SECOND SESSION
The second session of the Association was called to order in the Ladies' Parlor at 3 p. m., June 26th, by the president.
A few general introductory remarks were made by the president regarding the purpose of this session which hinged chiefly about the question of handling clippings.
Honorable Robert Luce in a very carefully prepared address then discussed, under the title, "The clipping bureau and the library," the internal working of the clipping bureau which bears his name. Probably few librarians have realized the enormous volume of detail handled by the large clipping bureau in the course of a day's work. Mr. Luce in his paper has carefully brought home that fact and urged that many users of material from clipping bureaus, and among them librarians, had never learned how to correctly judge results of clipping-bureau service. This judgment should be used upon the mass result rather than upon detail. An interesting description of the method of caring for a collection of 20,000 or more articles of his own proved an important part of the paper. A discussion of the "scrap book" and its function in the library was also handled. An earnest plea was made for co-operation on the part of the librarians ordering material from the clipping bureau. The employment of the clipping bureau is a step in the line of efficiency. "No man accustomed to business methods can fail to be struck with the waste therein due to the employment of high-grade minds on low-grade work. When some part of the working time of a public servant possessing intellectual acumen is put into manual labor that can be as well performed by a youth without special training, there is economic loss. When your subordinates handle the scissors and the paste-brush, you are paying them for work that can more quickly and much more cheaply be done in our cutting rooms."
A significant question by Mr. Bowker brought out the following facts: "After the reader marks the newspaper it goes to the cutter. There is very seldom any loss there. Occasionally an item is slashed or overlooked, and when the clippings have been cut and pasted they go to the sorter, whose duty it is to sort them by groups. We have the clippings divided into 128 classifications. We allow each customer one of those classifications." Mr. Luce answered many other questions raised by different speakers.[17]
[17] See full discussion in "Special Libraries."
Following Mr. Luce's paper, Mr. Jesse Cunningham, librarian of the School of Mines and Metallurgy, Rolla, Missouri, reported as the Chairman of the clipping committee his investigation of the use and methods of handling and filing newspaper clippings. A very careful digest of a questionnaire sent to over thirty selected libraries, discussed the matters of obtaining clippings by these various libraries, the arrangement of the material for clipping, the service rendered by the clipping bureaus, classification and methods of filing, as well as the indexing and eliminating of dead material, closing the report with a discussion of the use and value of clippings, their disadvantages, the purchasing of clippings on special subjects and the several conclusions arrived at by the committee. A most excellent report was rendered. The committee was continued and requested to extend its inquiries along the lines indicated.
In the absence of Dr. J. Franklin Crowell of the Wall Street Journal, his paper upon the "Clipping methods of the Wall Street Journal library" was read by title.
Mr. H. W. Wilson of Minneapolis, followed with a paper entitled, "Problems of printed indexes in special fields."
"The need for printed indexes in special fields has been made manifest by the thousands of fugitive scraps of indexes that libraries here and there spend their time and energy in producing for temporary use.
"First steps toward printed indexes are both fragmentary and inadequate. It seems to be time to take the next step in the development of index-making, a step which involves concentration of scattered ideas—a step which should be successful because it means comprehensiveness, thoroughness, uniformity, economy and efficiency.
"The special fields of literature in which printed indexes are most likely to succeed are thought to be as follows, in about the order mentioned: Industrial arts, agriculture, education, social problems.
"It will scarcely be necessary to defend here the alphabetical index as opposed to the classified arrangement. While a classified list of articles has its value in informing specialists what has been published in their respective fields in one particular month, or year, it is almost useless as a book of ready reference in a library—useless even to the technically trained, exasperating to the layman.
"In a classed list the responsibility for finding an article rests with the searcher."
The great difficulty caused by unsatisfactory nomenclature especially in rapid-growing new technical fields, was dwelt upon at some length. In conclusion, he said, "At least one new field should be opened up each year."
In the general discussion which followed, the questions of paper for clipping mounts, adhesives, and preservatives, were touched upon.