0^10 \\\ \ The Library of the New York Public Service Commission First District By Robert H. Whitten, Librarian-Statistician, New York Public Service Commission, First District I ! Reprint from Special Libraries of March, 1910 State Library, Indianapolis, Ind. 18 SPECIAL LIBRARIES THE LIBRARY OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION. First District. ROBERT H. WHITTEN. The Public Service Commission for the First District, has jurisdiction in New York City over gas and electric companies, rail- roads and street railroads, including under the Rapid Transit Act the laying out of rapid transit routes, the preparation and su- pervision of contracts for construction and operation, and in certain cases the granting of franchises. The surface, elevated and subway companies in New York City carry annually over 1,300,000,000 passengers, which exceeds by more than 66 per cent, the total number of passengers carried on the steam railroads of the entire country. The gas companies of the city produce more than 20 per cent, of the entire gas output of the United States. The problems coming before the commis- sion in relation to rates, service, equipment and subway construction are numerous and important, and involve in many cases the working out of new methods and the lay- ing down of policies of tremendous im- portance. The commission has a staff of over 600 employes. About 300 of these are the engineers, draftsmen and inspectors en- gaged directiy in the work of subway plan- ning and construction. The commission has drawn into its service highly trained statis- ticians, economists, accountants, lawyers and engineers of all kinds. As a tool for the use of this large organi- zation it has established an office library. The library is intended to be a working of- fice collection of books, pamphlets and peri- odical articles needed in the current work of the commission and in the consideration of the various questions that come before it. The library aims to collect and index material in such a thorough and scientific way that when information is wanted in relation to car brakes, gas meters, fran- chise terms, Paris subways, etc., the ma- terial from which the desired information may be secured will be at hand. The li- brary now contains some 2,600 volumes and 5,400 pamphlets, making the total collection 8 , 000 . Selection and Collection of Material: In a special office library, great care must be taken in the selection and collection of ma- terial. Selection must be exhaustive but discriminating. All possible sources must be searched for useful material, but just as great care must be exercised to exclude ma- terial not needed. The efficiency of the col- lection is reduced by every useless book it contains. It is often a doubtful question as to. whether a particular book should be added to the collection, and an even more troublesome question as to whether a book now on the shelves should be discarded. The librarian must use his best judgment. He will make mistakes both in original se- lection and in discarding, but it must be done. In the library of the Pubiic Service Com- mission we examine regularly the Publish- er’s Weekly, and the lists of the United States and parliamentary publications. We get track of most of the books and pam- phlets desired, however, by a rather careful perusal of a number of technical journals that relate to public utilities. Among ihe most important are Electric Railway Jour- nal, Light Railway and Tramway Journal, Electrical World, Engineering News, Pro- gressive Age. Here we find references to the annual reports of the various public utility companies of American and Euro- pean cities and to many printed papers and special reports, official or unofficial, relating to public utilities. The lists published by Stone & Webster and the current bibli- ographies in the Journal of Political Econ- omy and American Political Science Re- view and the Economic Quarterly are also useful. Much material has been obtained by writing directly to American consuls and to the public officers and company officials in the large cities of the world. But as important as are the books, the pamphlets and special reports, they are out- ranked in value by the periodical article. In the numerous general, economic, law and technical periodicals of this and other coun- tries there are many articles of the utmost importance in the routine work of the com- mission, and in the consideration of the various problems that come before it. The library receives some 25 periodicals that are systematically examined, for articles and material of use to the commission. In ad- dition we examine the index to iegal litera- ture contained in the Law Library Journal, the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature and most important of all, the Engineering Index. The Engineering Index is a monthly annotated index of the more important ar- ticles appearing in some 200 American and European technical journals. The publish- ers of the Index undertake to supply copies of the articles listed. This is a great con- venience, especially in securing copies of articles in foreign periodicals. As soon as the Index is received it is checked up and an order sent in for copies of all the articles of special interest. Classification. A special library will usually require a special classification. The standard classifications are ail right for the smaller public libraries. Standard classifi- cations have been specially designed to meet the requirements of a general collec- SPECIAL LIBRARIES 