bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
AN INTELLIGENCE OFFICER IN INDUSTRY
Authors: PARKE V.E.
Published: February 2008

Dr Parke emphasized the great variety of intelligence work, anything from a few reference books in a manager's office to a full‐grown section with a staff of two dozen or more, and from close attention to the detail of a single department to the whole interest of an entire works. It appeared that the officer (especially in a new post) had to take the field offered to him and try to cultivate it by friendly helpfulness and increasing knowledge, by developing in the factory the habit of using his section and by making the habit worth while. Aslib members and intelligence officers were well aware of this but it was their function to make it widely known. In this they had the encouragement of such authorities as Sir Edward Appleton, Sir Henry Tizard and the Lord President of the Council.
INTRODUCTION
Authors: DITMAS E.M.R.
Published: February 2008

In accordance with the custom of previous years, Aslib organized a series of meetings in London during the autumn and winter of 1951–2. The first of these was held on 7th November, 1951, at Chaucer House, when Mr. J. P. Torrie, Work Study Officer of the Work Study Section, Technical Department, Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., spoke on Method Study. The Chair was taken by Mr. Bernard Ungerson, Staff Manager of the Distillers Co., Ltd.
PATENTS AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION
Authors: MATHYS H.R.
Published: February 2008

Patents are very old. Their origin is lost in history but we know that the Greeks in 500 B.C. at Sybaris encouraged inventive cooks by granting them patents for new table delicacies.
MICRO‐OPAQUES
Authors: VERRY H.R.
Published: February 2008

I am greatly honoured by this opportunity to discuss with you the subject of micro‐opaques. Two years ago, at the request of Unesco, I made an extensive research into the possibility of all micro‐techniques. An outline of these visits and the conclusions I reached have been written in two reports supplied to Unesco for general distribution.
FRENCH OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
Authors: KYLE BARBARA
Published: February 2008

To counter, in some measure, the scepticism with which international conferences are usually viewed, I should like to give a short account of a project brought to a successful conclusion as a direct result of conference activity.
INFORMATION SERVICES IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Authors: COLLISON ROBERT L.
Published: February 2008

“Theprinted word is neither more nor less than the judgment of a specialist in printed form. Our files and our libraries are really vast collections of expert opinions in formal, recorded form.” These words of Dr. Ralph R. Shaw, the Librarian of the United States Department of Agriculture, illustrate effectively the work and aims of the public reference library which is, in fact, the living encyclopædia of its area. Its purpose is clearly the maintenance of whatever is available of the most up‐to‐date information on each subject.
A REVIEW OF THE RESULTS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION CONFERENCE, 1948
Authors: URQUHART D.J.
Published: February 2008

I accepted Mr Wilson's invitation to speak on the results of the Royal Society Scientific Information Conference gladly because the conference seems to me to have had important results. In reviewing those results I want to try and indicate both what was achieved as well as what remains to be done and what new problems have risen to the surface. I also want to tell you of some of the things we are doing in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (D.S.I.R.) and to invite your comments on them. To that I must add a caution that this is not an official paper. What it contains are my personal views.
INDUSTRY AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY IN KINGSTON‐UPON‐HULL
Authors: BINNS J.
Published: February 2008

Thatpublic libraries should be a source of commercial, technical and scientific information is not a new idea to librarians; but it is an idea which has been slow to bear fruit, and is, in consequence, fairly novel to the majority of business men and technologists.
IF I HAD MY WAY—WITH PUBLISHERS
Authors: AGARD EVANS B.
Published: February 2008

I lovepublishers. Let me make that point crystal‐clear before I embark on the main theme. I love publishers. Apart from the fact that their activities provide me with my job, I think that they are one of the most important, if not the greatest, factors in the growth of civilization—from the ancient Greeks to the atom bomb. Scientific research on its present scale is impossible without the publishers. Technological advance and the application of research to industry would be atrophied without them. We should, therefore, acknowledge our great debt and be grateful for the very high standard of achievement of publishers. We should recognize also the high ethical standards of the majority of them.
THE ROLE OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL BOOK CENTRE
Authors: ALLARDYCE A.
Published: February 2008

The two situations which make the work of the British National Book Centre necessary are only too well known to most of you, and have been described in their setting by Mr. Vickery. The first is that of congested shelf space. All libraries outgrow their accommodation, good libraries more quickly than the others, and librarians are hard pressed to dispose of their surplus journals in a manner which will bring them some return and at the same time square with their professional reluctance to waste useful material. The second situation which makes our work fruitful is that faced by even the best librarians—gaps in runs of journals, some gaps serious, some small, but all at least irritating.
THE INFORMATION NEEDS OF THE WORKER ENGAGED IN LONGER TERM RESEARCH: THE VIEWPOINT OF THE CHEMIST
Authors: SWALLOW H.T.S.
Published: February 2008

