Before I arrive at discussing the fundamentals of music bibliography I think we should take a very close look at the word ‘bibliography’ and make sure that we know what it really…
Abstract
Before I arrive at discussing the fundamentals of music bibliography I think we should take a very close look at the word ‘bibliography’ and make sure that we know what it really means. In countless books and dictionaries I have looked up the definition, and the general consensus of opinion is that it may have two meanings. Firstly, a list of books relating to a given subject or author and, secondly, the careful and accurate description of certain books, either by an author or on a specific subject, with literal transcriptions of the title‐pages, sufficient information for identification between one edition or issue and another, size, gatherings, pages, measurements, and so forth. This is a fact of which I need not remind a company of librarians, but I want to make a clear distinction between the two forms that a bibliography may have. Personally, I do not care for the first meaning at all and can never stretch my imagination so far as to flatter a mere list of books by calling it a bibliography. It is not a bibliography at all, it is a checklist, a simple list of books for guidance to the reader wanting to refer to other books on the same subject or, alternatively, by the same author. In Mr. Arundell Esdaile's A student's manual of bibliography (Allen & Unwin, 1931) all such are called ‘List of Books’, and this, I maintain, is the correct heading. A bibliography is something far larger, more involved, intricate, and detailed. The new Grove uses the word ‘bibliography’ for a list of books about a composer, and a list of works composed by the composer is designated ‘Catalogue of Works’.
ONE or two recent pronouncements in public on librarianship revive matters that some are inclined to think have been discussed enough. On another page reference is made to the not…
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ONE or two recent pronouncements in public on librarianship revive matters that some are inclined to think have been discussed enough. On another page reference is made to the not altogether novel suggestion, made lately at Hastings by Mr. E. A. Baker and now more forcibly perhaps at the Annual Meeting of the Greater London Division by Mr. Hoy, that the L.A. should be composed of a series of divisions each representing a type of library and librarians ; and that the Council should be of nominees from each of them and therefore more uniformly representative of modern library activity. A somewhat stale platitude, which we remember reading in an early volume of the LIBRARY WORLD, says “Branches are always foci of disunion” and it must be agreed that the purpose of sections is to advance their specialities, and justly. It follows that many non‐public librarians feel aggrieved at the dominance of Demos in the shape of public librarians and their assistants ; they should be confined within a section. It seems reasonable. It would however mean radical constitutional changes ; the L.A. was not primarily founded for the benefit of librarians, at least not openly, although its charter provides for the care of the training and conditions of librarians. It was to unite those who desired to advance the number and efficiency of libraries. And lay members were, and we believe still are, as entitled to membership as are library workers who are qualified, or desire to qualify as, librarians. There might, of course, be a non‐librarians section. Could there be a Local Authorities Section ? That would tidy up matters.
WE are happy to publish a very interesting and practical little article on a simplified system of borrowers' registration. Such a question may seem to have been settled long ago…
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WE are happy to publish a very interesting and practical little article on a simplified system of borrowers' registration. Such a question may seem to have been settled long ago and not to deserve further discussion, but Miss Wileman makes it quite clear that there is still a little more to be said. Not all librarians will agree with her on one point, although recently it seems to be accepted by some librarians that the numbering of borrowers' tickets is unnecessary, and especially the decimal numbering of them. This matter has been discussed at various meetings of librarians who use these numbers, and they arc, we understand, unanimous in their desire to retain them. They are not intended for a single library such as is at present in operation at Hendon, from which our contributor writes. They are for a system of many branch libraries with a central registration department, and where there is telephone charge and discharge of books. The number is simply intended to give an accurate and rapid definition of an actual person. This we have said several times before, we think, and to dismiss a method which has been found successful with the statement that it is surely unnecessary rather implies that the writer has not fully understood the question. That, however, does not reduce the value of our article.
During this month the average librarian is given furiously to think over the estimates, and in this year, perhaps more than any other, will that adverb be applicable. The matter…
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During this month the average librarian is given furiously to think over the estimates, and in this year, perhaps more than any other, will that adverb be applicable. The matter is so important that we do not apologise for dealing with it once more. In March in nearly every town there will be a determined effort by men who call themselves “economists” to reduce the appropriation for public libraries. The war is the most handsome excuse that the opponents of public culture have ever had for their attacks upon the library movement. It is obvious that these attacks will take the direction of an endeavour to reduce the penny rate, where this has not been done already. In the year that has passed retrenchment has been the watchword of all municipal work, and many librarians have either ceased to buy new books or have bought only those of vital importance. This has meant that a certain amount of money usually devoted to books has accumulated. Seeing that legally money which has been raised for library purposes cannot be expended in any other direction, the only way in which the “economists” can work is to propose a reduction of next year's rate by an amount corresponding to the balance. It is an extraordinary thing that after decades of demonstration the average local public man cannot or will not see that money taken from the funds of a public library cannot be restored to it later. The limitation of the penny rate is nearly always forgotten or ignored, and the common phrase of such men: “You must economise now and we will give you more money after the war,” has been heard by most librarians. An endeavour should be made to drive home the fact that retrenchment in books, or in other matters in connexion with libraries, now means so much actual irreparable loss to the libraries. We have dealt several times in these pages with the vexed question of balances. Practice differs so much in different localities that it seems impossible to get any universal ruling in connexion with this matter. Many libraries have been able to invest their balances in some form of war loan ; in others the librarian has been told emphatically that such investment is illegal. We can speak of towns within five miles of each other in one of which money has been invested, and in the other investment is banned in this way. Unfortunately librarians have been rather silent upon this point, and it is difficult to obtain any reliable information as to how many towns have investments. It would strengthen the hands of many librarians if they knew that in so many other municipalities the library funds were so invested.
