The Indexing of Periodicals
The periodical indexes published by The H. W. Wilson Company, New York City. This company also publishes an Index to Legal Periodicals.
After the periodicals are checked, the librarian should go through them rapidly, keeping well in mind all the topics of particular interest to the organization, and also special requests from individuals for the latest information on subjects, which they have designated as being of present value to them. It is a good plan also to ask heads of departments who read periodicals regularly every week, to call the attention of the librarian to any special articles which they think valuable and to which they might wish to refer again. This strengthens the librarian's reading and makes doubly sure that no information of importance is overlooked.
All articles or items of importance are assigned a subject heading (which will be discussed in the chapter on cataloging) and a card is made for the subject card index to periodical material. The trained librarian will know how to discriminate and reduce this indexing to a minimum.
Some one may ask at this point why it is necessary for the librarian to do subject indexing to periodical articles when there are good printed indexes to them, such as Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, Industrial Arts Index, and the Agricultural Index, published by The H. W. Wilson Company, New York City (samples and prices upon application) and in addition The Engineering Index, recently acquired by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and published monthly in the Journal of that Society with an annual cumulated volume. There are several reasons why subject indexing must be done by the librarian; first because these printed indexes do not index many of the periodicals which are of importance to the business library and second, because in the periodicals which are covered by these indexes, there are many items of importance to business firms which are too short to be entered in the general printed indexes. The time element is also an important factor in the business library, as the subject card index is made at once and immediately ready for reference, while the printed indexes are of necessity never strictly up to date. For example, an engineering firm was desirous of keeping up to date on all increases in gas and electric rates throughout the country, due to the increased cost of production, on account of higher prices of materials. Various journals reported such items each week, sometimes in not more than a dozen lines. In such a case the librarian's minute reading and quick indexing was invaluable, and gave a service not to be expected of the printed index.
A word should be said, however, at this point in regard to the value of printed indexes, for example the "Industrial Arts Index." Periodicals are sealed books without indexes, and printed indexes are invaluable working tools, first, because no business librarian will attempt the impossible task of making a subject card for every article of value in current periodicals, and second, because a live business organization in these days of sudden changes in economic conditions cannot possibly foresee every subject in which it may be interested. When these unexpected subjects arise for which the business librarian has not made provision, the printed indexes come to the rescue and serve the need most admirably. The indexes to separate volumes of individual periodicals, which the publishers issue at the completion of each volume, and in many cases do not send unless requested to do so, are not of great value because, with few exceptions, the subject indexing is poor. Many of them invert the title of the article in order to enter it under the most striking word which it contains, without consideration of its real subject content, and without further consideration of the three, four or more subjects on which the article is very likely to contain valuable information.