The needs of the research worker engaged in longer term research can be broadly divided into two categories. The first concerns the background and mental equipment of the research worker himself, and the second the particular problem upon which he is engaged. To some extent these two categories become merged and indistinguishable, but it is necessary to bear in mind that the worker's success will depend very largely upon his background and mental equipment and that this is not static, but grows with experience.
THOUGHTS ON INTERLIBRARY LENDING
Authors: NEUMANN PAUL J.
Published: February 2008

A phenomenon, most challenging and, at the same time, most gratifying for every librarian, is the determined trend toward total bibliographical control. In particular, in the field of applied science, these efforts are mirrored in a considerable literature, which in heterogenous subject fields show many parallelisms of thought and method toward the ultimate aim: to bring together all available information on a certain subject to the person interested, in the shortest possible time and at the lowest possible cost. It stands to reason that in these times of rapidly expanding knowledge not one library or centre of information can reasonably be expected to contain and make available all published material even in a segment of applied science, as, e.g., aeronautics. The amount of material is too large, and its increase in seemingly more than geometric proportions precludes its purposeful handling by one single centre and renders the cost of operation irrational. On the other hand, well planned and carefully organized co‐operation between libraries which hold special material and are expertly staffed in the special areas will come closest to the realization of ideal bibliographic control.
THE NACA CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM—A CASE HISTORY
Authors: JACKSON EUGENE B.
Published: February 2008

Aeronautical research scientists of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics have in the last six years indexed 7,070 non‐security classified NACA research reports under 458 different subject classification headings for a total of 18,619 subject entries. They further face the task of subject classifying over 400 similar research reports per year, plus the large number of security classified reports issued annually.
EDUCATION FOR SPECIAL LIBRARIANSHIP IN GREAT BRITAIN
Authors: MACKIEWICS ELIZABETH
Published: February 2008

ASLIB has been concerned with education in the field of special librarianship from the first conference of 1924, when the subject was among those discussed. At that date there were two qualifications available in librarianship, the Fellowship of the Library Association and the Diploma of the University of London School of Librarianship. For the Library Association's examinations it was possible to study by correspondence, at summer schools, and in a very few places at part‐time classes. The School of Librarianship offered a one‐year post‐graduate and a two‐year undergraduate full‐time course, and while some of the Diplomates entered public libraries, others went into private libraries, university and college libraries and industrial firms. Latin was a compulsory subject for entrance to the School, however, and this was a deterrent to science graduates who wished to train for the profession.
OBTAINING INFORMATION FROM INQUIRERS
Authors: GOYER M.
Published: February 2008

One of the difficulties in supplying readers with information is that the readers themselves sometimes only vaguely know what they want. Requests for specific references appear easy, but some readers, untrained in library techniques, appear to think that reports, books, etc., are classified by colour, shape or size. Moreover, it has been found that each of the variables in the request data (e.g. author, journal, column, number, date, etc.) is subject to errors of 100 per cent. or more. For this type of aberration it is difficult to find a cure, as it seems to be caused by the peculiar mental make‐up of the scientist and technician. These suffer under the delusion that they have wonderfully accurate memories, whereas, in fact, they are endowed with extraordinarily fertile imaginations.
INSURANCE OF SPECIAL LIBRARIES
Authors: HIRON JOHN M.
Published: February 2008

Mr Hiron first explained the theory of insurance as the transference of the loss of the individual to the pockets of the many by means of the operation of a common fund or pool operated by insurance companies and underwriters. Interesting historical facts were explained and the strength of the British insurance market was emphasized by the statement that one of the largest risks in the world, the liner United States, is insured for £11,000,000, more than half of which is covered in the London market.
The WORK OF The T.I.D.U.
Authors: HILL E.G.
Published: February 2008

I am very glad of this opportunity of telling you something about the work of the Technical Information and Documents Unit, because I am sure that this organization has something to offer both the engineer and the librarian. Scientists and engineers often say that they have not time to read, while librarians are just as certain that the scientist does not know how to read. Doubtless there is some truth in both these generalizations. However, it is also true that T.I.D.U. exists primarily to help the scientist and engineer, and one of the ways it does this is to help them to see the things they ought to read.
SOURCES OF RUSSIAN SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION
Authors: MACKAY A.L.
Published: February 2008

Instead of enumerating the various scientific journals of the Soviet Union, this paper will discuss the special circumstances of present‐day Russian scientific publication, since it is the differences from normal British practice which raise difficulties for the inquirer.
INDUSTRY, INFORMATION AND RESEARCH
Authors: FREEDLAND VERNON D.
Published: February 2008

