Double-entry bookkeeping

“ The only possible advantage it has is that the latest published volumes are to be found at the end of the list, though this would not apply to new and revised editions if they had the old volume numbers. When economy of space is of some moment, as it too often is in the printed catalogues, there being a certain element of doubt as to the utility of these series entries, they can be dispensed with, upon the presumption that a person requiring a book will know either the name of the author or its subject, and the author-entry reveals if it is one of a series. ”

“ In modern times, however, with the growth of business, it was soon found impracticable to keep one book of first-entry for all transactions, and accordingly it became necessary either to treat the journal as an intermediate book, in which the transactions might be brought together and focused as a preliminary to being recorded in the ledger, or else to split up the journal into numerous books of first-entry, each of which might in that case be employed for the record of a particular class of transaction. ”

“ Even as a recording of current transactions, bookkeeping is hardly an exact science. As a representation of the condition and trend of a business, it uses symbols of certainty to express values that actually are in constant flux. It may be said that in commercial or investment banking or any business extending credit success depends on knowing what not to believe in accounting. ”

“ If it is not desirable to protect the annual reports from the waste and confusion of double editions, then it is hard to see why any publications should be so protected. The annual reports, so numerous, so important, so certain to be continuously issued for all time to come, are 'the very head and front of the offending' in the double printing abuse, and with them the reform should begin. ”

“ Many machines of different sorts have greatly changed bookkeeping methods, making the bookkeeper an initiative force in administration of business houses, and certainly similar economy systems will be developed for the cataloger. ”

“ As a class booksellers do not encourage the reading of other booksellers' catalogues; this is, presumably, because they do not care to encourage buyers to buy of other sellers. My bookseller, who in all virtues of head and heart excels all other booksellers I ever met with, makes a scrupulous practice of destroying the catalogues that come to his shop, lest some stray copy may fall into the hands of a mousing book-lover and divert his attention to other hunting-grounds. It is indeed remarkable to what excess the catalogue habit will carry its victim ”

“ It is not so much a discovery as a growth, the crude methods of former days having been gradually improved to meet the changing requirements of business, and this process of evolution is still going on. The ideal of any system of book-keeping is the maximum of record combined with the minimum of labour, but as dishonesty has to be guarded against, no system of book-keeping can be regarded as adequate which does not enable the record to be readily verified as a true and complete statement of the transactions involved. ”

“ This loss must perforce be risked when the collections are so voluminous that they require an enormous number of entries to complete. Unless space and expense are of no consequence, there is no alternative but to dispense with the index entries. Sainte Beuve's Causeries du lundi is a case in point, and the opposite course of setting out the contents of these volumes under the principal entry must suffice for most catalogues. ”

“ Consequently, any return of the number of readers entered on the register would not adequately represent the whole number of students who use the Library, although, of course, it would, with a margin for allowance, afford a very fair approximation. No record, however, of separate visits of readers is kept, as distinct from the books required; so that although a reader may be at work for days or weeks together, yet, if he continue to use only the same books, one entry alone will be made of his name. ”

“ While the catalogue of such a library is passing through the press, new books are received, the titles of which it is impossible, in the ordinary manner of printing, to incorporate with the body of the work. Recourse must then be had to a supplement. In no other way can the acquisitions of the library be made known to the public. If the number of supplements be multiplied, as they have been in the library of Congress, the student may be obliged to grope his weary way through ten catalogues, instead of one, in order to ascertain whether the book which he seeks be in the library. ”

“ The complicated system of bookkeeping required by the communistic plan of production, and the shortness of working hours granted to the bookkeepers, who are all preferred men and women, favorites of the members of the administration, made it necessary to appoint a bookkeeper for every fifty people. Under the former administration we had one bookkeeper for every forty-two people. This gives to the government a chance to provide, at its own pleasure, over 10,000,000 of men and women with clean and easy work. ”

“ In order to have books enough to meet the demand, our temptation is to buy entire series, every book we hear of in these lines, whereas our best plan would be to get them for inspection only, invite the inspection and criticism of some scientific person, or some one conversant with art and its literature, and reject what they condemn, putting in duplicates enough of the approved books to meet the large demand. ”

“ It seems a fairly simple task to select 3000 titles from the books published in eight years, but a list based on the co-operation of about 75 librarians and 100 experts, all fully engaged with their own work, and selected, edited and prepared for printing in the intervals between work having a prior claim, is bound to progress but slowly and to suffer many changes of fortune. One needs to be this sort of clearing house of opinion but once to realize how far apart our libraries are in the matter of book selection. ”

“ As to what book any reader has is another question which cannot be answered without much waste of time. A third disadvantage is that as borrowers retain their tickets there is very little to prevent unscrupulous persons from having more books out at one time than they should. A fourth weakness of this ledger is that time is consumed in marking off, and books are not available for re-issue until they are marked off. For various reasons some librarians prefer a system of charging direct to each borrower instead of journalising the day’s operations as above described. ”

