Experiences with three major governmental/industrial special library research
report systems founded in or before 1915, and exposure to a fourth such
system, revealed that it was crucial that technical staff be involved with
the development of, and application of, technically acceptable subject
classification systems. It was also necessary to physically apply these
systems to the reports themselves. A valid indication of success in such
applications was when returning transferees to other company/agency divisions
invariably included them in their itineraries for Miss Hope Thomas, hired
as temporary clerk-typist in 1915. This was even true of such AAF Generals
as "Hap" Arnold and Col. Charles Lindbergh. Chief Engineers of commercial
aircraft manufacturers, such as Johnson of Lockheed, searched out Miss
Muller, Chief, Office of Areo Intelligence preceding me. She was another
temporary clerk-typist from 1915 and the seventh staff person hired by
the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.
The millionaire/founder of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company - later known as the General Motors Research Laboratories - was accustomed to turning over to Miss Caroline Lutz (my predecessor as Director of GM Research Laboratories Department and yet another ex-temporary clerk-typist of 1915) all fees he received as a READERS DIGEST guest editor. She was also the typist for his acknowledgements of 25 honorary doctoral degrees including Cambridge and Oxford. Miss Lutz was to buy "good literature to civilize [his] engineers". Finally, the Dayton Group of the Cincinnati Chapter of the Special Libraries Association included Ms. Emma Wedenbine, long-term ex-clerk typist of National Cash Register Company and Librarian since the 1920's. She even had a regular branch of the Dayton Public Library adjacent to her NCR Engineering Library as Col. Deeds wanted his "engineers to be civilized". |