In the course of my daily round as an information officer engaged in sifting out material from the stream of printed matter flowing across my desk, I recently examined the newly arrived part of a grey‐backed journal devoted to recording development in tinctorial science. Among the pages normally given over to more serious matters, I found a story concerning two Yorkshire manufacturers of thirty years ago who had decided to engage a research chemist. At 9 o'clock on a Monday morning, the chemist arrived at the wonderfully equipped laboratory provided for him at the mill and the two partners sat in their office, hugging themselves with excitement and unable to settle down to their regular duties. At about quarter past eleven, not being able to stand the strain any longer, they tip‐toed up to the new laboratory, put their heads round the door and burst out … ‘Well, lad, hast discovered owt?’
The ANSWER IN A NUTSHELL OR PACKAGED INFORMATION FOR INDUSTRY
Authors: AGARD EVANS B.
Published: February 2008

Miss Agatha Christie wrote: “The following day saw Hercule Poirot perusing a large calf‐bound volume and other slimmer works, with occasional harried glances at various typewritten slips of paper.
The CIRCULATION OF PERIODICALS I AN INQUIRY INTO JOURNAL CIRCULATION
Authors: HANSON C.W.
Published: February 2008

During the past fifteen years the major surveys undertaken and published by Bradford, Urquhart, Bernal, Gray, Herner and others have provided a great deal of valuable factual data about the publication, distribution and use of periodical literature, particularly scientific literature; but there are still gaps in our knowledge. This inquiry is an attempt to fill one of these gaps—to find out how, and to what extent, current periodicals are circulated within an organization.
II IS PERIODICAL CIRCULATION EFFECTIVE?
Authors: HEWETSON C.E.C.
Published: February 2008

Much has been said, and written, on systems of journal circulation. Mr. Hanson's contribution to this subject is valuable in that, as distinct from its predecessors, it describes no one system in particular but attempts to analyse the cost, in time, of circulation. It incidentally provides some figures by which the efficiency of this operation can be measured in so far as it involves the useful dissemination of information.
The DEVELOPMENT OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN BRITISH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
Authors: OFFOR RICHARD
Published: February 2008

The creation of university institutions in the overseas territories connected with Great Britain has taken place very largely since the conclusion of the last war: already noteworthy achievement is an effective antidote to the depression that has overtaken us in more general matters. The need for such an impressive and timely step need scarcely be stated. With a new width of vision the rigidity of the colour bar in the countries involved has disappeared. Economically, the countries left in the relaxed ‘colonial’ system have gained in relative importance. Africa, the West Indies and South‐Eastern Asia must take the place of the great Asiatic countries which have so largely cut adrift. Yet Great Britain is hard put to it to find manpower sufficient to supply her own needs, although she must seek earnestly, even in her own interest, for the development of the immense but largely untapped resources of the overseas territories. Thus Africans, West Indians, Malayans and Chinese must find and train their own medical men and women, engineers, lawyers, school teachers, legislators, clergy, all hitherto sadly deficient in number. On a higher plane, our country has been a pioneer in the trustee policy that has taken so firm a hold on the imagination since the institution of the League of Nations in 1919: not only from relentless local pressure but as a result of real conviction we and our ‘Colonies’ are moving in nearly every case towards more and more complete self‐determination. We may be legitimately proud that in this matter and in the concurrent need for expansion in higher education we have gone far ahead of the other remaining ‘colonial’ powers.
ASLIB'S DEVELOPMENT
Authors: WILSON LESLIE
Published: February 2008

Reported The Director said that three main periods could be distinguished in Aslib's development so far. The first, lasting from its foundation in 1924 to about 1940, had been the period of enthusiasms and ideals struggling for recognition—a precious period for Aslib as for all new movements, but one whose intrinsic value should not be over‐estimated and whose passing should not be regretted, as some sentimentalists were apt to regret it. The second period had lasted for the duration of the war and a year or so thereafter. In normal times, this would presumably have been the occasion for long‐range planning of Aslib's future, but the demands of war and Aslib's precarious finances had both prohibited almost everything but the most urgent tasks. These had been miraculously well done on a shoe‐string. The third period had now all but ended. It had been dominated by the need for reorganization and rapid expansion. It had been urgently necessary to ascertain what services members needed; to plan them, finance them and recruit and train staff to provide them; to gain self‐confidence and the confidence of H.M. Government and of a demanding industrial public, by ensuring that both new and existing services were run at the highest possible level of efficiency; and, most of all—such are the yardsticks of this material age—to build up a substantial membership, leading to greater income, increased Government grant and, finally, financial stability backed by growing reserves.
The FUNCTION OF The LIBRARY IN The PREPARATION, PRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION OF TECHNICAL REPORTS
Authors: SALE ROBERT C.
Published: February 2008

At the first glance the title of this paper appears entirely simple and straightforward. The author learned the hard way that nothing could be farther from the truth. The subject proved to be quite comparable to an octopus, revealing an increasing number of provocative tentacles and thus requiring, in turn, additional investigative work. As this paper progresses it may seem to stray farther and farther from the title but at the conclusion it is anticipated that the excursions will prove justified.
INTRODUCTION
Authors: DITMAS E.M.R.
Published: February 2008

