FILING SMALL PRINTED ITEMS for REFERENCE A. P. SY University of Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
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UCH of the professional man's daiiy mail is second class, and much of this finds its way into the wastebasket sooner or later, usually sooner. But this second-classmail also includes many items that have a value which warrants their preservation for future reference. Among these items are reprints, pamphlets, monographs, catalogs, clippings, reports and bulletins of government bureaus, experiment stations, hospitals, universities, research organizations,and the like. Most of us know something about the Dewey and the Library of Congress systems of classification and indexing. But if we were to attempt to use either of them to index our second-class mail, the latter would probably be hidden or lost as effectivelyas if it had been put into the wastebasket in the h t place. I have tried it and know. The following scheme, which I have used for years, is simple, inexpensive, and efficient. I t is much less complicated than the description might indicate, and it makes the items indexed instantly available. The equipment required is inexpensive, as follows: 1. Ordinary book-shelf space. It need not be in a bookcase; plain shelves, tops of desks or any other convenient place may be used. 2. Regular library index cards, and any convenient case or drawer for filimg them. Index filiig cabinets or outfits can now be bought very reasonably. 3. A small rubber stamp with your name and the abbreviation "No." (for number). My stamp looks like this:
When more than one card is made for an item, each card of course must be given the same number which appears on the item. 4. File the index cards alphabetically, and file the items on the shelf in numerical order. To illustrate, let us index the following items. descriptive "Thermit mill and foundry practice"catalog containing interesting data on thermit and its uses. The upper left-hand corner is stamped and numbered 1. The title of the item is written or typed on a library card and the latter stamped and numbered 1. "Nutritive value of evaporated milk"--circular issued by the Evaporated Milk Association. Stamped and numbered 2. Title written on a library card and numbered 2. "Analysis and composition of California lemon and orange oils." Technical Bulletin of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, No. 241. Stamped and numbered 3. This item will require two index cards, one for "Lemon" and another for "Orange." Each card is numbered 3. "Tests of various aliphatic compounds as fumigants"-U. S. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 162. Stamped and numbered 5. One card (Fumigants). "Electronic interpretation of oxidation and reduction," W. A. Noyes, reprint, 3. Am. Chem. Soc.Stamped and numbered 6. Two cards: Electronic, and Oxidation and reduction. "Polyneuritis from tricresyl phosphate" (Jamaica Gmger Paralysis Cases). Stamped and numbered 7. Three cards: Polyneuritis, Tricresyl, and Jamaica ginger. We have now indexed six items, and have made ten cards. The items are placed on the shelf in numerical order, and the cards are filed alphabetically. Most items to be fled are published with a serial Later, when looking for informationon Jamaica ginger, number and it is necessary to give them your own we look under "J" and find that we have a reprint numbers. on that subject numbered 7 in our collection. Information on orange oil can be found in item No. 3. The plan for 6 h g is as follows: As the index grows there may be a number of refer1. Collect or lay aside the items you think should ences on the same subject. For example, orange oil Clippings or single leaf items be preserved and fled. may be placed in envelopes or pinned to heavy paper. may have half a dozen cards, each referring to a differ2. About once a month the accumulated items are ently numbered item. Since the items are arranged stamped in the upper left-hand comer of the front page, numerically they can be quickly located. Unlike books on library shelves, our collection of and given consecutive numbers. 3. After the items have been numbered make one items grows only in one direction. This obviates conor more index cards for each item according to its stant rearranging of shelves. Items and the corresponding index cards which are no nature and title. Cross-indexing will suggest itself according to your own interest in the item indexed. longer considered of value or interest, can be easily 521
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removed. I t is not necessary to replace them by new items and cards. In numerical arrangements items are not easily misplaced. If they are misplaced, the errors are quickly detected and corrected. The system can be expanded to the limit of shelf space available. My own collection now contains 1410 items, occupying 14 feet of shelf room, or about 100 items per foot.
If time is available, the index may be made more informative by an abstract on the title card. Sometimes the items are so small that they can be pasted on the index card. This is especially true of clippings. Under these circumstances the items are not numbered, and of course are not shelved. Other modifications or additions will suggest themselves when the scheme is used with diierent items or for diierent purposes.
