. Chemi s t s u s e t h e c a r d s m o s t , then t h e e n g i n e e r s , p h y s i c i s t s , a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , and m a t h e m a t i c i a n s . T h e r e is a definite r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e d e g r e e of u s e of a b s t r a c t c a r d s and t h e v o c a tion of the u s e r . O u r d a t a s u g g e s t a s i t u a t i o n
TABLE I11 REASONS FOR NON-USE OR LESS-FREQUENT USE OF ABSTRACT CARDS:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19% .................. 15 ........... 11 ................................. 8 ............................. 7 ........................ 7 ................................. 6 ................... 4 ............ 4 ............. 4 ................................. 2 ................................. 13 TOTAL . . . . .100%
Would use if some changes were made. Have no use at a l l for abstract cards Did not know abstract cards could be detached Poor abstract Not enough copies. Prefer to read report itself Poor citation Abstract cards not used universally Avoided use because of security classification Did not know abstract cards were available, Poor format. Other reasons
analogous t o t h e conclusions r e a c h e d by o t h e r i n v e s t i g a t o r s . T h u s , H e r n e r 2 and Maizel13 t r i e d t o r e l a t e t h e u s e of the l i t e r a t u r e t o t h e c r e a t i v i t y of t h e s c i e n t i s t . They concluded t h a t the c r e a t i v e s c i e n t i s t p r e f e r r e d t o b r o w s e in t h e l i b r a r y , u s e t h e i n d e x e s , and t h e n s e l e c t h i s own m a t e r i a l . On the o t h e r hand, t h e l e s s - c r e a t i v e s c i e n t i s t p r e f e r r e d t o obtain a d i g e s t o r a b s t r a c t of t h e o r i g i n a l t o s a v e t i m e and m e e t r e q u i r e d d e a d l i n e s . Since he c a n d o t h i s a t his own p l a c e of w o r k , he m a y not need t o v i s i t the L i b r a r y but c a n o r d e r his s e l e c t i o n s by m a i l o r telephone. A b s t r a c t c a r d s do m e e t a s p e c i f i c need of t h e u s e r . T h i r t y - f o u r p e r cent. of the r e s p o n d ents stated they used a b s t r a c t c a r d s in compiling a p e r s o n a l bibliographic f i l e . Maizel13 r e ported that chemists p r e f e r to maintain t h e i r own p e r s o n a l index c o n c u r r e n t with t h e one m a i n t a i n e d by t h e l i b r a r y . He f u r t h e r s u g g e s t e d t h a t copies of c a r d s u s e d i n the L i b r a r y should be d i s t r i b u t e d t o c h e m i s t s t o help t h e m m a i n t a i n t h e i r own p e r s o n a l f i l e s . Additional c o n f i r m a t i o n can be found in a r e c e n t Scandinavian study4 which r e p o r t e d t h a t 50% of the r e s p o n d e n t s m a i n t a i n e d p e r s o n a l i n d e x e s . T8rnudd4 found t h a t 677'0 of his r e spondents kept p e r s o n a l i n d e x e s . T h i r t y - t h r e e p e r c e n t . of t h e r e s p o n d e n t s t o t h i s question a l s o indicated t h a t t h e s e a b s t r a c t c a r d s a r e used to request the s a m e r e port at a l a t e r date. This can be considered an additional r e a s o n f o r m a i n t a i n i n g a p e r s o n a l file. L a s t of a l l , 71% of t h i s g r o u p indicated t h a t the a b s t r a c t c a r d s a r e u s e d as a s u b s t i t u t e f o r t h e r e p o r t i t s e l f . Maizel13 r e p o r t e d t h a t 58% of t h e m o s t c r e a t i v e g r o u p and 5970 of the middle group thought t h a t a good a b s t r a c t could e l i m i n a t e t h e need t o look a t t h e o r i g i n a l publication; 4470 of the l e a s t c r e a t i v e group had t h e s a m e opinion. Since t h e s e r e s u l t s w e r e m e r e l y opinions e x p r e s s e d by the r e s p o n d e n t s , a s c o m p a r e d t o d a t a on a c t u a l u s e r e q u e s t e d in o u r s u r v e y , t h e 10 t o 2 0 % d i f f e r e n c e s in the r e s u l t s d o not s e e m u n r e a s o n a b l e .
ABSTRACT CARDS IN TECHNICAL R E P O R T S
35
REFERENCES (1) D. E. Gray, American Journal of Physics, Is, 417 (1950). (2) s. Herner, C & E News, 2317 (1956). (3) R E. Maizell, "Information Gathering Patterns and Creativity:
A Study of Research Chemists in an Industrial Research
Laboratory," New York, Columbia University, 1957, p. 141. (4) International Conference On Scientific Information, "Proceedings, Washington, D. C., National Academy of SciencesNational Research Council, 1959, p. 812. "
WORLD'S SCIENTIFIC PERIODICALS Scientific and t e c h n i c a l s e r i a l publications of t h e w o r l d w i l l be t h e s u b j e c t of a study t o be conducted by t h e S c i e n c e and Technology Divis i o n of t h e L i b r a r y of C o n g r e s s t h r o u g h s u p p o r t f r o m t h e N a t i o n a l S c i e n c e F o u n d a t i o n . T h e study h a s two o b j e c t i v e s : a c o m p i l a t i o n of a bibliogr a p h y of s o u r c e s on s c i e n t i f i c and t e c h n i c a l s e r i a l s and, b a s e d on a study of t h e s e s o u r c e s , a count of t h e c u r r e n t s e r i a l t i t l e s of t h e w o r l d by c o u n t r y and b.y s u b j e c t . T h e b i b l i o g r a p h y and t h e c e n s u s will s e r v e t h e p u r p o s e of b r i n g i n g u n d e r b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l c o n t r o l a body of l i t e r a t u r e e s s e n t i a l t o l i b r a r i a n s i n planning a c q u i s i t i o n a l and informationa.1 s e r v i c e s . At t h e p r e s e n t t i m e , t h e World L i s t of Scientific Period=, p u b l i s h e d i n 1952, i s
the b a s i s f o r e s t i m a t e s of t h e n u m b e r of s c i entific s e r i a l s c u r r e n t l y being published throughout t h e w o r l d . T h e d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e p r e s e n t study and s u c h publications a s t h e L i s t and the 1956-57 UNESCO study, S t a t i s t i c s of N e w s p a p e r s and O t h e r P e r i o d i c a l s , i s that t h e p r e s e n t study will s e r v e a s a s o u r c e both f o r i n f o r m a t i o n c o n c e r n i n g t h e m o s t r e c e n t l y publ i s h e d b i b l i o g r a p h i e s of scientific s e r i a l s and f o r a v e r i f i a b l e s t a t i s t i c a l count b a s e d on t h e s e sources. T h i s I - y e a r study will be u n d e r the d i r e c tion of C h a r l e s M. Gottschalk, Head of t h e R e f e r e n c e S e c t i o n i n the S c i e n c e and T e c h n o l ogy Division. P r e l i m i n a r y r e s u l t s a r e exp e c t e d to be published in s i x m o n t h s .
