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The Problem of Literary Research
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF OPHTHALMOLOGY P U B L I S H E D M O N T H L Y BY T H E O P H T H A L M I C P U B L I S H I N G COMPANY
EDITORIAL STAFF LAWRENCE T. POST, editor HANS BARKAN 524 Metropolitan building, Saint Louis 490 Post street, San Francisco EDWARD C. E L L E T T WILLIAM H. CRISP, consulting editor Exchange building, Memphis, Tennessee 530 Metropolitan building, Denver HARRY S. GRADLE EDWARD JACKSON, consulting editor 58 East Washington street, Chicago 217 Imperial building, Denver M. U R I B E TRONCOSO CLARENCE LOEB, associate editor is 350 West 85th street, New York 1054 Tower Road, Hubbard Woods, Illinois J O H N M. W H E E L E R 30 West Fifty-ninth street, New York Address original papers, other scientific communications including correspondence, also books for review and reports of society proceedings to Dr. Lawrence T. Post, 524 Metro politan building, Saint Louis. Exchange copies of medical journals should be sent to Dr. William H. Crisp, 530 Metropolitan building, Denver. Subscriptions, applications for single copies, notices of change of address, and commu nications with reference to advertising should be addressed to the manager of subscriptions and advertising, 508 Metropolitan building, Saint Louis. Copy of advertisements must be sent to the manager by the fifteenth of the month preceding its appearance. Authors' proofs should be corrected and returned within forty-eight hours to the edi tor. Twenty-five reprints of each article will be supplied to the author without charge. Addi tional reprints may be obtained from the printer, the George Banta Publishing Company, 450-458 Ahnaip street, Menasha, Wisconsin, if ordered at the time proofs are returned. But reprints to contain colored plates must be ordered when the article is accepted.
T H E PROBLEM OF LITERARY RESEARCH F o r m o s t p h y s i c i a n s t h e periodical l i t e r a t u r e of medicine serves only a fleeting p u r p o s e . M a n y m a k e a l m o s t n o use of t h e j o u r n a l s t o w h i c h t h e y s u b scribe. A fair p e r c e n t a g e r e a d r a t h e r diligently from w e e k t o w e e k or from month to month. A m o n g those who pay rather diligent a t t e n t i o n to t h e i r special j o u r n a l s , rela tively few m a k e a n y s y s t e m a t i c a t t e m p t to retain for future use what they have read. A n occasional fact, a n e w surgical t e c h n i q u e or a n e w medicinal a g e n t , s o m e t i m e s t h e description of a n u n usual case or of some refinement in diag nosis, is k e p t in m e m o r y and is dis cussed w i t h fellow p r a c t i t i o n e r s . H e r e and t h e r e , t h e p a r t i c u l a r l y s t u d i o u s , b y a considerable e x p e n d i t u r e of t i m e , a n d w i t h or w i t h o u t clerical as sistance, c o n s t r u c t their o w n card files of reference t o articles in w h i c h t h e y are interested and of which they expect to m a k e further use.
M o s t o p h t h a l m o l o g i s t s seldom or never w r i t e essays on medical topics. F e w of those who do write such es says have easy access to a satisfactory medical library, a n d t h e difficulties of medical r e s e a r c h are such t h a t it is em ployed only t o a limited d e g r e e in t h e p r e p a r a t i o n of p a p e r s for medical so cieties or for publication in medical jour nals. One has to admit that the compilation of b i b l i o g r a p h i e s is occasionally very m u c h o v e r d o n e , b u t l i t e r a r y research h a s its distinct v a l u e t o b o t h w r i t e r and reader, and is essential t o medical p r o g ress. I t is t h e liaison officer b e t w e e n p a s t and p r e s e n t , it i n s u r e s t h e p r o p e r a c c u m u l a t i o n of evidence in t h e fight a g a i n s t disease, and it safeguards us against those mistakes which are due to i g n o r a n c e of w h a t h a s been done be fore. M u c h devotion and e n t h u s i a s m h a v e g o n e t o t h e v a r i o u s efforts to classify and s u m m a r i z e medical l i t e r a t u r e so t h a t it m i g h t be readily available to 360
EDITORIALS
the average worker or writer. One of the achievements most greatly to the credit of the American Medical Asso ciation is its systematic listing and ab stracting of periodical literature. Unfortunately, the general mass of medical literature is so enormous that the important minority who devote themselves to literary research in a spe cialty are in need of indexes and digests particularly devoted to their restricted field. Even to those who can take time for research in a national library, it is usually essential that literary resources shall be available in translation in the compressed form of abstracts or di gests. The indexes of special medical jour nals are seldom very thorough, and for the most part the abstract departments of ophthalmological journals have of fered their material without very or derly selection and with very many im portant omissions. For readers of the German language, the Klinische Monatsblatter fiir Augenheilkunde and the Zeitschrift fiir Augenheilkunde have furnished excellent abstract depart ments or digests, these latter usually much delayed and more or less re stricted to the literature of Central Europe. Readers of the American Jour nal of Ophthalmology are sufficiently familiar with the best abstract depart ment in ophthalmology at present avail able in the English language. Several attempts have been made to furnish annual digests of the interna tional literature of ophthalmology. The earliest and the most persistent was "Nagel's Jahresbericht," a publication which is now represented by the Zentralblatt fiir die gesamte Ophthalmologie und ihre Grenzgebiete. The Oph thalmic Year Book was initiated by Dr. Edward Jackson in 1904, and, after fur nishing for a good many years a com prehensive key to new thought and statement in ophthalmlogy, it expired in 1927. Its place is only partly filled by the abstract department of the Ameri can Journal of Ophthalmology. The passing of the Ophthalmic Year Book is still deeply regretted by many ophthalmologists. Its discontinuance was primarily due to lack of financial
