Ink and handwriting
For catalog cards and all other records use a non-copying black, permanent ink. Carter's record ink is good. It has been adopted, after careful investigation, by the state of Massachusetts for all official records. The New York state library school, at Albany, has issued a little handbook on "library handwriting," which recommends Carter's record, and says they use Stafford's blue writing ink for blue and his carmine combined for red.
For all labels on the outside of books, and for all writing on surfaces which may be much handled, use Higgins' American drawing ink, waterproof.
The vertical hand should be used in all library work. The following rules, with the illustrations, are taken from the Albany school handbook above referred to:
Brief rules
1 Ink. Use only standard library ink and let it dry without blotting.
2 Position. Sit squarely at the desk and as nearly erect as possible.
3 Alphabets. Follow the library hand forms of all letters, avoiding any ornament, flourish, or lines not essential to the letter.
4 Size. Small letters, taking m as the unit, are one space or two millimeters high; i. e. one-third the distance between the rulings of the standard catalog card.