19 tion. They are usually a sad misfit when applied to a special library. The special working collection is intended to serve very definite needs and is required to answer cer- tain definite problems. The purpose of the classification is to aid in supplying desired information with speed and certainty. The resources of the library must be classified around the special problems that are to be solved. “Close” classification is also essen- tial. There should be a special heading or subheading in the classification for practi- cally every subject, no matter how minute, concerning which information will be fre- quently wanted. The classification that we have worked out in the library of the Public Service Commission is extremely simple. The broad subjects are arranged alphabetically. Sub- headings are arranged alphabetically under the main heading. States and countries'are arranged alphabetically, and cities alphabet- ically under the state or country. The al- phabet is much in evidence. The scheme has the advantage of fitting in well with an alphabetic catalogue. A feature of the classification is the sys- tem of uniform interchangeable headings and subheadings. Certain subheadings are usfd uniformly under each of the main util- ity headings and certain main headings are used also as subheadings. Thus “Acci- dents” appears as a main heading and also as a subheading under “Gas,” “Electricity,” “Transit,” “Railroads,” etc. The notation used in the classification is a combination of letters and figures. Let- ters of the alphabet are used to represent all headings other than regional; e. g., Fr, Franchise; Ra, Railroad; Ga, Gas, etc. Re- gional headings are represented by Arabic numerals. States and countries are always designated by 2 figures and cities by 3 fig- ures. These numbers are read as decimals, though the decimal point is uniformly omit- ted; e. g„ 401 Boston follows 40 Massachu- setts and precedes 41 Michigan. The same notation means the same thing wherever it occurs. Ac always means Accidents, wheth- er as a main heading or as a subheading; e. g., Ac, Accidents; GaAc, Gas- Accidents; RaAc, Railroads-Accidents, etc. The same number is always used for a given city or country wherever it occurs in the classifica- tion; Ga401, Gas-Boston; Ra401, Railroads- Roston, etc. The above are some of the main features of the classification. They are subject, however, to numerous elaborations, modifi- cations and exceptions. Arrangement of Material: All magazines, clippings and pamphlets are kept in large vertical file drawers. The clippings are usually placed in manila folders. They are arranged under exactly the same headings as the books on the shelves. Under each heading they are arranged chronologically according to year of publication. Each ar- ticle or pamphlet has a separate file num- ber, corresponding to the book number in the case of volumes on the shelves. Of the 25 periodicals received, only 6 are bound. Articles of interest from periodicals that we do not bind are clipped, put in fold- ers and placed in the vertical file drawers. The same treatment is also applied to the numerous special copies of periodicals not taken regularly, but which are purchased because they contain some article of inter- est. The vertical file drawers keep the ma- terial free from dust and offer a maximum of convenience in consultation. The ma- terial is compact and can be easily and quickly consulted. Catalogue. The card catalogue is in three main divisions, each alphabetically ar- ranged : First — Author and title. Second — Subject headings. Third — Regional headings. The subject headings used in the classi- fication are retained in the catalogue and used in their various combinations. Maga- zine articles and pamphlets are catalogued just as fully as books, and the cards for the articles are placed in the catalogue with the cards for the books. Chapters or parts of books relating to specific subjects are sepa- rately catalogued. A feature of the cata- logue is the complete entry under the re- gional heading. Every subject entry relat- ing to a particular city or country is dupli- cated under the city or country heading. We find it a great convenience to be able to find everything we have relating to Paris, for example, together under that heading. We try to realize that it is not so much particular books or sets of books that we need to classify and index as it is the spe- cific information contained in the books. Our catalogue is not used nearly so frequently to find the location of a particular book as it is to find information in regard to some par- ticular subject. The more specialized a li- brary becomes the more important, as well as practicable it becomes to classify and index information rather than books or sets of books. Bulletins and Publicity: A library bulle- tin is issued once or twice a week contain- ing references to current books, articles and pamphlets received by the library. Each bulletin is a single sheet. It is mimeo- graphed and sent out to about 250 officers and employes of the Commission. The per- son receiving the bulletin checks in the margin the books or articles he desires to see, signs his name to the sheet and returns it to the library. On receipt of this sheet at the library, the book or article desired is sent if available, and if not, the name of the applicant is placed on a reserve list. Often it seems desirable to bring a particular ar- ticle or book to the special attention of some 20 SPECIAL LIBRARIES officer or employe. To do this the item in question is