Page 228 - Training for librarianship; library work as a career

CHAPTER XIX

Filing as a Profession

Closely connected with library work and,
indeed, a part of it is filing. In a general
way it may be stated that the library's chief
concern is the care of printed matter, whereas
that of the filing department is the care of
unprinted matter, mainly correspondence.
This distinction cannot be carried too far,
for in some instances the library is a part of
the fihng department, all matter of whatever
nature on similar subjects being filed to-
gether, while in other cases the filing depart-
ment is part of the library. The ideal
arrangement and one which is rapidly coming
to prevail in the larger business houses and
commercial organizations, is to have an In-
formation or Research Department, with the
library and the files as two divisions func-
The head of the Informa-
tioning under it.
tion Department in such cases is frequently
an experienced librarian, familiar not only
203