361
support. The number of active contribu tors to the expense of issuing the Year Book as a separate publication was al ways very limited. The problems—ad ministrative, editorial, and linguistic— of assembling the ophthalmic literature of the whole world from year to year, without undue delay, and in a con venient and reliable form, can only be overcome upon a permanent basis by one or a combination of two methods: either through the creation of a large endowment fund (probably at least one hundred thousand dollars), or the an nual pledging of a considerable sum of money from one or more national organizations. A small permanent force of well educated clerical or literary as sistants is advisable, and modest hon oraria should be provided for medical collaborators. Only those who have actively en gaged in editing and publishing such a digest of the literature can have any adequate understanding of the difficul ties to be overcome, or the amount of work involved. A publication of this kind will never command a large circle of readers or a number of regular sub scribers sufficient to make it self-sup porting under the vicissitudes of chang ing editorship and literary staff. If it is ever again undertaken with more than the most faltering prospect of efficiency and permanency, the capital funds em ployed must be set aside with a full understanding that direct benefits will be limited to relatively few active scien tific workers, and that the larger bene fits may be even more vague and intan gible than those to be derived from a great endowed institution of pathologi cal or bacteriological research. Perhaps some day a task of this kind, in relation to both of the allied special ties collectively or severally, will be un dertaken by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, with help from one or more of the phil anthropic foundations. W. H. Crisp. ULTIMATE DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL MEDICAL LIBRARIES Every medical man accumulates through the course of years, a consid-
EDITORIAL STAFF LAWRENCE T. POST, editor HANS BARKAN 524 Metropolitan building, Saint Louis 490 Post street, San Francisco EDWARD C. E L L E T T WILLIAM H. CRISP, consulting editor Exchange building, Memphis, Tennessee 530 Metropolitan building, Denver HARRY S. GRADLE EDWARD JACKSON, consulting editor 58 East Washington street, Chicago 217 Imperial building, Denver M. U R I B E TRONCOSO CLARENCE LOEB, associate editor is 350 West 85th street, New York 1054 Tower Road, Hubbard Woods, Illinois J O H N M. W H E E L E R 30 West Fifty-ninth street, New York Address original papers, other scientific communications including correspondence, also books for review and reports of society proceedings to Dr. Lawrence T. Post, 524 Metro politan building, Saint Louis. Exchange copies of medical journals should be sent to Dr. William H. Crisp, 530 Metropolitan building, Denver. Subscriptions, applications for single copies, notices of change of address, and commu nications with reference to advertising should be addressed to the manager of subscriptions and advertising, 508 Metropolitan building, Saint Louis. Copy of advertisements must be sent to the manager by the fifteenth of the month preceding its appearance. Authors' proofs should be corrected and returned within forty-eight hours to the edi tor. Twenty-five reprints of each article will be supplied to the author without charge. Addi tional reprints may be obtained from the printer, the George Banta Publishing Company, 450-458 Ahnaip street, Menasha, Wisconsin, if ordered at the time proofs are returned. But reprints to contain colored plates must be ordered when the article is accepted.
T H E PROBLEM OF LITERARY RESEARCH F o r m o s t p h y s i c i a n s t h e periodical l i t e r a t u r e of medicine serves only a fleeting p u r p o s e . M a n y m a k e a l m o s t n o use of t h e j o u r n a l s t o w h i c h t h e y s u b scribe. A fair p e r c e n t a g e r e a d r a t h e r diligently from w e e k t o w e e k or from month to month. A m o n g those who pay rather diligent a t t e n t i o n to t h e i r special j o u r n a l s , rela tively few m a k e a n y s y s t e m a t i c a t t e m p t to retain for future use what they have read. A n occasional fact, a n e w surgical t e c h n i q u e or a n e w medicinal a g e n t , s o m e t i m e s t h e description of a n u n usual case or of some refinement in diag nosis, is k e p t in m e m o r y and is dis cussed w i t h fellow p r a c t i t i o n e r s . H e r e and t h e r e , t h e p a r t i c u l a r l y s t u d i o u s , b y a considerable e x p e n d i t u r e of t i m e , a n d w i t h or w i t h o u t clerical as sistance, c o n s t r u c t their o w n card files of reference t o articles in w h i c h t h e y are interested and of which they expect to m a k e further use.