The Aslib Winter Meetings in London for the session 1954/55 started off with a provocative talk by Mr. H. Stanley Hyland on 14th October, under the Chairmanship of Mr. C. W. Hanson. Mr. Hyland has had the advantage of knowing libraries from both sides of the counter. He has had wide experience as a librarian but, giving his talk the title of ‘Libraries—by a renegade’, he chose on this occasion to speak primarily as a journalist and a library‐user. His talk is reported in the November, 1954, issue of Aslib Information.
The WORK OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND FOREIGN DOCUMENTATION CENTRES
Authors: King Alexander
Published: February 2008

What I am going to say will probably appear to be a confused talk about a very complex, and even chaotic, subject. I have had a short but intensive experience of the International Federation for Documentation (F.I.D.) and I can see many people in this room whose knowledge of that body goes back many years longer than mine. I am going to try, nevertheless, to look at this subject of international documentation against the general perspective of the working of international organizations because I am convinced that many of the difficulties, disappointments, frustrations and successes of bodies like the International Federation for Documentation and the International Federation of Library Associations (I.F.L.A.) have their parallel in some of the bigger international bodies.
The BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION LIBRARY
Authors: Attwood L.V.
Published: February 2008

The British Standards Institution dates from 1901, when a committee was formed to standardize steel sections. This was in answer to the need to reduce the excessive variety of types of sections being produced by different manufacturers at that time. The advantages of this move were quickly seen and the work of the Committee was soon extended to a number of engineering products. This Engineering Standards Committee later became the British Engineering Standards Association; the Association was granted a Royal Charter in 1929 and the present name was adopted in 1931. The Institution is recognized as the national body for the preparation of standards and its work now covers a wide range of industries—building, chemical, textile, and many others as well as engineering, though engineering is very much the largest of its activities; of the standards issued last year more than one‐third were in the engineering field. The standards now being prepared are of a number of types—dimensional standards to secure interchangeability and simplification, standards laying down quality, including performance tests, and methods of test. In addition, there are the more ‘abstract’ types of standard—dealing with terminology, definitions, symbols and documentation. The Institution is also concerned with Codes of Practice which lay down guiding rules for such matters as installation, maintenance and use of plant, equipment or machinery, as, for example, installation of gas pipes in buildings, or the lighting of streets.
The UNITED STATES INFORMATION SERVICE
Authors: Jacoby Rolf
Published: February 2008

The U.S. Information Service is an agency of the Foreign Service of the U.S. Government maintaining information centres in many parts of the world. An information centre usually contains a reading room, a library, sometimes a cinema, a film loan service for 16 mm. sound films, and clerical offices.
The INFORMATION WORK OF The CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION
Authors: ROBERTSON COLIN
Published: February 2008

I must confess that after the learned and factual speeches delivered at this Conference I feel that what I have to offer may seem very small beer. I hope, however, that you will find the brew palatable and not too frothy. A thriller writer relies on his imagination rather than facts, though incorrect facts can be his undoing. It has been said that a writer cannot know too much about anything, and, in my time, I've put questions to a great many people and done a considerable amount of research in libraries to ensure that the foundations of my stories, the facts, have been right.
INTRODUCTION
Authors: DITMAS E.M.R.
Published: February 2008

On 7th September, 1955, a lecture was organized jointly by Aslib with the Aslib Aeronautical Group and was held in London at the Royal Society of Arts. The lecturer was Mr. Calvin N. Mooers, founder and research director of the Zator Company, which offers consulting services in information retrieval systems. His paper, ‘Zatocoding and development in information retrieval’, together with a report of the discussion which followed under the Chairmanship of Mr. Agard Evans, of the Ministry of Works Library, is printed in full in this issue.
The FUTURE PUBLIC TECHNOLOGICAL LIBRARY SERVICES
Authors: URQUHART D.J.
Published: February 2008

The topic I wish to present is not a simple one and the position is confused by discordant voices each advocating different solutions to quite different problems. I will present to you certain facts which seem to me to be important, and some possible interpretations of these facts. The whole is designed to provoke discussion of the problem of improving our technical library service. The essential thesis is that the future lines of development of public technological library services will be mainly influenced by factors outside the control of the library profession but which must be appreciated if librarians are not to act like King Canute and attempt to stop the incoming tide. Lest my reference to this anecdote should conjure up a picture of a spot on the English coast and a twice‐daily tide, let me urge you to treat the world as our stage and the next few decades as our unit of time.
The NATIONAL CENTRAL LIBRARY 1st MARCH, 1954, to 28th FEBRUARY, 1955
Authors: CUTLER C.V.
Published: February 2008

