The Library and How to Use It
by
AUDIO IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE FOR THIS ARTICLE
By WELLS EMMETT BEMENT, Assistant in Charge of Reading Room, Library of Congress
Here is a key that will unlock the possibilities of the public or institutional library, to which we must all have access. It should prove most helpful, as it combines simplicity with comprehensiveness. The writer is uniquely fitted to advise us. Formerly carrying responsibilities in our denominational work, he now holds an important position in the Public Reading Room in the Library of Congress, with its more than seven million volumes and pamphlets, and about the same number of manuscripts. Preserve and consult this upon occasion. It will prove an invaluable asset to the student and investigator.—Editor,
The preacher was right when he said, "Of making many books there is no end." Today, centuries after Solomon wrote these words, we live in a world of books. Authors are writing, publishing houses publishing, bookstores selling, libraries circulating, reviewers evaluating, and experts advising, so that now anyone who can read has little excuse for being uninformed.
Of those following the professions, much reading is required, at least along their specialized lines, and in such callings as preaching, teaching, and medicine, there must be both intensive and extensive pursuits in learning. For such, a library is invaluable, indispensable. It may be a private collection, but usually the library of an institution or a public library is necessary for deep penetration and broad expansion. A minister, for instance, cannot afford to own all the books he wants to read or refer to ; he cannot find room for them in his home or cart them about in his frequent moves. Then, too, the books he wants are frequently no longer in print. So he turns to the larger library.
In a public library there are books new and old, large and small, valuable and not so valuable, easy to read and hard to read. Here one can pursue innumerable subjects, briefly or broadly, in poetry or prose, factual or fictional, from ancients or moderns.
In order to get the most out of the best in the .easiest and quickest way, the following considerations may be of help in introducing one to a public library. He should have acquaintance with the following categories :
1. Rules and regulations of the library.
2. General layout of the library.
3. System of classification.
4. Use of the card catalogue. 5- Reference works.
5. Indexes.
6. Bibliographies.
7. Serials.
8. Government publications. to. Various services. rt. Interlibrary loan facilities.
I. RULES AND REGULATIONS.—One must know the hours the library is open, which books are reference, which are circulating, who may take books out, how many at a time, and for how long.
2. GENERAL LAYOUT OF THE LIERARY.—Usually the general reference books, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, indexes, and guides, are in the most convenient location. Then the general and frequently used books of various classifications or subjects are shelved together in some systematic order for self-service. There are usually open sections for fiction, children's books, and periodicals. The latest books are usually grouped in a conspicuous place. The rest of the books are back in the stacks, obtainable by call.
3. SYSTEM OF CLASSIFICATION.—One may not need to know the whole system, but should be familiar with the letters, figures, or symbols marking the books of his particular interest. An outline is obtainable at the main desk of the library.
4. USE OF THE CARD CATALOGUE.—The card catalogue is an index of the library contents. One consults it to obtain the book number in requesting books, or it may be used as a bibliographical guide of some subject. The card index is in general alphabetically arranged, with three kinds of cards—author, subject, title, coming in that order (also, where names are similar, there is a sequence of person, place, thing).
Consequently, there are three ways to find a book card: With the author method one must know the author's full name with initials, or real name if writing under a pseudonym. The author's last name is used in filing. Joint-author cards are filed by the first-named author. When using the book-title method, one must know the exact wording of the title ; then disregard the initial article (a, an, the), and proceed alphabetically. Cards under subject headings are subdivided when the subject is extensive, the method being at once apparent. Tracer helps are found at the bottom of Library of Congress cards, in the form of other subject headings, and on the back of main-entry cards in the case of typewritten cards.
5. REFERENCE WORKS.—These are in the form of dictionaries, encyclopedias, yearbooks, almanacs, handbooks, directories, atlases, and gazetteers ; also serials, indexes, outlines, reviews, digests, bibliographies, concordances, commentaries, government publications, sets and monograms on subjects of general interest. We mention a few, the use of which is obvious.
a. General encyclopedias. These introduce the subjects of most quests and suggest further material. The most comprehensive are:
The Encyclopaedia Britannica with yearbooks The Encyclopedia Americana with yearbooks The New International Encyclopedia with yearbooks The Columbia Encyclopedia
b. Encyclopedias with special emphasis in certain fields:
The Catholic Encyclopedia
The Jewish Encyclopedia
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and United States History
Cyclopedia of Law and Procedure
Monroe's Cyclopedia of Education
Thompson's Encyclopedia of Music
Hutchinson's Technical and Scientific Encyclopedia
Bailey's Cyclopedia of Agriculture
Encyclopedia of Medicine and Surgery
Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology
c. More specialized books of reference: (r) Biographical informationWebster's Biographical Dictionary
Lippincott's Pronouncing Biographical Dictionary
Dictionary of American Biography
Dictionary of National Biography (English mainly)
Who's Who (chiefly British)
Who's Who in America
Who Was Who (for the "has-beens")
Series of Who's Whos by location and vocation
American Men of Science
Leaders in Education
Living Authors
Current Biography
(2) Historical
Cambridge Histories, Ancient, Medieval, Modern
Cambridge English Literature; American Literature
New Learned History for Ready Reference
Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities
Keller's Dictionary of Dates
Langer's Encyclopedia of World History (rev. of Ploetz "Epitome")
Atlases and gazetteers
Rand McNally Commercial Atlas
Shepherd's Historical Atlas
Lippincott's Gazetteer
Westminster Historical Atlas to the Bible
Almanacs and yearbooks
New York World Almanac Whitaker's Almanac (English) Statesman's Yearbook
Yearbook of American Churches
Book digests and subject outlines
Keller's Reader's Digest of Books
Book Review Digests
College Outline Series, Barnes and Noble Religious Press Directory
(6) Book of quotations and poetry, etc.
