ARRANGEMENT
If the final decision is to bind the book the next step is to arrange the book in the way in which it should be bound. The question of collation is one on which there has been a difference of opinion. Some librarians have claimed that it is best to collate books at the library in order to prevent imperfect books being bound, since it is always disappointing to discover, after a book has been bound, that it is incomplete. In the great majority of cases, however, collation is a waste of time, since good binders refuse to bind imperfect volumes. In the case of very valuable books, especially those with many plates, and even in the case of less valuable books which have many illustrations not paged-in, it may be best to collate at the library since it is obviously unfair to the binder to expect him to be responsible for anything except the main paging. Fiction or juvenile books may sometimes be bound when one or two pages are missing. Juvenile books, especially, often go to the bindery with missing pages. Many times these missing pages are not especially important and in these cases it seems more economical to bind the book than to buy a new copy. If the number of missing pages is not too great they may be typewritten from other copies. Books other than fiction or juvenile should seldom be bound in an imperfect condition.
Another exception to the rule of sending books uncollated is in the case of popular periodicals, such as Scribner's, Harper's, Century, etc., where the library has only one copy which it binds. Since periodicals frequently become torn and mutilated and must be replaced it will save delay in having the volumes bound, if the collation is done at the library.
But while collation is generally unnecessary, arrangement in proper order is essential. In dealing with periodicals this is not always an easy task. They should first be examined to see that all the numbers are in hand, and that there is a title-page and an index. It would seem as if there were little chance to go astray in doing this, yet the vagaries of periodicals are innumerable and nothing must be taken for granted. If only five monthly numbers are found when there should be six to complete the volume, it is not best to conclude hastily that it is incomplete. Sometimes the cover indicates that two numbers are published in one. If it is not so indicated one must look at the paging. If the paging is consecutive, and there is a title-page and index, it is safe to assume that the volume is complete, even if a number is apparently missing.
The general rule for arranging periodicals is: Place title page at the beginning, followed by table of contents, text, and index at the end. Periodicals in English are generally easy to arrange, though even in this case one must know whether the periodical in hand is in the habit of publishing supplements which are paged separately, but which are called for by the table of contents. If such supplements are omitted the volume is incomplete. An example of a periodical of this class was the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, before it changed to its method of issuing each number as a separate volume. Many volumes of English periodicals such as All the Year Round, Household Words, etc., have been bound without the Christmas supplements, which those periodicals always issued. A few periodicals in English have two or more sets of pagings either in each number, or in some of the numbers and not in others. When the numbers are taken apart and the proper pagings grouped together, the table of contents will generally indicate how these should be arranged. But if not, it is usually readily apparent which is the main paging and which the minor paging or pagings.
Though rarely found in periodicals printed in English, this exasperating condition of affairs frequently exists in foreign periodicals. The Germans are especially fond of printing several different parts in the same number. Frequently a long monograph will begin in the first number of a volume and extend through two or more volumes. When completed it may or may not have a special title-page and index of its own. Perhaps the table of contents of the last volume in which part of it has appeared will call for it as a supplement to that volume. Perhaps it does not. In any event the paging must be removed from the first and succeeding volumes until the monograph is finally complete. If it is not called for by any regular title-page or table of contents, it may be bound separately. Sometimes a periodical will appear in two or more parts each month, each part covering some phase of the larger subject indicated by the general title of the periodical. These parts will be paged separately and numbered differently but will have the same kind of cover, and care must be used to keep the proper parts together. Peculiarities and irregularities of this sort make periodicals veritable puzzles, some of which it may take months to solve.
In arranging periodicals, front covers having a different color from the text must be kept to facilitate use.
Advertisements as a rule should not be bound. Since they are a part of the history of the times, it is desirable for a few of the largest libraries to bind the advertising pages of one or two numbers a year in each periodical. Other libraries should throw them away. It is not necessary to remove them entirely before sending the volumes to the bindery; tearing down two or three inches on pages which are to be discarded is sufficient indication to the binder that they are not to be bound.
Several magazines, such as McClure's and Everybody's, have, for several years, made a practice of leaving articles unfinished in the main paging and continuing them on advertising pages. This is an annoying practice since great care must be taken to see that all text matter is complete, even if it becomes necessary to bind all advertising pages.
Many periodicals, especially those of a scientific character, contain plates which are not paged-in. If these are scattered through the text they may be allowed to stay there, but if they are grouped together at the end of each number they should be placed together in proper order at the end of the complete volume.
The vagaries of periodical publishers are shown as much in the way in which they issue (or do not issue) title-pages and indexes as in any other way. The proper way, which is seldom done, is to issue both title-page and index in the last number of each volume. Some publishers issue them in the first number of the next volume; some at various times during the publication of the succeeding volume. Some publish a title-page at the beginning of the first number of a volume and an index when the spirit moves. Some publish a title-page but no index or table of contents. Others publish a title-page and table of contents but do not send them unless requested to do so. Many publish neither title-page nor index, and perfectly reputable periodicals which have published these essential parts of a periodical for twenty years or more will suddenly cease publishing them. It is evident that title-pages and indexes are nuisances in preparing periodicals for the bindery.
The assistant in charge should keep a record showing (a) which publishers must be asked to send title-pages and indexes, and this should be done as soon as possible after the volumes are complete; (b) in which number of a periodical title-pages and indexes may be looked for if they come regularly; (c) which periodicals do not publish title-pages and indexes.
If lack of funds makes it impossible to bind periodicals and they must be wrapped in paper it is highly important that title-pages and indexes be included, since it may be impossible to obtain them when funds permit binding.
Changes in the size of periodicals are a cause of annoyance. The annoyance is not great when the change is from a large quarto to an octavo, for the cost of binding an octavo is considerably less than that of a quarto. Unfortunately, the present tendency is almost wholly the other way. Many periodicals, for years published in a comfortable octavo size have been changed to a much larger size. This in itself is exasperating, but in addition the publishers apparently make no effort to change the size with the beginning of a new volume, so that part of a volume will be of one size and part of another. In such cases the troubles of the binding assistant may be readily imagined.
While it is highly important to bind only complete volumes of periodicals, it is occasionally permissible to bind volumes with guards for missing numbers which may be inserted later if they are obtained. This method makes it possible to put a volume into permanent form better suited for use than unbound numbers, and prevents further loss of numbers already in hand. It can be done only when the numbers are very thin, particularly in the case of newspapers.
Quite a number of periodicals have so few pages in each number that a complete volume makes a very thin book. In such cases it is best to bind two volumes in one at the cost of one.
Among other material which passes through the hands of a binding assistant are the annual reports of various organizations—religious, charitable, fraternal, governmental, etc. In large libraries these must be bound for permanent preservation. In small libraries the annual reports of all local organizations should be bound if funds permit, others wrapped in paper and lettered on the wrapper. Whether they are to be bound or wrapped in paper, they should be grouped by regular periods, preferably five or ten reports in a volume, according to size, following the decades or half decades.