In its Annual Report for the year ending 1954–55 the Executive Committee of the National Central Library have been able to record a year of real progress by the Library in each of the various spheres of the work for which it is responsible.
INTRODUCTION
Authors: DITMAS E.M.R.
Published: February 2008

In place of the January lecture in the London Winter Meetings series for 1955–56 Aslib members were given the opportunity to visit a number of interesting organizations. These included the London School of Printing and Graphic Art, the Document Reproduction Department of the Shell Petroleum Co., Ltd., the Victoria and Albert Museum Library, the B.B.C. Television Centre, including its library, and the Press Cutting Library of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. The helpful co‐operation of those who made these visits possible was much appreciated.
SOME NOTES ON The HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Authors: MCKIE DOUGLAS
Published: February 2008

As a subject of academic study and research, the History of Science is something very new. As in many other matters of this kind, the pioneer was the University of London, where in University College a department was instituted in 1924—a postgraduate department in which graduates in science in the University of London, or those who hold an equivalent qualification from another university, may proceed to the degree of M.Sc. in the History and Philosophy of Science by means of an examination, Part I of which consists of four written papers (three in the History and one in the Philosophy of Science), while Part II demands the preparation of a dissertation on some approved topic, a dissertation necessitating close study of original material and being essentially a first research. Those who obtain the degree of M.Sc. in this subject may proceed to the degree of Ph.D. by further research: and the D.Sc. degree is awarded for extensive original publications and contributions to the subject. Here, therefore, at University College, the history of science and the philosophy of science are studied in the usual academic framework of higher learning and research. Further, it is the only department of its kind, so far as is known, in any university in the world.
A RUSSIAN ABSTRACTING SERVICE IN The FIELD OF SCIENCES: REFERATIVNYI ZHURNAL
Authors: BEYERLY ELIZABETH
Published: February 2008

The only way to keep abreast of the constant advances in science appears to be the scanning of abstracting journals. The various Zentralblätter in Germany, the many ‘abstracts’ (Chemical Abstracts,Biological Abstracts, Psychological Abstracts, etc.) in the United States are best examples of attempts to aid the harassed scientist in quest of information on a wide and at the same time selective basis.
INTRODUCTION
Authors: DITMAS E.M.R.
Published: February 2008

The last of the London meetings for the winter session 1955–6 was held on 13th April, 1956, when Mr. C. N. Kington, Group Manager, British Iron and Steel Research Association, and Director of Research, Cutlery Research Council, spoke on the problem of helping small firms to make use of scientific research. Many of the steel‐using firms are too small to have information departments of their own and, moreover, have a strong tradition of craftsmanship which is often slow to appreciate the value of new techniques. Mr. Kington has had first‐hand experience of the special approach that is necessary if these firms are to be kept in touch with scientific progress. His paper is printed in full in this issue, together with an account of questions and answers in the discussion which followed. The Chair was taken by Dr. M. A. Vernon, of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, a branch of the Government that is particularly interested in this problem.
MAKING AN EXHIBITION OF ONESELF
Authors: OLDAKER L.T.
Published: February 2008

I should first like to say a few words about the title I have given to this paper. The title was chosen quite deliberately because I felt that it epitomized both the subject matter itself and the manner of its presentation. I had two principal reasons for the choice. The first was because I wished not only to give an indication of the subject of the paper but also I wanted to emphasize my firmly held belief that an information service and its information officer are one and indivisible. The information officer must, by the very nature of his calling, identify himself with the services he provides. For that reason the personal pronoun was introduced into the title. Moreover, the whole purpose of holding a display or exhibition is to display or exhibit—to draw attention to something—to advertise it—even to the point of ostentation. A telling phrase has the ability to do just that, and therefore my second reason was my desire to make the title arresting and so carry that precept into practice.
The NORTHERN BRANCH: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT
Authors: BRIGHTMAN R.
Published: February 2008

We are met this afternoon to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the inauguration of the Northern Branch of Aslib, but our retrospect should go back further than 8th May, 1946. As I pointed out then, more than ten years earlier there had been in existence a Lancashire and Cheshire Branch, which had compiled a Union List of technical, scientific and commercial periodicals taken by nine libraries in the district, and had arranged a number of informal meetings of Aslib members. The Northern Branch inaugurated ten years ago thus owed much to the earlier work of Miss B. M. Dent and her colleagues of the period 1931–6.
The CHANGING FACE OF MANAGEMENT
Authors: HOOPER F.C.
Published: February 2008

When your Director asked me to speak to the theme of your conference—‘Information Services—the cost, the value and the means’—and I told him that I was quite unable to do so, he readily agreed that I might speak to a subject of my own choosing. This subject is ‘The changing face of management’. I find, however, that I can make one contribution to the subject of the supply of information through specialized library services, and that is on the danger of bogging people down in too much information, of swamping them with too much print and paper. Mr. Herbert Morrison, when he was serving on a committee, once protested against all the paper which had been issued to him in the words:
The NATIONAL CENTRAL LIBRARY
Authors: FELTWELL IRENE
Published: February 2008

