NA TURE 



449 



THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1921. 



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Editorial communications to the Editor. 



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Co-operative Indexing of Periodical 

 Literature. 



THE selection, examination, and classification 

 of the valuable matter contained in 

 periodical literature is performed by two agencies, 

 viz. certain abstracting and indexing- societies and 

 journals. " Science Abstracts " and the abstracts 

 published by the chemical societies of England, 

 France, Germany, and the United States are ex- 

 amples of the former class, while the " Inter- 

 national Catalogue of Scientific Literature," the 

 " Engineering Index," the " Index Medicus," the 

 " Index to Legal Periodicals," and the various 

 indexes published by the Anglo-American library 

 associations represent the latter. Almost with- 

 out exception, where the same field is covered by 

 both types of publication, the two agencies work 

 independently of each other. Further, in this 

 country the publication of abstracts generally 

 precedes the corresponding index publication, 

 especially where the latter makes any pretence to 

 completeness. This obviously is an indefensible 

 arrangement ; for the index material, which is the 

 result of the wider survey, should be accessible to 

 the abstractor prior to the preparation of the 

 abstracts. We propose to indicate how this 

 change could be accomplished with a minimum 

 of disturbance to existing interests. It should be 

 observed that the phrase "periodical literature " is 

 used in its widest sense to include society publica- 

 tions and institutional reports, as well as annual, 

 quarterly, monthly, and weekly publications. 

 The growth of periodical literature owing to the 

 NO. 2693, VOL. 107] 



increased specialisation of knowledge is one of 

 the most significant features of our times. A 

 union catalogue of the current periodicals pre- 

 served in the German libraries, published in 1914, 

 comprised some 17,000 entries. A similar list for 

 the periodicals filed in the libraries of the United 

 Kingdom, prepared in 191 4-1 5 by some English 

 State and Copyright librarians, was submitted for 

 publication to the Department of Scientific and 

 Industrial Research, but the proposal met with no 

 encouragement. Yet the compilation of such a 

 list is an essential preliminary to the proper 

 national organisation of knowledge. For a union 

 list indicates the relative strength and weakness of 

 our national libraries in respect of their periodical 

 collections : it enables the librarian to correct 

 the latter without unduly increasing the ex- 

 penditure of the library in that department of 

 literature. Moreover, while primarily a time- 

 saving expedient for locating the place of deposit 

 of a periodical, it emphasises the essential unity 

 of the library service in the satisfaction of the 

 legitimate requirements of research. Our first 

 proposal, therefore, is that representations should 

 be made to the Trustees of the British Museum 

 with the view of inducing them to undertake this 

 necessary piece of national work. These repre- 

 sentations would carry greater weight if accom- 

 panied by some guarantee of financial support. 

 The work done in 1914-15, which is in the 

 custody of the British Museum library authorities, 

 would, of course, require considerable revision and 

 extension, but the cost of its publication should 

 not exceed 500L— a portion of which would be re- 

 couped by its sale. 



That a large proportion of periodical literature 

 is of an extremely composite character is, of 

 course, a commonplace ; but the labour which this 

 feature entails upon those responsible for the col- 

 lection of material relevant to their particular fields 

 of inquiry is not equally well realised. This com- 

 posite character applies not only to the popular 

 magazines and journals, but also to the repositories 

 of original investigations in all branches of know- 

 ledge. The Cotnptes rendus of the Paris Academy, 

 for example, furnish material not only for the 

 seventeen sections of the " International Cata- 

 logue," but also for psychology, education, 

 archaeology, and technology. In the Sitz- 

 ungsberichte of the Berlin Academy theories 

 of relativity jostle with disquisitions on Hit- 

 tite inscriptions and Turco-Tataric philology. 

 In short, periodical literature may be said 

 to consist of two classes : (a) watertight 



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