Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-12-08
SCRAPS AND CLIPPINGS.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PREFERENCE
 DEPARTMENT OF A LIBRARY.


 The Rev. John Todd's "Indsz Rerum." Its
 Use, and outgrowth-yaIuabIeC Collection
 of Scraps Made by War Correspondent.
 Suggestions.
 Every person who uses the Brooklyn library to any extent Is eognizant of the fact that its "Reference Department Is prominent feature of that institution lt Is now proposed to supplement the refer ence library by the addition of collection of carefully kept scrap books, and already A portion oi this collection Is ready for the public's use. The attention of a reporter was called to this addition to the hbrary's usefulness not long since, and he called upon Acting Librarian Bardwel to obtain some further information in regard to it. Mir Bardwell is quite an enthusiast upon the subject of keeping scraps, and when questioned upon 1t thus expressed his views;
 "The Rev. John Todd, of Pittsfeld, Mass" he said. some years ago published an Index Rerum; or. Index of Subjects. intended as a manual to aid the Student and Professional Man in preparing him self for Usefulness TLis work. which passed through over twenty editions, was a blank book with an alphabet printed ct the head of the pages and directions il lustrating its utility and method of use, which consisted in jotting down important facts or striking passages met with ID books. or in noting under the appropriate subject in the index the volume and page where the extract could be found when wanted William Wirt says: There is not fact within the whole circle of hu- mrn observation, nor even fugitive an ecdote that you read in a newspaper or hear in conversation, that will not come in play some time or other; and occasions will arise when they will, involuntarily. present their dim shadows in the train of of your thinking and reasoning. as belong ing to that train, and you will regret that you cannot recall them more distinctly.
 "Dr Todd's index was for the purpose of noting where an article might be found. and served to somo extent the same pur- pose as the numerous books of quotations and extracts that have been published in recent years.
 "The department of scrap books now in process of development at the Brooklyn library bids fair to be an index rerum on a very extensive scale. lt is a collection of clippings and extracts from news papers, commenced many years ago by Mir. Wilcox III K. W. a war correspon- dent, who commenced clipping and filing away extracts for his own personal use. These, as time passed on and the collec- tion became larger, he divided into sub iects and kept in boxes labeled according 10 the contents of each box. At his death he left his collection, the accumulation of more than twenty years, 10 the Brooklyn library, where it is now being carefully collated and arranged under a classified tion similar to that of the library cata- logue. The clippings are being pasted on sheets of maniLa paper, which after being properly dried and pressed are arranged iy single sheets (nOt bound together, as this would preclude the incorporation of any further material in its proper place under its subject heading. as additions are made from time to timel. These sheets are kept in boxes that are labeled on the back so as to indicate the subject and the subdivision of subject contained in each box.
 "The arrangement of the material thus kept being strictly by subjects and their various notifications, and the whole be- ing formed into one alphabet, no index is required to guide the sesrcher for infor- nation. All that is necessary Is to look at the labels until the subject needed is reached in the line. Then take down the box that contains what Is wanted and use it. As time passes and the library collec- ti0p ia developed it is expected it will be found of especial value Co literary people as containing much valuable material which will be made easily available by its arrangement under subjects, bringing to- gether items of information that would otherwise be so scattered as to be practi- caily lost uuless collected under some such plan as this"
 What do you think. Mir. Bardwell, of the value of Q scrap collection in gen eralY'
 As to the value of material thus col lected variety of opinions may exist, but SO far as possible the source from which the information was obtained Is mentioned, as well as the date of publication The question suggests itself whether every literary person may not find it advantage- ous 10 Keep a collection of scrap books. Items that appear from day 10 day may prove exceedingly valuable in the future. and the only time to secure these IS while the eye Is upon them, as almost any one who has tried to locate a paragraph he thinks he saw at an indefinite time, a few months or even few days ago. can testify. II one has hunted through file of papers for an extract he can appreciate the diff. -uliy and will probably wish he had saved the scrap.
 ..Oue can make collection of his spe- ciaSy or can make a general collection of any sCaterial he thinks would be useful in the future. He can include his own productions under their own subject headings, or he can include them all in one volume marked Personal A literary maa should bear in mind that he may one day become famous. in which case col lection of all She fugitive pieces he has ever had in print might prove valuable as well as interesting. While there is no limit to the subjects on which one may collect scraps, every one must be his own fudge as to how large his collection should be, and what range of subjects be will require, but, in any case, a thorough ar l rangement of the material by subjects will obviate any necessity of an Index. If thoroughly classified in this way. the collection will be its own index. and there Is no other way, SO far as csn be seen at present, that would be SO effective. There are other libraries beside the Brooklyn that have some scrap collections. Some college libraries have collections covering the history of their institution from the start"
 C7Iunbioo r.ouut St Elias.