Organisation for the Interchange of Technical Publications in Sheffield

Abstract

A REPORT on the war-time work of the Organisation for the Interchange of Technical Publications in Sheffield was presented to the annual general meeting held in the Sheffield Central Library on November 5. This Organisation provides the framework for a system of co-operation between the Sheffield City Libraries, the University Library and other research libraries in the area, and the libraries maintained by local firms. Through its agency any member library, research workers employed by member firms, or accredited students at the constituent libraries, can draw on the pooled resources of the twenty-nine libraries included in the Organisation. Some of the member libraries are of such a highly specialized nature and cover so small a field (although in minute detail) that they rely largely on the extensive resources of the Science and Technology Department of the City Library in matters outside the range of their own material. Hence, as the largest contributor to the pool, the tasks of administering the scheme and of preparing research bibliographies on specific aspects of research (a service not, however, confined to members of the Organisation) fall on the City Libraries. The close collaboration between the highly specialized works libraries and research staffs and the City Library allows the latter to benefit from the advice of experts in the selection of books and in the preparation of its research publications. From the beginning of the War until November 1946, 8,163 books, periodicals, etc., were recorded as being interchanged by members, but the actual figures of loans were much higher.