Abstract
THERE has been brought before the Council of the British Association at the Toronto meeting a special report by the Committee on Zoological Bibliography and Publication, dealing with the question of undue restriction in the distribution of H.M. Government publications. The results of the inquiries of this Committee are of general interest to scientific workers, and may be briefly stated. On applying to the heads of certain Government Institutions, the Committee was informed that no restriction had recently been placed on the distribution of publications of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the British Museum (Natural History), or H.M. Geological Survey. On the other hand, it found that public libraries had suffered from a considerable cutting down of free or reasonably priced Parliamentary and Stationery Office publications (in respect of which some concession has since been made); that certain British scientific societies of standing are no longer able to obtain Government scientific publications in exchange for their own publications (though foreign scientific societies are not I similarly handicapped); that free reprints to authors of papers published by the Government have almost disappeared; that there has been a cessation of the routine free distribution of agricultural leaflets; and that review copies of Government publications have been curtailed. These findings are in general agreement with the statements made in a leading article in NATURE, December 29, 1923 (vol. cxii. p. 925). The Committee considers that no loss would ensue were review copies to be furnished gratis to editors on application, and suggests that the Council of the British Association “might well represent to the Government that the publication of the results of research among people likely to appreciate them is no less important than the making of the researches themselves, and that to refuse the relatively small additional expenditure is materially to reduce the benefit of the original much greater expenditure” Bearing in mind the effective methods employed by other governments in the spread of their scientific achievements, no one is likely to quarrel with this exceedingly modest recommendation.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Current Topics and Events. Nature 114, 251–254 (1924). https://doi.org/10.1038/114251b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/114251b0