Literature Service for Fuel Chemists' JULIAN F . SMITH* Institute of Gas Technology, Chicago, Illinois
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HE INSTITUTE of Gas Technology, founded in 1941, has for one of its major objectives the "collection and dissemination of scientific information," This phrase expresses a two-way concept of service. I t does not encourage the invitation once used by libraries and still voiced by army mess sergeants; instead of "come and get it" the modern library must say "coming up." Accordingly the Gas Institute Library, l i e a pulp digester, takes in raw material, digests it, and discharges the product through the proper outlets. Some idea of its work may therefore he gained by looking at the inlet and outlet ends.
of engineering over a range of subject matter far wider than fuel technology. Textbooks, reference works, periodicals, government or university bulletins, dissertations, and manufacturers' publications are selected first on the basis of direct relation to gas technology. Many items have been purchased, however, for their relation to the broader subject of nonfuel uses, with chemical utilization as the largest single topic. Similarly, in purchasing copies of U. S. and foreign patents there are many selections which at first glance appear irrelevant to gas technology. Widespread distribution and use of microfilm in libraries necessitated the purchase of a reader. The SVE portable model was selected. A few foreign periRECEIVING INPORMATION odicals not otherwise easily obtainable, and many In assembling a library to serve the entire indus* single references from outside sources, are purchased the term "gas technology" is interpreted broadly. on film. Economy and small space requirement are Thus, in the light of actual or potential developments in advantages; the necessity of using a reader is a disadchemical utilization, fuel gases are candidate materials vantage. for a great variety of processes and products. MoreA microfilm camera (Micro-File, Model D) has also over, the growing trend toward competition between been installed, primarily for routine copying of vital industries rather than between companies necessitates research records so that a copy will be available in case the study of competing fuels or sources of energy, e. g., any record is damaged or destroyed. This unusual electricity. item of technical library equipment is also availale to With such an interpretation of the library's field the gas industry for making copies not conveniently acmuch attention has been given to organic chemistry, cessible elsewhere. unit processes, chemical engineering, and several aspects Aside from the few periodicals received on microfilm, the library receives American and foreign periodicals * Present address: Alien Property Custodian, Chicago, Illinois. by subscription or exchange. British periodicals arrive 1 Presented before the Division of Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society, 106th meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- irregularly but are seldom lost in transit. Russian periodicals are slow to arrive but the situation has imvania. September 7, 1943.
proved considerably in recent months. The Russian literature brings many important papers on fuel chemistry and technology. Periodicals from enemy and enemy-occupied countries are difficult to obtain but some improvement has also been effected in that situation. Patents represent a vital source of technical information. Each week the Oficial Gazette of the U . S. Patent Office and the Canadian Patent Ofice Record are reviewed. Copies of pertinent U. S. patents are purchased, but under present conditions no effort is made to keep up current purchases of pertinent foreign patents. Under normal conditions the current patent file would include British, French, German, and probably Dutch patents.