The Fortieth Annual Report of the National Central Library once again records a year of great activity in the various departments of the Library and continued expansion of the resources available by the addition of new names to the list of ‘outlier libraries’ and by wider international contacts.
COMMUNICATION OF SCIENCE BY MEANS OF FILM
Authors: Michaelis Anthony R.
Published: February 2008

Dr A.R. Michaelis said that when asked to give this talk he had regarded it as a challenge, because we live today in the second of the important revolutions which have occurred since science began to be properly used. The first revolution, the Industrial Revolution, helped man to get rid of manual drudgery, whereas the second and present one, the ‘Informational Revolution’, was about to do the same for the mental effort of mankind. The film had a most important part to play in the informational revolution, and he hoped to bring out some of the ways in which it could do so. The film was by no means properly used in this context at present, and further means and money would have to be made available before it could be used as it should be.
The BRITISH INSTITUTE OF RECORDED SOUND
Authors: Eaton James J.
Published: February 2008

For reasons of which the Director of Aslib has been made aware a considerable time has passed since I, as representative of Aslib on the Council of the British Institute of Recorded Sound, made my previous report regarding the affairs of the Institute. The outstanding reason for the delay has been the fact that any reports which might have been presented during the intervening period could only have given a misleading impression. The efforts made firmly to establish the Institute were unremitting but, as is usual with a new idea, lack of money frustrated those efforts and no sooner was one obstacle overcome than others appeared.
The DELTA CARD
Authors: LOOSJES TH. P.
Published: February 2008

The Delta punched card is of the Batten‐Cordonnier type which in American publications is called ‘Peek‐a‐Boo’. This card is a simple device for the analysis of the contents of a growing collection of scientific literature covering a special well‐defined area of research. It is recommended in cases where a scientific research worker, or a small group of workers, needs a thorough analysis of the relevant subject from several independent aspects at one time. Further possible applications of this card are the analysis of a collection of research data, the analysis of statistical data, or of material in archives.
The RECORDS REQUIREMENTS OF INDUSTRY
Authors: MATHYS H.R.
Published: February 2008

The ideal top executive keeps his desk clear. Any letters or other material appearing on it are dealt with at once and removed by a secretary. Any special papers required are brought promptly on the push of a button or at a spoken request into a loud‐speaking telephone.
BUSINESS RECORDS AND The HISTORIAN
Authors: Simmons J.
Published: February 2008

We have been considering the preservation of business records today from three points of view: that of the owner, the custodian, and the user. The term ‘user’ really comprises two different kinds of people: the owner and his staff, who may wish to use the records for purposes bearing directly on the conduct of the business; and the student of history, who sees in them the raw materials out of which his work must be fashioned. Professor Sayers has been speaking of the Business Archives Council, its activities in advising owners on the problems concerning the preservation of records and access to them. My task is to consider the wishes and needs of historians in more general terms.
PLANNING A NATIONAL LENDING LIBRARY FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Authors: BUNN R.M.
Published: February 2008

For the last six months I have been part of a small section of D.S.I.R. which is planning the National Lending Library for Science and Technology. To begin with, the section had no name. Now we call ourselves the D.S.I.R. Lending Library Unit. Today I want to tell you a little of how we are going about the job.
SIGNPOSTS
Authors: BIRD J.
Published: February 2008

Information and special library work is at present a profession that is in the process of formation and struggling for recognition, and entry into it is entirely uncontrolled. People with the most varied backgrounds and levels of education find themselves made responsible for setting up or running library and information services, without any previous knowledge of the work. Often they are in remote places and without any contact with more experienced colleagues who could give them advice, and their only means of getting the knowledge necessary for the efficient carrying out of their duties is from reading. But, owing to the unsettled state of the profession, the literature is voluminous and scattered, and much of it is of a low standard, or occupied with pure theorizing or polemics. Moreover, the literature that the novice is most likely to see, namely the articles on documentation which are occasionally printed in technical journals, is not always the most helpful for a person who has no background of experience against which he can evaluate it. In these circumstances the new entrant needs a guide to the literature if he is not to be discouraged or adopt practices and systems which are not really suitable to his circumstances. It is to meet this need that this annual review of the literature, now in its sixth year, has been written. It attempts to select those books and papers which are most likely to be of direct help in running a small information department or library, eschewing all pure theorizing and polemics, and only including literature on large libraries where it is felt that it contains ideas capable of application in smaller organizations. To these are added a selection of the most important works of reference, including some that the information officer may wish to know about and consult in other libraries, even though his own library does not possess them. The list is not restricted to work published in 1957, but is intended to be representative of items received in British libraries during the period under review. Owing to restrictions in space, the selection has to be rigorous, and is inevitably, to a certain extent, a personal one. No two people would probably agree on all the omissions, but it is hoped that all the items included will be of positive value to the type of reader for whom the review is intended.
RECORD OFFICES AND RECORD SERVICES IN ENGLAND
Authors: ELLIS ROGER
Published: February 2008

