The Binding and Filing of Periodicals
After the current periodicals have made their last tour of the offices they come back to the library to be filed for future use. What disposition shall be made of them? Shall important articles be clipped and filed and the remainder of the periodical thrown away, or shall a complete file be kept for six months or a year and then thrown away, or shall files be kept complete and bound for permanent books of reference? The latter method represents the best library practice for the following reasons. No business organization or business librarian is prophetical enough to foresee exactly what information will be useful to keep in a business library for future use, when one considers the variety of valuable material found each week in the periodicals, which cover the activities of a certain line of business. Complete files of bound periodicals constitute one of the most valuable reference aids that any business library can possess. Clipping valuable periodicals might in some instances be compared to cutting out an article from a valuable encyclopedia.
One of the values of having periodicals bound is that they do not get lost or misplaced or carried off so readily, as a separate number or a clipping would. Bound volumes do not take up so much space as might at first thought be imagined, for a three-foot shelf will hold the bound volumes of the larger size periodicals for a six or seven years period, and the number of worth while periodicals devoted to any one industry (excluding of course the annual volumes of societies) are comparatively few, and twelve to fifteen sets would be the maximum for any one business library.
The replacing immediately of a lost or mutilated periodical is one of the important duties of the business librarian, for it is reasonably sure that the lost or mutilated number has something of real importance in it, else it would not have been so treated by any member of the organization; it is also important to replace it as soon as possible, because often back numbers are difficult to obtain.
Business men as a rule know nothing of the principles of satisfactory binding and generally give the work to commercial printing establishments who misplace pages and sections, and make mistakes in titles and volume numbers in lettering the backs. If a business house does not have a librarian to supervise its binding, it should be careful to select if possible a bindery which specializes in library binding and will do the work in accordance with the best library practice. An illustration is shown of correct position and style for lettering the backs of bound volumes.
The "L. B. pamphlet box," the "Wood C. C. pamphlet case" and a heavy cardboard box covered with book cloth made by H. Schultz & Co.
It is not advisable to bind the volumes of every periodical received, for many are only of passing interest, and while it is advisable to keep such an unbound file for a year or two, at the end of that time the librarian will be guided by his experience and use discretion in disposing of out of date material.
How the back of a bound periodical should be lettered.
The best method of preserving the current numbers of periodicals which are to be permanently bound or preserved without binding is by the use of Library Bureau pamphlet boxes, or similar makes, made in a variety of dimensions.
The "L. B. pamphlet box" is made of heavy chip-board covered with glazed paper or black cloth, and half of one side doubles back on itself permitting of easy consultation without removal of the contents. These boxes stand on edge like books and are dust proof.
"Wood C. C. pamphlet case" is made of seasoned wood and covered with durable paper. This case has a closed top and open back and is therefore not dust proof and has to be taken off the shelf to consult the contents. For general use the L. B. pamphlet box is preferable for business library work. Some business libraries also use a specially made box of heavy cardboard covered with book cloth and with a card label holder on the back, similar in style to the "Wood C. C. pamphlet case," and which can be made by any good paper box factory, at prices ranging from fifteen to twenty cents each on quantities, according to the size desired. H. Schultz and Company, 519 West Superior Street, Chicago, Illinois, advertise quotations on stock of this kind. A photograph is shown of the style of boxes used by the National Safety Council, Chicago, for filing copies of current circulars which are distributed to their members.
File boxes used by the library of the National Safety Council, Chicago, for current circulars for distribution to their members