NCJ Number
65898
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Dated: (MARCH 1980) Pages: 34,36-38,40-41,48
Date Published
1980
Length
7 pages
Annotation
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF A POLICE LIBRARY ARE DESCRIBED, INCLUDING THE SHIFT TO MAGAZINES AND ARTICLES, THE USE OF A DATA BASE, AND CONVERSION TO MICROFILM OR MICROFICHE.
Abstract
AN EMPHASIS ON MAGAZINES AND ARTICLES IN THESE PRACTICE-FOCUSED LIBRARIES HAS COME ABOUT FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. POLICE MAGAZINES OR OTHER NONBOOK SOURCES ARE OFTEN MORE TIMELY THAN BOOKS, COVER MORE VARIED INFORMATION, CARRY COMMENTS ON NEW PRODUCTS AND PAST ARTICLES, AND ARE MORE SUITED TO A DATA BASE STRUCTURE SINCE THEY CAN BE EASILY SEPARATED FOR ARRANGEMENT IN VARIOUS WAYS. MAGAZINES ARE ALSO EXCLUDED FROM MOST TEXTS, SO THAT AN OFFICER CANNOT RELY ON THE APPEARANCE OF MAGAZINE MATERIAL IN A BOOK SEVERAL YEARS FROM NOW. TRADITIONALLY, HOWEVER, FEW ORGANIZATIONS HAVE RETAINED MAGAZINES AND NONBOOK MATERIAL BECAUSE THESE DOCUMENTS BECOME MORE DIFFICULT TO FIND AS THEIR QUANTITY GROWS. THE BEST SYSTEM FOR NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND MAGAZINES IS A DATA BANK WITH AN EFFECTIVE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM. JUST AS LIBRARIES DEVELOPED AN INDEXING SYSTEM TO COPE WITH INCREASING NUMBERS OF BOOKS, THE MATERIAL IN A DATA BANK CAN BE GROUPED AND MADE EASILY RETRIEVABLE BY REDUCING BULK, USING MANILA FOLDERS TO CATEGORIZE INFORMATION, AND LABELING THE FILES WITH HEADINGS APPLICABLE TO THE ARTICLES. THE FOLLOWING RULES SHOULD BE FOLLOWED AS THE FOLDER SYSTEM GROWS: (1) USE LABELS FOR CATEGORIES THAT ARE COMMONLY ACCEPTED; (2) AVOID LUMPING TOGETHER SEEMINGLY RELATED MATERIAL; (3) CREATE A CATEGORY IF THE TOPIC SEEMS IMPORTANT; (4) FILE MATERIAL IN THE MOST IMPORTANT CATEGORY; (5) REVIEW FOLDERS WHEN THEY BECOME MORE THAN 1 INCH THICK; (6) USE SUBCATEGORIES; AND (7) REARRANGE CATEGORIES THAT ARE NOT SATISFACTORY. WHEN A COLLECTION BECOMES DIFFICULT TO HANDLE, IT CAN BE CONVERTED TO A MICROFICHE SYSTEM (COSTING APPROXIMATELY $2,500) FOR KEEPING THE DATA BASE SMALL, IN TERMS OF SPACE USAGE, AND PROVIDING AUTOMATED RETRIEVAL CAPABILITY. MICROFILMING OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS MAY ALSO BE NECESSARY TO GUARD AGAINST THE POSSIBILITY OF LOSS SHOULD ONE FILE BE DESTROYED. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (WJR)