only through other libraries, subject to the usual terms for interlibrary loans. Nonmembers, however, are not neglected in the library's publication program. The first serial publication in this program is Gas Technology Rm'm, a quarterly survey of literature and patents. It is available to the public by subscription but is sent free to members. Its purpose is to provide a current review of domestic and foreign literature and patents, presented as brief abstracts in a form which can be mounted on index cards. For the present the scope of this review is narrower than the interpretation of gas technology followed in the library's general policy. The reason is that the size of the review must necessarily be limited in the beginning, when the library staff is small and has many other duties. The scope of the review will be broadened as circumstances permit DISSEMINATING INFORMATION wider coverage and as reader interest defines the preInternally. As a graduate school and a research ferred limits. organization, the Institute of Gas Technology has a Some library publications (bibliographies or transladual character. The library's main function in the tions or the like) will be of sufficiently general interest educational program is to provide students and faculty to justify public distribution. Such publicatious will members with all needed reference material for course be offered to nonmembers (individuals, companies, or work and thesis investigations. Another function is to libraries) a t prices calculated to cover publication and act as the editorial office in which reports, term papers, distribution costs, but compilation costs will mainly be a and theses are edited with particular care. This is contribution from the Gas Institute to the gas industry. done to make sure of acceptable quality, but an even Photocopying services are available both to members more vital purpose is to train students in technical and nonmembers, but a higher rate is charged to nonwriting through actual experience under proper guid- members. The principle behind the diierence in ance. rates is that members are expected to pay only for the The library serves the research program essentially actual cost of materials and distribution whiie nonin the same way that industrial research laboratories members are expected to pay a t least part of the adare served by their own libraries. A first requisite is ditional costs, such as the operator's time. to provide in advance all the reference sources most Since this discussion is devoted to "collecting and dislikely to be needed for research planning and guidance. seminating scientsc information" nothing has been A liberal concept of the potential research interests is said about what happens between the inlets and the needed here. outlets of the digester. Not much needs to be said, Work undertaken for the educational or research since a large part of the work is library routine, but a program may prove sufliciently significant to justify single illustrative example may be helpful. The sea report to member companies, or even for public lected example is imaginary, that is, the cited topic has distribution. Thus the library's internal and external not actually been selected as a topic of study up to the services may overlap. present time. To Member Cmfianies. Since the Institute of Gas Suppose, then, that the natural gas industry wants to Technology is a nonprofit membership corporation sup- know the geographical distributiou of natural gas in ported by dues, member companieshave certain borrow- America, and the composition of all known natural ing privileges not granted to nonmembers. A distinc- gases. The library would search books, government tion is also made in distributing the library's publica- publications, and periodicals for data on all known gas tions, some of which are available only to members. fields, and compile published analytical results to show Library publications include bibliographies (reference the nature of the gas from each field. Attention would lists or literature reviews) and occasional translations be given to oil well gases, the composition of wet gas of important papers from foreign languages. When before and after stripping, the impurities in sour gas, these publicatious are of general interest to gas tech- and natural occurrences of nonfuel gases (helium, carnologists they are sent to all members. When pre- bon dioxide, nitrogen, and the like) either alone or in pared as sponsored projects they are available only to hydrocarbon gases. All this information, appropriately the sponsor. In this respect the library's publication classified,would be assembled in a report introduced by program resembles the Gas Institute's research pro- precise definitions of objective, scope, reference sources, gram, which includes fundamental projects financed and thoroughness of literature coverage. from institute funds for all members and sponsored If the report were written for the entire industry it projects carried on solely for the sponsor. would be printed as an institute bulletin and sold to To Fuel Technologistsand Technical Libraries. Loans nonmembers a t a price which would safely cover all from the library to nonmembers are ordinarily made printing and distribution costs. The price to members
would be lower. The cost of compilation would be regarded as a contribution from the Institute of Gas Technology to the industry. If the report were for restricted circulation i t would be mimeographed and issued free to every member. It would then be considered private and its existence would not be publicly announced. Translations from the foreign literature will be similarly treated, each according to its own circumstances. Compilations or translations prepared originally for the institute's educational or research program may be issued to members or may be published, according to their nature. Interlibrary Relations. As a rough estimate it is anticipated that a library of a t least 25,000 volumes will be required for adequate and effective performance of all the library's services to the institute and the gas industry. But even under the most liberal policy of expansion there will always he occasional requests for references not possessed by the library. For this reason, as well as in the interests of the good neighbor policy now favored by enlightened leaders in all industries, active relations are maintained with other
technical libraries. Information is exchanged so that the resources, loaning regulations, and photocopying facilities of other libraries are known. Subject to customary terms, and to the loaning regulations of each library, books and references are loaned or borrowed, photocopies are purchased or supplied, and questions are asked or answered. CONCLUSION
The library of the Institute of Gas Technology is organized to serve three groups: 1. The Gas Institute staff and students, integrating the service closely with the educational and research programs so that each may utilize technical literature with minimum effort and maximum effect. 2. Member companies, to help them gain the greatest possible benefit from the literature either by direct service or as recipients of services rendered to the institute's educational and research programs. 3. The gas industry, through use of the library's facilities and through publication of Gas Technology R&m and other compilations prepared for public distribution.