It has been observed that during their existence records pass through three stages: the current stage, the dormant stage, and the final stage when they are either destroyed as of no further value, or are set aside for permanent preservation. The records of business houses follow this course no less than others. The papers we have heard so far today have been concerned primarily with the earlier stages, and it will be my task, speaking as an archivist, to deal with the latter stages, with the problems which they pose and with the solutions which may (perhaps unexpectedly), be at hand.
AIMS AND OBJECTS FOR RESEARCH INTO INFORMATION SERVICES
Authors: Hanson C.W.
Published: February 2008

For more than a decade ‘research’ has been a popular word and even a fashionable one. That does not mean to say that all researches proposed have been undertaken; cost has to be considered. Broadly speaking, however, it is true to say that the value of research in the exact sciences has become widely accepted.
The ART OF LECTURING
Authors: KITSON CLARK G. , BIDDER CLARK E.
Published: February 2008

The Chairman, Mr. K. W. Humphreys (University of Birmingham), said that 9.15 on a Sunday morning was not the best time for listening to a lecture and the number present was a considerable tribute to the distinction of the lecturers and perhaps also to the importance of the subject. They were all concerned with the collection and dissemination of information, and although they usually presented their information by way of the written word, there were undoubtedly many occasions when it was necessary to present it verbally. They would therefore be grateful for any advice they received from the speakers.
PATENT CLASSIFICATION FROM The POINT OF VIEW OF The PUBLIC
Authors: FLOWER NICHOLAS J.
Published: February 2008

I have the greatest admiration for those in the Patent Office and for those members of Aslib who have to concern themselves with problems of classification. The theory and practice of solving such problems, which no doubt occupy many members of Aslib, are of the greatest public importance. I have the greatest sympathy for the Patent Office in their efforts to overcome these problems, but members of the public who have to use the facilities of the Patent Office also deserve sympathy, for the system is as difficult to use as it was to devise. That remark is in no way meant to be disrespectful to Mr. de Bray and his colleagues. On the contrary, Patent Agents, members of the public and others who have to use the Patent Office Library find a system available to them which is based on something which has been devised for the purposes of the Patent Office only, namely, the checking to see whether inventions are really new ones.
EDITING AND RUNNING A HOUSE JOURNAL
Authors: SIMONS ERIC N.
Published: February 2008

Why ever the subject on which I have been asked to speak was chosen for after‐dinner I do not understand. After‐dinner speakers are by tradition required to be jocular, brief and interesting. But house journals are a serious subject, and not to be laughed at. So I shall not be jocular, I shall not be brief and I hope my remarks will not be laughed at.
The USE OF TRADE LITERATURE
Authors: LINSTEAD C.C.
Published: February 2008

In a paper by a then prominent member of the Northern Branch of Aslib, who is not unknown to many of us here, given to the Scottish Branch in 1953, the author deplored the use of what he called ‘a starting rail’ in the writing of papers and reports, alluding metaphorically to the early aeroplanes, to enable the writers to get off the ground, before embarking on what they hoped would be steady, level flight of fact or fancy. This he would probably apply to speakers as well, but I make no excuse for building for myself what almost amounts to a launching platform, and extending the metaphor to the more up‐to‐date rocket and IRBM and ICBM rather than the early aeroplanes, before letting go and venturing into unexplored space, which is in this case ‘The use of Trade Literature’, for that is the region I have been told to explore this morning. Unexplored it certainly is for, like all good research workers, my first reaction in starting to prepare the paper was to examine what others had written about the subject. Precious little! I found that most of the works on special library technique dealt with the subject in a paragraph at best and in two or three lines at worst. If I had strung all the extracts together and amplified and extended them I should not have occupied more than about five minutes of your time. So most of what follows is either original, empirical, borrowed from other practitioners, pinched in other words, or ad hoc. For the benefit of those who have not had a classical education, I will explain that ad hoc means in effect designed to fit a particular or peculiar set of conditions.
BINDING TIME FOR PERIODICALS
Authors: HANSON C.W.
Published: February 2008

Many special librarians have complained that it takes an inconveniently long time to get sets of periodicals bound, but no precise data about the time taken was available. A small investigation was therefore undertaken by the Aslib Research Department to provide such data.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICES In GERMANY, LUXEMBOURG, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND
Authors: SEWELL R.
Published: February 2008

The German Iron and Steel Institute in Düsseldorf invited me to spend three weeks visiting technical information services on the Continent. Three aims were kept in view: to examine methods of operating information services, to study the attitude of industrial management and research toward technical information, to contact some of the leading people in the technical information field in Western Europe. Twenty‐two technical information organizations are described.
The BRITISH IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY TRANSLATION SERVICE
Authors: WRIGHT MARTIN
Published: February 2008

