Slides which form lecture sets and are invariably used together, may be filed as sets, in spite of the fact that the others may be classified. After all, the rule of classification itself is that things used together must be placed together.
314. Indexes.
314. Indexes.—Probably no work demands the use of indexes so imperatively as library work. The catalogue is merely an extension of an index, and the borrowers’ register (which is dealt with in [Section 366], etc.) is in its most convenient form merely an index. We have already dealt with the indexes for [correspondence], [lantern slides], etc., and it will be more convenient to deal with the indexes to prints and maps in [Sections 438], etc. Here we can mention only one or two administrative indexes, with the general remark that the methods described are not to be regarded as stereotyped, but are merely suggestions which librarians may adapt to their special needs.
The Card Diary.—A useful little card index is one which may go on a desk, and is guided with the days of the week, and has such other guides as “This Week,” “To-day,” “Next Week,” “Miscellaneous matters,” etc., which serves as a reminder to its user. Behind the appropriate guide are filed cards referring to the matters which are to be dealt with at the time indicated. These card-diaries are commonly known as “ticklers,” and can be a most effective aid to methodical administration.
Stationery and Supplies Index.—It is an important matter, especially in large libraries, to be able to put hands immediately upon any article of stationery or other supplies. The old, haphazard plan of thrusting supplies in cupboards with wooden doors, and trusting to luck or memory for finding them again, is too leisurely a method for the busy modern librarian. All storage cupboards or presses should have glazed doors. This simple precaution has the effect of inducing tidiness on the part of the staff, and the prospect of slovenly arrangement is reduced to a minimum. The next process is to decide upon a method of indexing which will offer the greatest facilities for rapidly finding any given article. In the Library World for July, 1899, Mr Jast describes a graphic method of achieving this end. He provides a series of cards of uniform size, one or more for each article indexed, according to the need for indexing them more than once in the alphabet. On these cards he draws a rough diagrammatic elevation of the cupboard or other place of storage, as illustrated ([Fig. 120]).
| Fine Receipt Books. | Office Desk. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | ||||||||||||
Fig. 120.—Supplies Location Card ([Section 314]).
On this is indicated at the top left-hand corner the class-number, and name or nature of the supply, and at the opposite corner its location. When a supply is stored away in this receptacle one of the blank cards representing it is headed as described, and the exact place where the articles are stored is indicated by a cross marked on the [diagram], as shown above.
Of course, every separate receptacle must have its own series of specially drawn cards. The index is made by arranging these cards in the alphabetical order of the names of the various articles. Any one wanting a new fine receipt book, and not knowing where to find it, would look up this index under the word “Fine” and there he would find the card which indicates not only the receptacle where these books were stored, but also the exact position. This card may be combined with the inventory card described in the next chapter ([Section 327]).