Suggestions to medical writers / by George M. Gould.

  • George M. Gould
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Suggestions to medical writers / by George M. Gould. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    133/196 page 129
    manner in which publishers change the titles of their jour¬ nals without a moment’s thought of the consequences to others. Another constant source of trouble is the mistakes made in numbering the volumes and pages of journals. These are generally the blunders of the printer in making up the forms. But there is no excuse for them and they should never occur. Sometimes the volume is not changed at all at the beginning of a new year, and the old volume is allowed to run on perhaps through the year, thus making two volumes with the same serial number, or a volume is skipped. Volume XI, for example, to give an instance now in mind, is by mistake changed to Volume XIII, in¬ stead of XII, and the following volumes are numbered XIV,. XV, etc. So that Volume XII seems to be omitted from the set as it appears on the library shelf, when in reality there is no gap. In one journal which has been running many years, the volume has been changed every month for the past year and a half. The printer has merely mistaken the volume for the running number, notwithstanding the fact that the running number is given also in its proper sequence. January, 1898, is called Volume LVI, No. 1 February, 1898, “ “ “ LVII, “ 2 March, 1898, “ “ “ LVIII, “ 3 and so on for 20 consecutive months. Sometimes the mis¬ take is discovered after several numbers have been printed bearing the wrong volume, but the indexer of the single numbers has no means of telling till the volume is com¬ pleted, whether the volume will be changed or not, so he either has to leave the volume blank, or put on his index- card the volume given on each number, right or wrong. Mistakes in pagination give similar trouble to the indexer. As the Apostle says : “These things ought not so to be.” A little care and a little forethought would save a deal of trouble and perplexity.
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image