“ It would require an enumeration which is the province of the future bibliographer, to show how many separate books, in every department of knowledge, have been issued during the last twenty years, with a distinct reference to the means of the greatest number of readers. But the process here, as in other cases, has necessarily been gradual. The general cheapening of books must be gradual to be safe. The soundings of the perilous sea of publishing must be constantly taken. ”

“ Book selection should be conducted upon the sound principle of buying only the best representative works on all subjects, whatever may be their cost or place of origin. A more haphazard and ineffectual method of building up a public library than buying cheap series and libraries of reprints can hardly be imagined. It is almost equivalent to advising a committee to buy cheap books by the yard in order to fill the shelves, and let the proper representation of great subjects depend on chance. ”

“ A simple double record of borrowers’ reading and books read, which will give as little trouble to the public as possible, is much required, and will repay the attention bestowed on it by the young librarian. Where application slips are used, which give book- and borrower-numbers, it is a simple matter compiling a daily record of the reading done by each borrower. At several libraries where Cotgreave’s indicator is used, it is done by the process of pencilling the number of the book taken out on to a card bearing the reader’s number. ”

“ The best system is to draw up lists of the desired works and editions, and circulate the lists among the leading booksellers, who will notify the prices and conditions of the copies they may be able to supply; announcements of books wanted can also be inserted in the book sellers trade organs. Second-hand booksellers will willingly furnish their catalogues, which, if they are not required to purchase from, are always useful for reference. It is usually more convenient to give commissions for books at sales than for the librarian to attend in person ”

“ BOOK SELECTION AND BUYING. Book Selection.—Book selection makes the greatest demand on the knowledge and administrative judgment of librarians and is the question that produces the most friction between librarians and library committees. If the trustees define the general policy of the library, determine the amount to be expended on books, and approve purchases out of the ordinary run, the librarian should be considered as the one person best posted on the needs of the library, and as purchasing agent for the institution should be allowed to buy where he can do so to the best advantage. ”

“ They do not care to pay for being taught, at least not directly, and make it part of their business to find out for themselves whether a copy offered for sale is perfect or the reverse. As each page is usually numbered, there is no difficulty in ascertaining whether any are missing; not so with the plates, for, unless there is an index to these, the loss of one or two may hardly be noticed until the book comes to be collated with another copy known to be complete. ”

“ Buying books by actual inspection at the book-shops is even more fascinating employment than buying them through catalogues. You thus come upon the most unexpected volumes unawares. You open the covers, scan the title-pages, get a glimpse of the plates, and flit from book to book, like a bee gathering honey for its hive. It is a good way to recruit your library economically, to run through the stock of a book-dealer systematically—neglecting no shelf, but selecting throughout the whole stock, and laying aside what you think you may want. ”

“ Why should they be kept on the shelves when they are not used and ought not to be used? It cannot, of course, be admitted that the librarian makes no mistakes in acquiring books; every library in the country will show examples of poor selection. Why, after a mistake has been made, refuse to admit it? If the original purchase (or acceptance of a gift) was a mistake, to keep the book on the shelves simply perpetuates the mistake and adds to the expense of maintenance. It is no crime to discard a book. On the contrary, in many cases, it is the only sensible thing to do. ”

“ In some libraries the plan of multiplying copies of every book which becomes fashionable is carried to such an extreme that some injury must be done to the general work of the library by unduly fostering one class of literature at the expense of all the other classes. The practice of adding six or more copies of a new novel has the effect of decreasing the funds available for the purpose of buying other works, and it certainly gives rise to misleading conceptions of the stock of books possessed by the libraries. ”

“ The first point which occurs is the connexion between a library’s income and its book-purchasing power. As, by law established, most British library incomes are strictly limited, it follows that a similar limitation must govern the supply of books, and that only a selection of new books can be procured, old and out-of-print books taking their chance. The very largest rate-supported libraries are bound by this limitation to buy only a selection from the immense mass of books annually published, and, even if such purchases amount to several thousands of volumes, they represent only a selection. ”

“ There are only a few publishing houses who employ them who would not supply their books through the regular channels of trade. “Editions de luxe” are now generally understood to be for looks only, and “library editions” are frequently so called because they are for the private and not for the 24 public library, being put up in a way not warranted to withstand wear and tear.
Accession Book.—The accession book, which corresponds to the invoice book of a business house, is the first of all records to be made of a book after it has been acquired by a library. ”

“ Those facts aside, to our knowledge no court has ever tied the application of the first sale doctrine to a required, planned degradation of the format in which the copy exists. Libraries can lend brand new books in perfect condition just as they can older, tattered ones, many of which are repaired and rebound by library staff or volunteers. Since the first recognition of the first sale doctrine over 100 years ago, the advent of acid-free paper, improved binding technology, media such as microform and magnetic tape and other innovations have extended the life of physical works dramatically. ”

“ In buying from dealers, especially those who specialize in rare books, it is often, unfortunately, necessary that the bibliophile of moderate means, to whom these pages are particularly addressed, is obliged to pause before the price of some much desired volume. His buying problems are much more complex than those of his wealthy fellow-collector, to whom price is little object, since he must not only hunt out the volumes he wants, but also copies priced reasonably to be within his reach. ”