THE CO‐ORDINATION OF ABSTRACTING SERVICES. UNESCO'S APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM
| Published date | 01 March 1948 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb026126 |
| Pages | 67-83 |
| Date | 01 March 1948 |
| Author | E.M.R. DITMAS |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
THE CO-ORDINATION OF ABSTRACTING SERVICES
UNESCO'S APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM
Compiled by E. M. R. DITMAS from the
Unesco
reports1
UNESCO is instructed by its constitution to 'Maintain, increase and diffuse
knowledge . . . by initiating methods of international co-operation calculated
to give the peoples of all countries access to the printed and published
materials produced by any of them'.2 As one of the methods of carrying out
this function the programmes of Unesco both for 1947 and 1948 specifically
included plans to 'facilitate the improvement of scientific documentation
and abstracting', and an Expert Committee on Scientific Abstracting was
called together at Unesco House in Paris during the 7th, 8th, and 9th of
April 1948, under the joint authority of the Libraries and Natural Science
sections, for preliminary work in connexion with an international conference
to be held at a later date.
Since the Unesco funds available were strictly limited, it was not possible
to convene, for this discussion of the ground to be covered by the inter-
national conference, a committee fully representative of all Unesco member
states.
The experts were invited in their individual capacities as persons with
knowledge and experience valuable to Unesco in framing its policy, and
they were not expected to represent national opinion or the opinions of
their institutions. Membership of the committee was as follows:
Chairman:
Dr. Alexander King (U.K.)
Vice-Chairman:
Professor E. Velander (Sweden)
Members:
Professor
J.
D. Bernal (U.K.)
Sir David Chadwick (U.K.)
Dr. E.J. Crane (U.S.A.)
Mrs.
Eileen R. Cunningham (U.S.A.)
Professor F. Cuta (Czechoslovakia)
Mr. F. Donker Duyvis (Netherlands)
Professor
J.
Wyart (France)
Observers:
Mr. Louis Gros (United Nations)
Mr. Deutschman (World Health Organization)
Dr. Howard-Jones (World Health Organization)
Unesco
Secretariat:
Dr. Walter H. C. Laves (Deputy Director-General)
Dr. Joseph Needham (Head of Natural Sciences Section)
Professor Pierre Auger (Head-designate of Natural Sciences
Section)
Mr. E.J. Carter (Head of Libraries Section)
Mr. J. B. Reid
Mr. Arne Moller
Dr. I. M. Zhukova
1 These can be obtained from Unesco, 19 Avenue Kléber, Paris, 16c. Ref.: Working paper
for expert Committee on Scientific Abstracting (Nat. Sci./56, LBA/BC/6); Bibliography on
abstracting of scientific periodicals (Nat. Sci./58, LBA/BC/8); Expert Committee on Scientific
Abstracting, summary reports of six meetings (NS/SAE/SR 1-6).
2 Constitution of
Unesco,
Art. I, Clause 2 (c).
68 THE JOURNAL OF DOCUMENTATION
VOL.
4,
NO.
2
Unesco's working paper had pointed out that in the natural sciences field
there were a few outstanding large and efficient abstracting services but that
at the same time there were large areas which were inadequately provided
for. The gaps between services existed without reference to the contemporary-
importance of the studies in the fields which were not provided with abstract-
ing services. Furthermore, where consumer demand was large, it would be
found, as in the case of biological and chemical abstracting, that several
organizations were largely overlapping each other's services, although in
certain instances the overlapping might arise through the expression of
differing points of view. The terms of reference for the Expert Committee
were therefore defined as follows:
'To consider and to recommend to Unesco lines of action for the improvement
and development of abstracting services for the natural sciences both pure and
applied, with regard at the same time to the related problems of indexing and
accessibility of the recorded publications, and in particular to make recommenda-
tions regarding the terms of reference, membership, agenda and documentation of
an international conference on scientific abstracting.'
The main topics of the projected international conference were set out thus:
I. To receive and discuss reports on the present scope and quality of abstracting
services in the natural sciences, both pure and applied.
II.
To discuss:
(a) various techniques of preparing and issuing abstracts;
(b) the development of logical relationships, both in method and organiza-
tion, between abstracting services and the related services of indexing and
reviewing;
(c) improvement of accessibility of the recorded publications by means of
inter-library loans, photocopying, &c;
(d) the effect on abstracting techniques of foreseeable developments in the use
of mechanical and electronic devices for handling information;
(e) the effect on abstracting services of possible developments in methods of
publishing original papers.
III.
To formulate proposals for the improvement of abstracting services by
means of:
(a) standardization of the bibliographical form, terminology, abbreviations,
and layout of abstracts with a view to facilitating exchange and use;
(b) the development of co-operation between services to ensure more com-
plete cover in each subject field, elimination of gaps between subject
fields, more prompt publication, and more economical service.
The committee was further provided with a glossary of tentative defini-
tions of the terminology to be used by the committee, an annotated biblio-
graphy of some of the chief articles on the abstracting of scientific periodicals
(printed as an appendix to this article), and draft outlines of working papers
for the proposed conference, each corresponding to one of the main topics
set out above. Each of these matters was considered carefully by the com-
mittee and its findings form the basis of the preparatory work for the larger
international conference now being carried out by Unesco.
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