College and Research Libraries


Optimum Storage of Library Material. 
By Julius Grady Cox. Lafayette, Ind.: 
Purdue University Libraries, 1964. xv, 
222p. 

This study is one in a series in develop-
ment at Purdue University where the li-
brary and some of its problems are being 
examined by tyro industrial engineers. This 
particular problem, compact storage, has 
been investigated and reported in the form 
of a doctoral dissertation. It is important 
that this be kept in mind, for this may ex-
plain and perhaps justify the presentation 
and limitations of the content. 

The abstract (p. xiii) which precedes the 
formal report, states, "the primary purpose 
of this research is to develop, discuss, and 
demonstrate compact storage models." The 
"models" in the language of the engineer 
here are arithmetic, statistical, or mathe-
matical models, and not a group of actual 
mockups, which are occasionally used in 
library building planning. The author used 
the libraries of Purdue University and Au-
burn University in Alabama as physical 
models for on-site investigation. 

The study touches on a wide range of 
elements which contribute to creation of the 
problem area. Most of these elements are 
recorded and briefly defined, mainly with 
questions of costs in view. All of the factors 
alleged are valid and require attention, but 
the treatment is cursory and in no place is 
consumer reaction considered. The author 
moves too quickly into the clearly favored 
and more familiar ground of purely physical 
considerations. He does point out that other 
studies at Purdue and elsewhere will treat 
these skimmed areas separately. 

His research on shelf storage of books 
presumes continuous and full lo:tding in 
linear, in height, and in depth variants. In 
addition he considers vertical spacing of 
shelves in single sections, length of ranges, 
and over-all height of ranges. He develops 
tables for optimum use in terms of cubic 
space and compares this with standard or 

I 250 

Book Reviews 
unsized shelving. For each pertinent factor 
one finds full tables of variations, together 
with a multitude of mathematical formulas 
designed, it seems, to clarify the graphic 
presentation. In merely two hundred pages, 
beginning with chapter two, this research 
paper proves beyond any question (a) that 
you can shelve more books if they are 
grouped by size, (b) that you can shelve 
even more books if you use shelves to their 
full depth, and (c) that you can divide 
most books into three to five average 
heights. There is extensive discussion of 
the "constraints" which influence the meth-
ods of shelving books, elements such as 
varying thickness, height or width of the 
book, the thickness of the shelf itself and 
over-all height of shelf units, as well as 
flexibility of shelf handling. Each of these 
is faithfully analyzed, tabulated, and curved 
and now constitutes a reliable record of 
all the various ways shelving can be used 
for the storage of long series of oblong or 
similar objects of varied sizes. r 

The author honestly states in the final 
paragraph of his work "This research, at 
best, has made a contribution to only one 
aspect of one library function." This is a 
fact. It is also a fact that the contribution is 
purely academic, and as such, it will join 
thousands of other unread (except by re-
viewers) and unused doctoral dissertations. 
As an exercise in method, from the view-
point of the industrial engineer, this is un-
doubtedly a classic example of good prac-
tice. From the point of view of the practic-
ing librarian, this is a classic example of 
reductio ad absurdum.-]errold Orne, Uni-
versity of North Carolina. 

Library Support of Medical Education 
and Research in Canada. By B. V. Si-
mon. Ottawa: Association of Canadian 
Medical Colleges, 1964. xvii, 133p. $2. 

This survey was initiated when a Royal 
Commission on Health Services was ap-
pointed by the Canadian Government in 
1961 to "inquire into and report upon the 



existing facilities and the future needs for 
health services for the people of Canada." 
It was sponsored by the Committee on Med-
ical Science Libraries of the Canadian Li-
brary Association-Association Canadienne 
des Bibliotheques and the Association of 
Canadian Medical Colleges/ L' Association 
des Facultes de Medecine du Canada. 

The terms of reference for the survey 
were: to ascertain and assess the resources 
of the twelve medical school libraries and 
to offer suggestions for their improvement 
and development within a coordinated na-
tionwide plan for a biomedical information 
service. Miss Simon conducted the survey 
during the spring and summer of 1962. A 
questionnaire followed by a visit to each 
medical school was the method used to ob-
tain the information. While the answers to 
the questionnaire were prepared by the 
medical librarians, some seventy-three inter-
views were held, including those with uni-
versity presidents, deans of the medical 
schools, chief librarians of the universities, 
and heads of departments in the medical 
schools. 

The results of the survey are analyzed 
under four main headings: ( 1) library needs 
for medical education and research; (2) 
library collections and services; ( 3) the 
organization pf medical library service; and 
( 4) a nationwide program for Canada. Al-
though each of these headings has a num-
ber of subheadings, the lack of an index is 
a disadvantage. In addition to the analysis 
there is a summary of conclusions, a sum-
mary of proposals, and an estimate of costs 
for a five-year program. A copy of the ques-
tionnaire and statistical results are contained 
in an appendix. 

The proposals for a nationwide program 
for improving access to the resources of 
medical literature in Canada include: ( 1) 
the establishment of a National Medical 
Bibliographic Centre and Information Ser-
vice; ( 2) a program of financial aid to 
medical school libraries to enable them t<)_ 
bring their collections up to recognized 
standards; ( 3) the establishment and main-
tenance of an auxiliary provincewide library 
service for the continuing education pro-
grams; ( 4) the setting-up, in all teaching 
hospitals, of medical libraries which meet 
professional library standards; ( 5) the set-
ting-up of a program for the training of 

Book Reviews I 251 

medical science libr-arians at an accredited 
Canadian library school. 

The survey shows that the collections of 
medical literature in Canada are to be found 
chiefly in the medical school libraries. Thus 
the publication of the survey not only adds 
a valuable document to the literature on 
medical education but presents the first 
comprehensive survey of the medical library 
resources of a nation. Even though it por-
trays the Canadian scene, the survey will be 
valuable for other countries whose medical 
school libraries are faced with expanding re-
search programs, continuing education pro-
grams, lack of supporting libraries in teach-
ing hospitals, and the new interdisciplinary 
teaching programs.-OZga B. Bishop, Uni-
versity of Western Ontario. 

The Heritage of the English Library. By 
Raymond Irwin. New York: Hafner Pub-
lishing Co., 1964. 296p. $5.50 (64-
54587). 

In this thoroughly delightful volume the 
author, who is director of the school of li-
brarianship and archives at University Col-
lege, London, continues the research he be-
gan with his The Origins of the English 
Library, published in 1958. He has :Bung his 
net wide and made a good catch, although 
it is remarkable that by the time he has 
reached half of the fourteen-chapter book he 
is only beginning a discussion of Cassio-
dorus Senator and his Vivarium (fifth cen-
tury A.D. ) . The volume is not strictly a 
history of English libraries, but neither is 
writing one Professor Irwin's expressed in-
tention. What he has accomplished instead 
is a very readable, brightly written account 
of how libraries and collections of books 
started in Western Europe and what they 
contributed to culture from the time of the 
Greeks and Romans to the eighteenth cen-
tury, when the habit of reading took firm 
root. (It will be noticed that very little is 
said about the nineteenth century or there-
after.) 

From the offset we are shown the essen-
tial need for paying attention to background 
in the study of the history of libraries. There 
follows a brief but meaningful discussion of 
five influential factors in the establishment 
of libraries: the economic, the literary, the 
social, the book trade, and the evidence of 
research. On the last point the author sin-