stamped in red with a rubber stamp marked “special" on the copy sent to the particular person in question. An ar- ticle or book that will probably be of inter- est to but one or two or three persons is omitted from the bulletin and is sent direct- ly to the individuals interested with a blank form stating that it is being transmitted for inspection and the request to return as soon as possible. In these ways we attempt to carry out the recognized function of the of- fice library, that of bringing promptly to the attention of the officers and employes of the Commission the new books and the articles of interest in connection with their official duties. The bulletin is a notable success in di- rectly increasing the use of the library. It also has a publicity feature. It is a con- stant reminder of the existence of the Li- brary and of the nature of the material that may be found there. The office library is an innovation and the habit of turning to it for information must be acquired. Various forms of publicity should be resorted to, to aid the development of the library habit. I think we could and should do more in this direction than we have in the past. Reference Lists: Numerous special ref- erence lists are prepared from time to time on subjects of special interest. Our close classification, analytic catalogue entries and combined periodical and book catalogue make the preparation of special reference lists much simpler. Often all that is re- quired is a straight copy of the catalogue entries. Blue Print Methods: We are experiment- ing on a new form of catalogue that prom- ises certain distinct advantages. The cata- logue entries on each subject are arranged chronologically and copied on letter size onion skin paper. This makes a negative from which a blue print may be taken. A single sheet or sheets being devoted to each subject, it is possible to add future acces- sions to the original sheet without the neces- sity of recopying. We can thus have always an up-to-date catalogue on loose sheets. It is of course easier to consult a catalogue with five to twenty entries on each page than to finger over the cards in a card cata- logue. Another advantage will be that we can make portions of the catalogue available in the various bureaus of the Commission. Thus we can supply the Franchise bureau with a loose leaf always up-to-date catalogue of franchise material, the bureau of Statis- tics and Accounts with a catalogue of ac- counts, finance and statistics, and similarly for the various other bureaus and depart- ments. Another advantage will be that we can always supply a blue print copy of any part or parts of the catalogue. It seems probable that these will in large measure take the place of the special reference lists that we have been preparing. A reference list is out of date as soon as it is made. The advantage of having available an always up- to-date list is evident. Collection of Information: The library also compiles data on various subjects, and particularly in relation to public utility su- pervision and conditions in other states and cities. To a considerable extent, the quali- fications essential for the scientific selection and collection of material are the same as those required for the compilation of the information contained in the material. These functions are therefore combined and the library, so far particularly as conditions in ot^er stages and cities are concerned, both collects and collates information. Thus de- tailed reports have been prepared in rela- tion to the supervision of street railways in England and Prussia, the subway system of Paris and the laws and experience of various cities in relation to the indeterminate fran- chise and in relation to profit sharing as a method of franchise compensation. Numer- ous brief comparative statements have also been prepared. Much of our most valuable information has been drawn from the laws, methods and experience of the great cities of Europe. I think that this combination of library work and collation or investigation is a prac- tical one. The librarian gains an intimate knowledge of the contents of the material in his collection. His direct use of the ma- terial shows him the weak places in it and enables him to fill up the missing portions that are so absolutely essential to an effi- cient working collection. Active use of his collection helps the librarian, moreover, to get away from the habit of looking at the book as the unit of library work. It helps him to a realization that it is facts and in- formation that it is his function to classify, arrange and make readily available rather than particular books or sets of books. Quick Service: The necessity for quick service is a fundamental and ell sufficient reason for the existence of the special li- brary. Information to be of use in the every-day work of the world must be quickly available. Quick service multiplies use — this is as true of libraries as it is of transit systems. The importance of quick service should therefore condition and mould the entire organization of the special or office library, its classification, arrangement and cataloguing. In the development of a special library emphasis needs to be laid on these two things: First, the necessity for quick serv- ice, and, second, that the service rendered is for the purpose of giving information and that the library is not merely dealing in copies or titles of books and articles. While we hold these ideals in the library of which I am speaking, we still lack much of their complete realization.