Operating an Abstracting and Information Service within an Industrial Organization W. C . E. BARNES Arc Manufacturing Company, Ltd., London, England
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N AN industrial concern with a varied field of interests the amount of time a t the disposalof the various departments is not sufficientfor keeping abreast with 1
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which might otherwise be overlooked, may readily be brought to the notice of those persons whom they most concern. The method adopted in the Arc Manufacturing Company is the organization of an internal abstracting and information service functioning for that and associate 6rms. The Arc Manufacturing Company receives regularly a large number of journals, trade publications, patents, etc., covering a variety of subjects which are obviously not of equal interest to all members of the staff; therefore, as an aid to selection of literature, a bulletin is issued by the librarian through the information service which contains only selected literature. All incoming material is thoroughly searched for articles of interest which are to be abstracted or just noted according to the value of the information they contain. The heads of the departments classify the articles on looking through the journals and indicate, for the guidance of the librarian, whether the abstract given is sufficient or whether another should be made. The following signs made against the titles are used as an indication of what is required: J
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Reference card only, to be included in bulletin.
X ~not. far , inclusion ~ in bulletin. .. = Reference card onlv. 0 = Reference card and abstract to be copied for bulletin.
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Reference card and abstract to be made for bulletk Literature to be ordered. Photostat copy to be made.
In this way the actual abstracting of the literature is much simplified. As a general rule, if an article is already provided with a good abstract, this is used, 1 2 3 Bdletim No. -. I acknowledgment being made to the source; the abTitle : stracting of other articles is shared between members of the research staff, the reference cards being passed on to the appropriate persons after the reference data have been filled in. If a photocopy is to be made, this Imrrrroi : is also indicated on the card. When the reference cards have been made out, the signs in the journals are Arrigwd to covered over with colored seals; a yellow seal indicates that an abstract has been made for the bulletin, and a Application date : blue seal stands for a reference card in the index only. Cmumtion dote : Cronred : ..,,, The seals also eliminate the untidy appearance of &cum 1 scribbled remarks in journals. Not until joumals have been fully dealt with and signed off by the librathe current literature received by the 6rm and drcu- rian are they released for circulation among the various lated among its staff. It is therefore expedient to have departments; however, this delays circulation for not some means of selection so that articles of interest, more than four days. 152 LL 31.
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References and abstracts thus collected from the original literature are indexed on the usual 3 X 5 index cards which, for convenience, have been printed in three standard forms. The three different types are used for: (1) references to articles taken from periodicals, (2) references to books and self-contained publications, and (3) recording patents (see Figure 1). Each card indicates the necessary features to be noted; abstracts are written on the backs of cards. There is also a color classification which brings groups of allied subjects together-the color code persisting throughout the three types of reference. This makes for special ease when sorting out new references for Umg and in picking out cards from an author index. We have also found that the use of a printed card drawn up in a standard form is of great assistance when compiling a bulletin from the collected abstracts. Bulletins contain usually 150 abstracts grouped under subject headings, numbered consecutively, and circulated together with a form for ordering. Reference on order forms need then be made only to the bulletin ---- numhw. ... As many of the references dealt with are seen only in abstract form in the first instance, it is, of course, necessary to borrow or order photostat copies of a large proportion of the literature required from one or another of the large technical libraries. To keep a check on incoming and outgoing literature of this kind and to facilitate its distribution withinour organization, we have designed a record book of which a facsimile page may be seen in Figure 2. Passing from left to right across the page, +e first column shows the number of the reference. This is followed by a group of narrow columns at the top of which may be written the name of the individual or department requiring the literature, a diagonal line being drawn across the column to indicate an order. In the third place is written the reference, giving author and source, and the remainder of the page is divided between the various libraries normally drawn upon, with a spare column for any other library i t may be necessary to resort to for specialized information unobtainable elsewhere. When literature is applied for from any library, an indication together with the date is written in the appropriate column. When a reply is received from the library its nature is indicated by a colored seal-green, pink, yellow, or b l u e t o show whether the literature itself is received, already out on loan, unobtainable, etc., explanatory footnotes for the color code being provided. If the literature applied for is definitely not available, then the same procedure is carried out again for another library. In this way it is possible to see a t a glance what attempts have been made to obtain, and what chances remain of obtaining, the literature required. Borrowed periodicals are not circulated, but photostated and returned immediately to the appropriate library. When a borrowed book is returned, the date of return is entered against the "book received" entry so that its record is completed. Finally, when the
literature is passed on to the enquirer a second line is drawn across the original mark indicating the request, and when the copy is returned, the date is entered below the cross.
This method of recording we have found to be very simple to operate and an easy means of keeping track of both outstanding requests for literature and books borrowed. On account of this policy of photocopying borrowed literature before distribution, the checking, entering, allocation, and filing of such copies require a considerable amount of attention. In order to keep a check on library loans which have been passed on for photocopying and to assist in the proper entering, allocation, and filing of prints, a duplicate order book system has been adopted. These books contain printed forms, numbered in duplicate, on which is filled in all the revelant information which will be required after the photocopy has been made, i. e., title, author, and source for entry purposes; name of individual(s) requiring the copy; bulletin number if already available; and instructions for filing. Such a form is handed out with each piece of literature to be copied (the duplicate remaining with the librarian as a record of literature handed out), and must be returned with the completed print, negative, and the original literature for checking purposes. Entries of prints are recorded in a bound book in which each is given a serial number. This number, and the number of pages in the copy, are written on the top page of the print, together with a filing reference. The photocopy number is always referred to when a further print is made, as all the negatives are filed in numerical order in envelopes with printed labels on which is copied all the relevant information from the order form. The photocopy number is also entered on the appropriate reference card in the card index. This method has now been in operation for more than 18months and has proved very workable.
