958 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 547. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



AN AUTOMATIC CATALOGUE OF SCIENTIFIC 

 LITERATURE. 



To THE Editor of Science ; The cataloguing 

 of current scientific literature is receiving con- 

 siderable attention at the present time. The 

 difficulty of accomplishing this with prompt- 

 ness and completeness is well shown in the 

 first annual issue of the ' International Cata- 

 logue of Scientific Literature ' comprehen- 

 sively reviewed by Professor H. B. Ward, in 

 a recent number of Science. 



The spectacle of four organizations em- 

 ployed in practically the same work, viz., the 

 cataloguing of zoological literature, and all 

 the catalogues found to be incomplete when 

 carefully scrutinized in any particular line, 

 would seem to demonstrate the futility of 

 hopes for a complete catalogue in a system 

 where the cataloguers are compelled to collect 

 and review the literature. 



For a catalogue of scientific literature to 

 be of great value it should enable a writer to 

 feel that justice has been done his predeces- 

 sors when the literature catalogued under any 

 subject in question has been canvassed, and 

 this will not be the case if there is even a 

 doubt as to completeness. On the other hand, 

 a catalogue, in which confidence was justified, 

 would save an enormous amount of labor 

 and greatly increase the efficiency of the 

 world's investigators. 



The character of the publications in which 

 the results of scientific work appear are so 

 diverse and difficult of access, and the amount 

 of literature to be catalogued is really so 

 large that any approach to absolute complete- 

 ness by the means now employed seems out 

 of the question, even with the most liberally 

 endowed organization. 



It seems clear to the writer, at least, that 

 the desired result can be obtained only by 

 some scheme in which the authors themselves 

 are responsible for the cataloguing. 



In scientific work the class that writes is, 

 to a large extent, the same as that which con- 

 sults the literature and it would seem only 

 just that those wishing to use the work of 

 others should be willing to make their own 



work accessible. Scientific etiquette now de- 

 mands that articles be published under reason- 

 ably short and appropriate titles, thus assist- 

 ing the cataloguers in their enormous under- 

 taking. May it not be possible to carry this 

 a step further? 



Let it be considered a necessary part of the 

 publication of an article, that the title, at 

 least, and an abstract, if desired, be submitted 

 to the cataloguing organization. The labor 

 of that body would then be confined to edi- 

 torial work and could be accomplished by a 

 comparatively small staff. The abstracts 

 would convey the ideas of the authors and 

 the interest which every writer takes in his 

 own work would insure the completeness of 

 the catalogue. It would be necessary to es- 

 tablish a maximum ratio between the length 

 of the article and the length of the abstract. 

 The general classification of the subjects 

 would need to be made public and the authors 

 should indicate under which branch they wish 

 their work to be catalogued, it being allowable 

 to catalogue a title under more than one sub- 

 ject-head with cross-references to the place 

 where the abstract appears. 



The title and abstract should be submitted 

 simultaneously with the appearance of the 

 publication; thus the catalogue could be com- 

 plete to date of issue. This feature would also 

 be entirely automatic, as it would be to every 

 author's advantage to have his work placed 

 before the public as promptly as possible. 



Any scheme of this kind will appear to many 

 as fanciful. Whether this charge be just or 

 not depends entirely on the way in which the 

 scheme is launched. 



If simultaneously adopted by the large sci- 

 entific organizations its automatic nature 

 would insure its success. If put into opera- 

 tion prematurely by any organization that 

 does not command the support of the scien- 

 tific public its failure is no less certain. 

 Indeed, an attempt of similar nature was 

 made not long since by an obscure institution 

 whose prospectus received little or no atten- 

 tion, other than that aroused by the fantastic 

 English in which it was couched. 



G. N. Collins. 



U. S. Departjient of Agriculture. 