Mr Patrick in his paper has called for a liberal policy on the part of companies in making translations available; J shall now describe one method of combining liberality with enlightened self‐interest. Since I believe the BISITS to be the first successful one of its kind, I shall describe how it was formed and developed as well as how it works today.
A REPORT ON SPECIAL LIBRARY WORK In The USSR
Authors: THOMPSON ANTHONY
Published: February 2008

The Chairman, Mr K.W.Humphreys (University of Birmingham): It is hardly necessary to introduce Mr Anthony Thompson, but some of you may care to know the background, and the reason why Mr Thompson and I are in front of you this evening.
The SCOPE OF MEDICAL ELECTRONICS AND A BRIEF SURVEY OF ITS LITERATURE
Authors: NIGHTINGALE A.
Published: February 2008

Medical electronics has its origins in basic physiological research, a field in which there has been a continual searching since the early years of the last century for instruments capable of detecting and measuring the electric currents which accompany the activity of nerve and muscle fibres (Fig. 1). The discovery of the magnetic effects of a current by Oersted in 1819 was followed by the invention of the tangent galvanometer by Schweigger in 1820, and the moving coil galvanometer by Sturgeon in 1836. Both types of instrument were used by physiologists but they were insensitive and slow in response. Bernstein's work, published in 1871, was a classic example of the victory of ingenuity over the limitations of a sluggish measuring instrument. He employed what we should now call a ballistic galvanometer in series with electrodes attached to a frog's muscle and a special switch. This switch applied a momentary electrical stimulus to the muscle, and then closed the circuit to the galvanometer after a predetermined time interval. By varying this time interval and repeating the stimulus, Bernstein laboriously built up a graph of the current against time. His curve was sur‐prisingly similar to those obtained today using electronic recording techniques (Fig. 1b). The duration of the action current, as it was called, was a few milli‐seconds. Bernstein was able to show further that the action current was pro‐pagated along the muscle fibres with a velocity of the order of 1 metre per second.
GROUP ACTIVITY In ASLIB
Authors: WILSON LESLIE
Published: February 2008

The last ten years have seen a remarkable growth in co‐operative activities organized by clearly defined sections of the membership of Aslib. Three Aslib Branches—in the Midlands, the North of England, and Scotland—have each arranged series of conferences through which Aslib's purposes have been brought to the notice of large numbers of organizations outside London and the Home Counties. Ten Aslib Groups, each representing an industry or a homogeneous group of industries, have held meetings and short lecture courses and have undertaken a range of activities resulting in practical benefits to the industries concerned. Work of this nature, springing from a genuine desire for professional collaboration, can materially increase the impact which library and information services make upon their parent organizations. It may, therefore, be worth while to take stock of the achievements of the Aslib Groups during the first few years of their existence, and also to make some assessment of their potential role in Aslib's further development.
AUTOMATION In INDEXING
Authors: CLEVERDON C.W.
Published: February 2008

There are two points to be considered under this general title, a the mechanization of the actual process of indexing, b the mechanization of the printing of indexes.
The IMPORTANCE OF CORRESPONDENCE
Authors: MACDOUGALD D.
Published: February 2008

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines ‘importance’ as ‘being important; weight, significance….’
REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOR TRANSLATIONS OF TECHNICAL ARTICLES:
Authors: WRIGHT MARTIn
Published: February 2008

Photo‐offset‐lithography is suitable for both half‐tone photo‐graphs and line drawings.
SOME MINOR BY‐PRODUCTS OF RESEARCH
Authors: HANSON C.W.
Published: February 2008

Some miscellaneous minor by‐products of Aslib investigations are given in the following notes in the hope that they may be useful to readers.
SOME PROBLEMS OF BOOKSELLING
Authors: BLACKWELL JULIAN
Published: February 2008

A bookseller's function is to find and to supply to his customers any book from anywhere in the world. If he is also a subscription agent, then he must perform the same service with periodicals. He may be asked to supply any book, from that everlasting bestseller the Bible, now available in up to five hundred versions, editions, sizes, and colours (and most customers try to see all five hundred before they make up their minds) to A critical review of the world literature on the lepidopterous stalk borers of tropical graminaceous crops—from Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac to Die Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften in Einzeldarstellungen‐Band 81‐from Nature, for which we have several hundred subscriptions, to Archiv für Molluskenkunde, for which we have one.
STATISTICAL AND OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES
Authors: ROSS IAN
Published: February 2008

As part of this one‐day conference we have prepared an exhibition of some of the more important sources giving statistical and other data on the Common Market. A Guide to sources of statistics in Common Market countries has been prepared by the Economics Library of British Nylon Spinners Ltd in collaboration with members of the Aslib Economics Group.