Five Miles of Index E. J .
CRANE,
Editor, Chemical Abstracts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
He
l o w would you like to r e a d proof on five miles of index printed in 6-pt. t y p e like rhis with no leads between the lines as shown here?
This is but one of t h e tasks, n o t the biggest one. confronting those who are working to produce t h e Fourth Decennial Index to Chemical Ahstrarts. An indication of the huge size of t h e index is pro-
vided by this rough estimate of the length of one-column proof galleys (printed m a t ter only) which will have to be handled «twice, ten miles altogether) in t h e editor's office and repeatedly by t h e printer. Below is a diagram, a sort of flowsheet, which shows t h e various steps in producing the F o u r t h Decennial Subject Index. A similar picture of t h e Decennial Author Index compilation could be drawn, and it
would show a surprising n u m b e r of problems. I t is v e r y difficult to keep a u t h o r n a m e spellings a n d initials a c c u r a t e , a n d t h e n u m b e r of chemists w i t h like names a n d initials is m u c h g r e a t e r t h a n one would expect. T h e s e call for separation of entries. T h e existence of several transliteration s y s t e m s for R u s s i a n , J a p a nese, a n d Chinese n a m e s presents n u m e r ous complications. Spanish d o u b l e names
COLLECTIVE INDEX BUILDING
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CHEMICAL
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ENGINEERING
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make for difficulty. T h e tendency of Frenchmen t o omit initials or t o give a single initial instead of a full given n a m e is troublesome. Indian names provide problems. Company names for p a t e n t abstracts g e t changed, translated variously, have slightly differently n a m e d branches, e t c . Then there is the everpresent problem presented b y the American and English Joneses and Smiths and such series of German names as Mayer, Meyer, Myer, Mayor; Schulte, Schultz, Schultze, Schultes; and Hufman, Hufm a n n , Huffmann, Huffman, Hofman, Hoffman, Hoffmann, Hofmann. W h o is H . Fischer—Hans, Harriet, Heinrich, Heinz, Hellmut, Hellmuth, Herbert, H e r mann, Hubert, or Hugo? Is K. K a t o Katsugi, Kiyotoki, K o , Konroku, or Kozo Kato? All are in the index. M a n y letters have t o be written. After the 1,600,000 cards for a ten-year period arc run together for the subject index, as shown in the diagram, the first survey is undertaken t o edit the easier small headings, to determine which of 4 0 , 000 cross references to use, to correct a n y inconsistencies in the indexing from year t o year (this correlation work is a t r e mendous, tough, and important operation controlled b y 40,000 inverted cross references), to locate and clip the numerous special-problem cards, and t o decide where the indexing needs t o be brought up t o date because of t h e growth of chemistry during a ten-year period.
Neiv Chemical
ing policy from year to year are necessary and it is very difficult t o avoid scattering. The people who work at the desk for large headings are confronted with a particularly difficult task in preparing the ten-year index t o as comprehensive a journal as Chemical Abstracts, because the avoidance of scattering of entries within such a group is important just as is the avoidance of scattering of information among headings. Imagine the problem of editing the cards under the heading "Steel", for example, where more than 8,000 cards must be handled with enough memory work to bring together like things said differently. Much fuller comment on the problems of this big undertaking would be possible. Perhaps what has been said plus the diagram will give prospective users of the Fourth Decennial Index to Chemical Abstracts some idea of the work winch is
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(1947) and on pages i and ii of the March 20 number of Chemical Abstracts. Combined with quantity production (just to turn over 2,000,000 cards is a task of more than a year for an individual) provision is being made for careful scrutiny of each entry and for a well-integrated product.
A STAFF R E P O R T JT OR two days, March 26 and 27, almost 200 civic leaders from the San Francisco B a y area listened t o informed scientists explain the facts of atomic energy and atomic energy control a t an educational conference sponsored by the Northern California Association of Scientists. The purpose of the meeting, financed by the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, sometimes known as the Einstein Committee, was t o enlist the aid of established opinion-forming groups in explaining the portent, of atomic warfare to the general public. Delegates present represented labor organizations and businessmen's groups, women's clubs and veterans' organizations. T h e press and the clergy were well represented along with political organizations, civic groups, municipal authorities, and social organizations. The conference was divided into three sessions. The first group of talks was made b y the physical scientists who presented the factual information on atomic energy. Phillip Morrison, professor of physics at Cornell University opened the meeting with a brief account of the potentialities of atomic energy for human benefit or human destruction; Selig Hecht, professor of biophysics a t Columbia University, spoke on "Atomic Secrets and National Security"; and the session was completed by Michael Kasha, research associate in chemistry at t h e University of California, who discussed the "Technical Feasibility of the United States Plan for International Control". In the discussion which followed it was agreed that some sort of international control system must be promoted since
Information
25,
described in C H E M . E N G . N E W S , 25,
California Atomic Energy Conference
Chemical Abstracts reports new chemical information. M u c h of this information has to do w i t h pioneering effort in fields in which the nomenclature is naturally u n developed and unstandardized because of t h e newness of the subject matter and t h e lack at t h e early stage of information needed for nomenclature standardization. This means that t h e index is confronted w i t h m a n y nomenclature problems in building a collective index, problems w h i c h are not limited t o t h e naming of c o m pounds. T h e nomenclature of all branches of science in which chemistry plays a part must be considered. Standardization must sometimes be undertaken. T h i s sort of thing is represented in t h e diagram b y the special-problem desk, where it m u s t be decided whether or n o t diffusion factor, spreading factor, R factor, and hyaluronidase, for example, r e p resent the same or different subjects. What are t h e differences, if any, a m o n g cerasin, ceresin, cerasein, keresin, a n d ceresan? What was powder metallurgy called before this phrase was invented, and how can the early entries needed under the heading "Powder metallurgy" be found? T h e hundreds of thousands of entries for organic compounds must be examined w i t h special closeness because m o s t organic compounds can be correctly n a m e d in various ways. S o m e changes in indexV O L U M E
being done for them by a group which must keep up the current work of Chemical Abstracts during a period of rapid expansion. The editorial handling of the printing of the index, with its two miles of author index proof and approximately three miles of subject index proof, all of which must be both checked and read, will be a big task, but it is no more than onefifth of the whole undertaking. An accurate, adequate, consistent, and readily usable index is promised. T h e procedure for subscribing for a copy will be found
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APRIL
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1947
there is no secret of the atom-bomb and no defense against it. It was further agreed that the actions of the control commission should not be subject to the veto power in the United Nations. The panel for the second session was composed of social scientists who discussed the political situation created by the advent of atomic energy. The first speaker, John Parks D a v i s , former associate of the Baruch atomic energy delegation, reported on the status of the United Nations atomic energy negotiations. Harold H. Fisher, director of the Hoover Library on War Revolution and Peace, spoke on the "Outlook for International Agreement" and the session was closed with a talk by William R. Dennes, chairman of the department of philosophy at the University of California. The final session of the conference was introduced b y Laurence Sears, professor of American philosophy and political theory a t Mills College, with a talk titled "The Need for Intelligent Public Action", after which the meeting was thrown open to a round-table discussion of the best means for reaching the public with the information that had been presented during the conference. The consensus of the delegates was that it was necessary to "go to the grass roots" and present the problem to as many community groups as could be reached. It is hoped that a large portion of the California population will come to appreciate w h y t h e great majority of atomic scientists shared Harold Urey's sentiments when he said shortly after Hiroshima, "I a m a frightened man." 1189