THE recent Home Office Return showing the names of all places in the British Isles in which the Public Libraries Acts have been adopted, and supplying the statistical information…
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THE recent Home Office Return showing the names of all places in the British Isles in which the Public Libraries Acts have been adopted, and supplying the statistical information regarding issues, income and expenditure, etc., is an interesting testimony to the extent to which the Public Library has entered into the life of the community. The summary of the statistics (which are for the year ending 31st March, 1911) gives the following results. The population of the places in which the Acts have been adopted is 26,370,582; the total number of volumes in the libraries is 10,995,115 (of which 3,366,549 are in reference libraries); the total issue is 54,690,222; and the total expenditure is £814,932. These figures vary considerably from other recent surveys, but this is caused by the method of compilation of the Return. Duly recorded reference issues are included, for example, and no allowance is made for the millions of unrecorded references. According to this Return there are six library systems in the British Islands issuing over one million volumes per annum. These systems are as follows:—
At a recent inquest upon the body of a woman who was alleged to have died as the result of taking certain drugs for an improper purpose, one of the witnesses described himself as…
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At a recent inquest upon the body of a woman who was alleged to have died as the result of taking certain drugs for an improper purpose, one of the witnesses described himself as “an analyst and manufacturing chemist,” but when asked by the coroner what qualifications he had, he replied : “I have no qualifications whatever. What I know I learned from my father, who was a well‐known ‘F.C.S.’” Comment on the “F.C.S.” is needless.
We have repeatedly dealt with the question of the differences which are from time to time exhibited in the certificates issued by Public Analysts, when compared with those…
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We have repeatedly dealt with the question of the differences which are from time to time exhibited in the certificates issued by Public Analysts, when compared with those emanating from the Somerset House Laboratory in regard to the analyses of samples which purport to be representative portions of one and the same article, and we have shown that if due regard be given to the principles of evidence, it is not only wholly unjustifiable, but utterly absurd to conclude that such difference, as a matter of course, indicate error or carelessness on the part of the Public Analyst. In season and out of season we shall continue to expose the fallacies which underlie the abominably unjust assumption referred to, and to urge that in each case of the kind every possible step should be taken by those concerned on behalf of prosecuting authorities, to make all the conditions affecting the case as clear as they can be made to the lay mind.
IN wishing all our readers happiness and prosperity throughout 1973 we are very conscious of the fact that it is a climateric year for the people of these islands. As these words…
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IN wishing all our readers happiness and prosperity throughout 1973 we are very conscious of the fact that it is a climateric year for the people of these islands. As these words are read we shall be a part of the European Economic Community.
JOHANN FROBEN, the famous printer of Basle, was born at Hammelburg, in Franconia, about the year 1460. The exact year of his birth is not definitely known, but 1460 is probably…
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JOHANN FROBEN, the famous printer of Basle, was born at Hammelburg, in Franconia, about the year 1460. The exact year of his birth is not definitely known, but 1460 is probably not far wrong, as we find him established at Basle as a printer in 1491. He was educated at Basle University, where he distinguished himself as a scholar, particularly in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages. After finishing his studies at Basle, he turned his attention to the then new art of printing, and he showed such aptitude that Johann Amerbach, another well‐known printer of Basle, who had set up a press in that city in 1481, induced him to devote his energies to the art, and appointed him to a position in his own printing establishment. Froben thus had the advantage of learning the art of printing under one of the best known printers of the period. In 1491, Froben set up a press of his own in Basle, having become a naturalized citizen of that city the previous year. He had been used in Amerbach's establishment to print with gothic types, and it was, therefore, but natural that his first production should also be printed in that type. This was an octavo Latin Bible, with two columns to a page, printed in a very small gothic type. He afterwards introduced the type invented by Aldus, that known as italic, the first book to be printed with this type being the Adagia of Erasmus, issued in 1513, of which mention is made later. Froben was also instrumental in making the roman type more popular in Germany, as although roman type had been used by German printers for about 20 years, having been introduced by Mentelin at Strassburg, about the year 1470, it was not so much in favour as the gothic type.
Community festivals ‐ Local community festivals can be a lot of fun to those who participate in them and, incidentally, help to strengthen community awareness and develop skills…
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Community festivals ‐ Local community festivals can be a lot of fun to those who participate in them and, incidentally, help to strengthen community awareness and develop skills, but for those called upon or lumbered with the job of planning and organising them, they can be a nightmare. The task is made easier by the existence of an excellent little book, the Community festivals handbook, which has just been released in its 3rd edition by Community Projects Foundation. The kind of festival covered by this essentially practical handbook is that in which there is a concentrated mixture of activities lasting for a day, a weekend or maybe a week, based in a particular locality, with some emphasis on community participation. It would also be relevant to other forms of community‐based work, such as running a barbecue or a social, trying to raise money, expanding the activities of an adventure playground, setting up a city farm or engaging in a local campaign. The handbook can serve as a checklist of ideas and aspects that need to be thought about from the reasons for running a festival to financial ‘post‐mortems’. On the way the book covers organising committees, involving local people, planning, publicity, legal and administrative aspects, site management and catering. An excellent guide that won't guarantee success but, if you follow its advice, will make it more possible. Costs £2.00 including postage from CPF, 60 Highbury Grove, London N5 2AG.