The editorial board provides the editors regular input on which special issues should be planned. Bibliographies of spectroscopic literature are of little use in this age of electronic databases. The bibliographies are extremely popular with our readers and their publication is supported by our editorial board. These save busy researchers weeks and weeks of time in trying to find only a small portion of these relevant references using current technology. The research scientist obviously has a different perspective from you as a librarian.
Time is critical for the scientist.
In addition, you must also remember that this is an international journal, and not every one has access to databases that those of us at large research universities in the USA have. Moreover, a computer search for material is always rather deficient and fails to find many of the relevant references. The use of bibliographies is never referenced in manuscripts, so it is difficult for you to assess this value since it does not contribute to the impact factor. As our customers, you insist upon higher standards. We editors, with a rigorous refereeing process to insure high standards, base all our decisions on scientific merit.