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.
The Circulation of Periodicals
After the periodicals have been read and subject indexed by the librarian, as necessity requires, and this should be done immediately on mail delivery, they are sent to the desks of the members of the organization who are most vitally interested in any special information which they contain. Methods of circulation vary in different types of business libraries; some business libraries which serve a large constituency prefer to make typewritten or mimeographed lists of subject references to articles in the periodicals received during the week, and circulate these lists throughout the organization, asking the men to send to the library for any article they desire to read. This method does not suit busy executives who have no time to read a list and make a selection, and who wish the material itself put in front of them.
Some business librarians route their periodicals, attaching a slip with a list of names indicating the next person to whom the periodical is to be sent, when a reader is finished with it. Other business librarians send the individual periodicals direct to one man only, with a slip attached calling his attention to the article of special interest to him. As soon as he is through with the periodical, he puts it in his outgoing basket and it is returned to the librarian, who sends it to a second man, with a special note of the contents for him. This method seems much more desirable than to route periodicals, because they most often fail to route—they simply side track! The periodical gets laid aside on some one's desk and the librarian does not know whether it is being passed along promptly or not, whereas if the periodical is sent direct to one individual and is not promptly returned, the librarian goes after it, if it is important that it should go to someone else in the organization, without unreasonable delay. In large organizations with hundreds of employes to be reached, the routing of periodicals is absolutely necessary. The practice of the librarian of one large corporation is to subscribe for one copy of each weekly periodical for every five men who desire to read that periodical and one copy of each monthly periodical for every seven men. To insure quick routing, the names of delinquents are put at the end of the list of those to whom the periodical circulates, and the names of the men who have proved that they pass on the periodical quickly are put at the top of the list.
Samples of 3 by 5 inch charging cards. These cards may be purchased in ten colors, ruled in either four or six columns. Some business librarians put the borrower's record on a white card, and the record made under the name of a periodical on a colored card. Some business librarians omit the date of circulation. The initials on the right hand card shown above, are those of the men in a business office who are to have the periodical sent to them regularly. The cards bearing the names of the borrowers should be filed in a charging tray in alphabetical order, as should also the cards bearing the names of the periodicals. In a business library, it is not necessary to file by date as is done in public libraries.
Books loaned from a business library may be charged in a similar manner, i.e. a card bearing the name of author and title of the book taking the place of the card bearing the title of the periodical as shown above. The book card is kept in a pocket, pasted on the front or back cover of the book, when the volume is not in circulation.
The circulation or routing slip which is attached to each periodical bears the following: "Please keep this magazine in circulation. To be of value it must reach every man on this list within a week. If you cannot read it now, send it on without checking off your name and it will be returned to you later. Mark at the right of your name the page number of any article that you believe should be indexed for future reference."