The plan to combine the catalog and reference departments, the assistants working one-third of their time in reference work, brings excellent results. In the first place the assistants come in direct contact with the public for part of every day. The knowledge of books gained by examination for full cataloging can be made directly useful to the public. On the other hand, the demands of the reader, his peculiarities of expression and his general attitude toward the library give inspiration to the work in the cataloging department as to subject headings and analyticals to be made. The change of work is restful and enables the assistants to accomplish much in a day without becoming weary of either line of work. The efficiency of the assistants depends upon their ability to bring the book and the reader together and as the cataloger has the advantage of studying the books she should therefore bring this knowledge to the public through personal contact.
Emphasis is put on the increased usefulness of the staff by reason of the ability to appreciate the relation between the library and the public and to bring into the daily life of the community the increased knowledge of books.
What has been said is not intended as a criticism of any method of administering a cataloging department, but is an effort rather to present a plan which from practical experience has proved successful.
The discussion was then thrown open to the floor, with the suggestion from the chairman that it take the following lines:
1. Is the catalog department too confined in its organization and too distinctly separated from other departments?
2. How much mechanical work should be done by expert catalogers? Who should do the mechanical work and where should it be done?
3. What should be the relations between the catalog and the shipping departments?
Mr. Hodges, of the Cincinnati public library, said that each library had to use a system suited to its individual needs, that in Cincinnati there was no head of the order department, that he considered the use of catalogers in the reference department during rush hours a good plan as they were usually well fitted for the work, that in his library there was a single head of the catalog and reference departments.
Miss Hitchler, superintendent of cataloging of the Brooklyn public library, said that co-operation could be effected between departments without interchange of assistants.
Mr. Hopper said that the obstacle to combining the heads of the catalog and order departments in one person was that a knowledge of cataloging and a knowledge of the book trade were seldom combined in one person.