Fénix 16, 212-242

228 FENIX a standard price for each author card that was sent, and at cstablishcd intervals -monlhly, quartely, semi-annually, 01' annually- an accounting would be madc We have hcre a good, practical solution to the problem that library A originally had, namely, the problem of obtaining, from another library, infor– mation that the clientele of library A pcriodically needed. If library A receives cards from library B, library B not receiving cards from library A, then library A becomes virtually a union catalog for the materials in both libraries, whereas library B does not. If however libraries A and B send each other cards, then hoth library A and library B become virtually union catalogs for the two libraries. In this latter case there would be two union catalogs for libraries A and B, one at library A and the other at library B. In the case of only two Iibraries the solution appears easy because thc expense is comparatively small, namely, whatever it costs to receive one card for each tille in the other library 01' whatever it costs to provide one extra author card for the cooperating library 01' whatever the differential in cost might be for receiving more cards than are sent, For a minor expense a library can hencc maintain a union catalog that ineludes another library's collection. Note that besides the actual production of the author cards, there would be the additional expenses for handling and transmitting the cards to the other library and for filing the cards in the catalogo If other copies of this author card are desired, the library also has the expense of reproducing them and filing them in the catalogo Although I have said that an union catalog for two libraries can be achieved easily because the expenses are negligible, what happens when the Ii– brarian from library A decides that it would be an advantage to inelude not only library B but also library e in its union catalog? 01' library D? 01' library E? Here perhaps we begin to reach a saturation point. I have said that it was economical to receive the information that is /'ontained in another library by purchasing 01' exchanging author cards. Every time. however, that another library is added to the program, the cost rise propor– tionally, A sorne point the librarian from library A begins to discover that library A is paying for more author cards than it can afford, 01' that library A is produc– ing more extra author cards than is economically justifiable. For the question will inevitably arise: why not each librar)' reproduce only one extra author card and send that card to a special location instead of reproducing x number of extra author cards and sending them to x number of libraries? Thus five cooperat– ing libraries would send one extra author card each to a central location instead of sending four extra author cards, one to each of the four other cooperating Ii– hraries. The cost to each cooperating library would hence be the expense of producing an extra author card for each title cataloged, the expense to send it to the site of the union catalog, and perhaps a small expense for the maintenance of the union catalog, This last expense can be bypassed by four of the five Ii– braries if one of the cooperating libraries, probably the largest one, agrees to maintain the union catalog on its premises, using at the same time members of its staff to file the cards as they are received. Fénix: Revista de la Biblioteca Nacional del Perú. N.16, 1966