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
Hoyt's New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations Stevenson's Anthology of Verse Untermeyer—American and British Verse The Van Dorens—Collections of Poetry and
Prose
Granger's Index to Poetry
(7) Concordances and commentaries
Bible—law—literature
Dictionaries and word books:
Murray's New English Dictionary, or Oxford English Dictionary (Gives all the uses of every word since iI5o. Good for quotations.)
Webster's New International Dictionary (unabridged) Funk and Wagnall's New Standard Dictionary (unabridged)
The Century Dictionary (Vol. ii is a cyclopedia of names ; vol. rz contains an atlas.)
University of Chicago Dictionary of the American Language
Skeat's Etymological Dictionary
Roget's Thesaurus, revised by Mawson (classified collection of synonyms)
Soule's Synonyms
Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage Horwill's Dictionary of Modern American Usage
Publishing and book information:
United States Catalog (A complete listing of books published in the United States. Entries are by author, subject, and title in the same alphabet.)
Cumulative Book Index (Issued monthly; cumulates yearly into a volume of the U.S. Catalog.)
Book Review Digest (Issued monthly; cumulates into a yearly volume ; here are excerpts of the best digests with listings of others.)
Ayer's Directory of Newspaper and Periodicals (Issued annually.)
6. INDEXES.—These are a great help in knowing what has been issued in periodicals and otherwise. The following will show the scope.
a. General:Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1900) International Index to Periodicals
b. Specialized:Agriculture Index
American Library Association Portrait Index
Art Index
Biological Abstracts
Chemical Abstracts
Dramatic Index
Education Index
Engineering Index
Essays and General Literature Index
Experiment Station Index
Legal Index
Index Medicus
Industrial Arts Index
Public Affairs Information Service
Psychological Index
c. Newspaper:New York Times London Times
7. BIBLIOGRAPEIIES.—Lists Of material with Comments have been prepared by individuals, institutions, the Library of Congress, and government agencies on innumerable subjects.
8. SERIALS.—These are magazines, newspapers, government publications, institutions' publications, societies' publications, annuals, etc. One should determine what the library has that he can use.
9. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS.—More and more, governments enter into the life and activities of the people. As needs for information on various subjects arise, books and pamphlets are issued dealing with the matter. A documentary catalogue is available.
10. VARIOUS SERVICES.—The public library keeps files of clippings, pamphlets, and pictures ;. and supplies of outlines, digests, and dissertations. It is not intended that the library service do all the work of acquiring information, but merely to lay the groundwork and point out the path.
II. INTERLIBRARY LOAN FACILITIES.—One very valuable feature of the library system of the United States is the possibility of obtaining a book from some other library when the local library cannot supply the material.
We have pretty well covered the ground of acquaintance with the library as a whole. How about knowing particular books ? Almost any subject or item approached today is covered or treated by a number of books. How can one judge which book to read? How can he evaluate a book? The following outline may prove helpful:
I. Date. (Do you want ancient or modern treatment?)
2. Authority. (Note author's reputation, publisher's reputation, history of work, revision extent.)
3. Scope. (Purpose of the book, field covered and to what extent, relation to and comparison with other works.)
4. Treatment. (Is the style popular or scholarly? What is the.point of view? Is the author biased?)
5. Arrangement. (Order of materials. Indexes —how full and how exact? Cross references.)
6. Format. (Note here number of volumes or pages, binding, kind of paper, typography, page make-up, and illustrations.)
7. Special features. (Bibliography, appendixes, use of outstanding names offering useful leads, etc.)
8. Book reviews. (What do those competent to judge think of the work?)
Now let us note a few specific examples of library use.
To ascertain the meaning of a word, it may seem needless to direct you to a dictionary or a book of usage or both. But we might urge here, if one desires to add the word to his vocabulary, that he know all the meanings. Read all the dictionary has to say, all the illustrations of use, all the synonyms with various shades of meaning. It is better to know all the meanings of fewer words than but one meaning of many.
For biographical knowledge consult an encyclopedia, the American Dictionary of Biography for Americans, the National -Dictionary of Biography for British, Who Was Who (for dead), one of the series of Who's Whos mentioned before, or Current Biography (for the living). There will be leads in these entries for further perusal.
For information about places, use encyclopedias, guidebooks, gazetteers, atlases, maps, directories.
For events, facts, and figures, there are encyclopedias, almanacs, yearbooks, histories, books of dates, and books of facts with their bibliographies, leads, and suggestive readings.
For current articles, look it up in Reader's Guide, International Index to Periodicals, an in.dex on specialized subjects, or a newspaper index —by author, subject, or title.
For quotations, try such books as Barton's, Hoyt's, Oxford, or Stevenson's; or if poetry, Granger's Index,
Most subjects have adequate outlines, indexes, and bibliographies, as well as books of specific treatment.
Literature has its guides, outlines, concordances, criticisms, collections and selections, and biographical contributions.
In conclusion let me state that an unabridged dictionary, The World Almanac, and a good encyclopedia will answer most of one's questions, while the bibliographies of the latter (or specialized encyclopedia), with the card catalogue of a library, and the various indexes, will guide one to unfathomable depths in most any subject. Add to the above factual material two or three books of quotations, three or four anthologies of poetry, and a few collections of essays for flavor, and the gospel worker is prepared to render his people a dependable and delightful ministry.