NBC Transmitter (Jan-Nov 1942)

4 NBC TRANSMITTER THE ANSWER ROOM NBC's General Library Fills Many Odd Information Requests • “Can you tell me what railroad Casey Jones operated?” “Do yellow-fever mosquitoes buzz or are they silent?” “What is the diameter of a human hair?” You can be thankful you are not on the receiviiig end of a telephone line that spouts questions like these. But this is a normal everyday experience for the general library at NBC. Day after day. week in and week out. questions of all kinds pour into this information center. Sometimes it takes half a day to find the answer to a particularly dilTicult query. In a few rare cases, no answer is found, but the library is able to get the desired information for a surprisingly high percentage of requests. Just now the war brings in many special questions. The library has been asked to check on whether the majority of Hitler’s invasions began on week-ends; to find articles on the effect of the last war and the present war on advertising, radio and general business conditions. Inquiries about short-wave propaganda are gaining in number. J'he library has found answers to such teasers as “Where is oil located in Burma?” “What is the distance between Chungking and Lashio?” “What is the comparative density of population in Belgium and China?” Facts on Java, the Great Barrier Reef and the Andaman Islands have been supplied. There have been requests for material on broadcasting in Japan, Italy and Germany, as well as for the location of far-away battle zones. Statistics on the Army and Navy are in great demand; in many cases, war data has to he supplied at a moment’s notice prior to a broadcast. Facts on the broadcasting situation in South American countries have been compiled. Information about victory gardens for use in a radio script has been found. Material on Aztec and Mayan music, illustrations of old ads, details on the battles of Concord and I.,exington, studies of childreti’s radio programs, and the source and text of the inscription on the Statue of Idherty, have been supplied. J he library recently had a call from an important Government agency for certain documents giving data on radio in Egypt AVID READERS 9 On September 24, the semi-monthly bulletin, ^'Timely Reading” ivas circulated to NBC employees. The list contained titles of the latest additions to the NBC library shelves. If ithin 24 hours, every item on the bulletin teas requested, and there were long ivaiting lists for the mafority of books. Frances Sprague, NBC’s chief librarian, commented: “It is very gratifying to see that these lists from the library are being used so extensively in our business.” and Australia. Upon learning that these documents were available, a representative called and made arrangements to have them photostated. It appears that these reports are now' out-of-print, and could be found nowhere else in the city. This is a striking instance of the value of the library’s collection of early radio material, much of which is now rare and priceless. The variety of reference works might surprise an outsider, but anyone in the radio business understands how limitless is the field covered by an industry of this nature. Not only does this library attempt to serve all departments of the company (although it is an adjunct of the press department!, but it takes care of many students writing radio theses, authors of radio articles, and advertising agency workers, among others. To answer such a wide range of inquiries the NBC library has on file nearly 13,000 catalogued items plus several thousand miscellaneous magazines and pamphlets. This library, located on the fourth floor of NBC, forms a center for radio information unequalled in the country. It is the oldest established reference library on radio broadcasting, and has the most comprehensive collection of data on the industry. New books and pamphlets on the subject are being added all the time; radio magazines — technical, trade, and fan — are received regularly, and kept permanently. Station brochures and miscellaneous surveys are steadily adding to the collection and keeping it up-to-date and complete. All this material which has been assembled since 1930 is a veritable history of all aspects of radio and television. WHERE E.4CTS SPEAK VOLUMES— View of the NBC general library adjoining the press department. Located on the fourth floor of the Radio City office section, it is open to all employees in the quest of facts. IPs the biggest library of its kind.