New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-12-16
DISCOURAGEMENT or REFERENCE.

Books Of reference are supposedly
among the most useful Of all for the as
certainment Of facts and figures, and 1T
might be supposed that their employ
ment by the public would be encouraged
as means to popular information and
| facilitated by their arrangement In the
simplest and most perspicuous fashion.
When a man wants to find some fact he
wants to do so In the quickest and
handiest fashion. IF the words and
definitions in a dictionary were iumbled
together hotch- potch, all the informa-
ton would be there, but il would be
about as accessible and available as the
proverbial needle in haystack
In view Of these considerations we
must confess ourselves TO be filed. In
the words of the hymn. with wonder
but certainly not with love and praise,
at the painstaking ingenuity with which
the editors of some conspicuous works
Of reference have made the use Of their
volumes not as easy but rather as diff
cult and as irritating as possible. Here,
for illustration, is an encyclopedia. in
many volumes. There Is lettering on
the backs of the volumes to indicate
their contents. Thus the first volume Is
marked "A-AND," so that any one
wishing to find an article the subject OF
which is within that alphabetical com
pass will know that it Is in that volume.
But, no, That is as II should be. bur
as II isn't! For that volume does not
contain all the "AND" articles, but leaves
some of them for the next, which covers
the compass Of "AND-AUS.' If one
wishes to refer TO the article on Aus
! tria," then, he will find it i'm this second
volume. VIII he? We are not so sure,
for that volume does not finish with
AUS" but lets II run on into the next,
! "AUS-BIS" And so the volumes 60
on. and I'm tho whole series in eighteen
cases the same reference letters are car
ried from one volume on TO the next,
while in only nine cases is an alphabet
cal category finished in one volume and
new one begun in the next. Here Is
another exceedingly valuable set of only
six volumes, in which in four cases the
same letters are carried from one vol
ume 70 the next while I'm only one Is
there a distinct division. Once more,
here is monumental work in many
volumes i'm which in no fewer than fifty
two cases there is this diabollcal link
| ing together of successive volumes.
Now. there is no use in trying to pre-
tend that eft Just happened so" The
human mind revolts at such a sugges-
ton. The thing was done with malice
aforethought with much elaboration
and great pains. II meant much more
work for the editors Of the books, for
which they probably received no extra
compensation I'm cash. but they did It
/ lust for the sake Of bothering people. Of
making q man look into two volumes
! instead of one, and of thus adding i'm
Imeasurably to the labor and incidentally
| TO the profanity Of the world. We can
/ imagine the abandoned wretches calcu-
| lating thus: AT least half the times a
imam pulls out one Of these volumes he
will find that he ought to have taken
"the other one That will mean 30 per
cent additional time trouble and OBJ
"jurgation ON. joy And yet there are
societies for the advancement OF science
/ for the promotion 81 learning, for the
prevention Of cruelty and for the sup
preston If vice. and they blandly ignore
the pernicious existence Of these unset
entihc cruel and vicious devices We
should hesitate to urge addition 10 the
| Presidents series of messages 10 Con
gress this year. Yet why should mere
! trusts and tariffs and treaties and such
like things have precedence over this
| crime Of the ages?