M o s t o p h t h a l m o l o g i s t s seldom or never w r i t e essays on medical topics. F e w of those who do write such es says have easy access to a satisfactory medical library, a n d t h e difficulties of medical r e s e a r c h are such t h a t it is em ployed only t o a limited d e g r e e in t h e p r e p a r a t i o n of p a p e r s for medical so cieties or for publication in medical jour nals. One has to admit that the compilation of b i b l i o g r a p h i e s is occasionally very m u c h o v e r d o n e , b u t l i t e r a r y research h a s its distinct v a l u e t o b o t h w r i t e r and reader, and is essential t o medical p r o g ress. I t is t h e liaison officer b e t w e e n p a s t and p r e s e n t , it i n s u r e s t h e p r o p e r a c c u m u l a t i o n of evidence in t h e fight a g a i n s t disease, and it safeguards us against those mistakes which are due to i g n o r a n c e of w h a t h a s been done be fore. M u c h devotion and e n t h u s i a s m h a v e g o n e t o t h e v a r i o u s efforts to classify and s u m m a r i z e medical l i t e r a t u r e so t h a t it m i g h t be readily available to 360
EDITORIALS
the average worker or writer. One of the achievements most greatly to the credit of the American Medical Asso ciation is its systematic listing and ab stracting of periodical literature. Unfortunately, the general mass of medical literature is so enormous that the important minority who devote themselves to literary research in a spe cialty are in need of indexes and digests particularly devoted to their restricted field. Even to those who can take time for research in a national library, it is usually essential that literary resources shall be available in translation in the compressed form of abstracts or di gests. The indexes of special medical jour nals are seldom very thorough, and for the most part the abstract departments of ophthalmological journals have of fered their material without very or derly selection and with very many im portant omissions. For readers of the German language, the Klinische Monatsblatter fiir Augenheilkunde and the Zeitschrift fiir Augenheilkunde have furnished excellent abstract depart ments or digests, these latter usually much delayed and more or less re stricted to the literature of Central Europe. Readers of the American Jour nal of Ophthalmology are sufficiently familiar with the best abstract depart ment in ophthalmology at present avail able in the English language. Several attempts have been made to furnish annual digests of the interna tional literature of ophthalmology. The earliest and the most persistent was "Nagel's Jahresbericht," a publication which is now represented by the Zentralblatt fiir die gesamte Ophthalmologie und ihre Grenzgebiete. The Oph thalmic Year Book was initiated by Dr. Edward Jackson in 1904, and, after fur nishing for a good many years a com prehensive key to new thought and statement in ophthalmlogy, it expired in 1927. Its place is only partly filled by the abstract department of the Ameri can Journal of Ophthalmology. The passing of the Ophthalmic Year Book is still deeply regretted by many ophthalmologists. Its discontinuance was primarily due to lack of financial
361
support. The number of active contribu tors to the expense of issuing the Year Book as a separate publication was al ways very limited. The problems—ad ministrative, editorial, and linguistic— of assembling the ophthalmic literature of the whole world from year to year, without undue delay, and in a con venient and reliable form, can only be overcome upon a permanent basis by one or a combination of two methods: either through the creation of a large endowment fund (probably at least one hundred thousand dollars), or the an nual pledging of a considerable sum of money from one or more national organizations. A small permanent force of well educated clerical or literary as sistants is advisable, and modest hon oraria should be provided for medical collaborators. Only those who have actively en gaged in editing and publishing such a digest of the literature can have any adequate understanding of the difficul ties to be overcome, or the amount of work involved. A publication of this kind will never command a large circle of readers or a number of regular sub scribers sufficient to make it self-sup porting under the vicissitudes of chang ing editorship and literary staff. If it is ever again undertaken with more than the most faltering prospect of efficiency and permanency, the capital funds em ployed must be set aside with a full understanding that direct benefits will be limited to relatively few active scien tific workers, and that the larger bene fits may be even more vague and intan gible than those to be derived from a great endowed institution of pathologi cal or bacteriological research. Perhaps some day a task of this kind, in relation to both of the allied special ties collectively or severally, will be un dertaken by the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, with help from one or more of the phil anthropic foundations. W. H. Crisp. ULTIMATE DISPOSITION OF PERSONAL MEDICAL LIBRARIES Every medical man accumulates through the course of years, a consid-