7. Periodicals.—Among the most valuable sources of printed information today are the trade papers and the proceedings of the various technical societies. These supplement each other. The latter are some what more general, in that the proceedings enumerate the theories, the discoveries, or the results of experi ments conducted by the members.
In the same class with the proceedings of the techni cal societies must be placed the publications offered by the general and state governments. While the various departments of agriculture are doing the best work, much valuable information concerning business is contained in the publications issued by the bureaus of commerce and labor. A small charge is made for some of them, but the majority are issued free. Illinois has established an Engineering Ex periment Station in cormection with its school of engi neering, and has investigated such important topics as fuels, building material and railroad equipment ; it has published its findings for the benefit of Illinois manu facturers.
8. Government publications.—The Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., publishes two monthly catalogs listing all publications of the F-ed eral government.
In addition to making use of the library facilities of the community, many companies find it advisable to maintain special libraries of their own, either sepa rately or in connection with their testing laboratories. These libraries also collect special material, which can not be secured thru the regular channels and which in cludes the literature of their competitors, forms, formulas and the like.
9. Study of competitive methods.—Another source of information is data obtained from competitors. -When the Pennsylvania Railroad considered the ques tion of pensions, a special committee on Superannu ation and the Pension Fund was appointed by the advisory committee of the relief department. The committee examined and reported upon the various systems of pensioning in operation on more than sev enty of the leading railroads of Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Australia. When the Weston Electrical Instrument Company resolved to build its new plant at Newark, N. J., it sent three practising engineers on a year's tour of American plants, two of the engineers to study mechanical features and one to discover what arrangements other companies were making for their employes' comfort.
Mr. C. B. Anel, Assistant Manager of Works, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, in a recent speech before the National Machine Tool Builders' Association, said: Recognizing that methods of manufacture which had in the past been satisfactory for their needs were proving inade quate to handle the increasing volume of business, for the reasons already stated, the Westinghouse Electric and Man ufacturing Company spent considerable time in investigating the methods of other large companies in similar lines of busi ness, with the result that it was believed advisable to modify the original scheme in favor of the so-called "factory system."
In a recent article in the Amer icon Machinist ap peared this significant paragraph : The firm stands ready to furnish information concerning its experience in this line which may be useful for others who are thinking of establishing laboratories for themselves.
10. .American readiness to suppl,y information.— The liberality with which American companies are willing to share their experiences has often excited the surprise of European visitors, since abroad the methods of doing business are zealously guarded from all outsiders. In fact, so general is the "get-together" idea in American industry that a firm's willingness to give information is a fair indication of the value of the information that it has to give. Small concerns are often opposed to giving away "trade secrets," whereas the large corporations are glad to show vis itors thru their works and to furnish any information within reason. Conversely, many of them make a practice of sending their foremen and department heads to visit other factories.
One method which has proved effective in writing to a cornpetitor for information is to state, "This is the way we are now handling the matter ; if you have a better method we should like to hear of it." Another method when an extended investigation is planned, is to state the fact and offer to give other companies copies of the results, provided they will cooperate by describing their methods. A recent inquiry of this kind addressed to fifty firms concerning their method of applying the "suggestion" system brought thirty five replies.
9. Consulting experts.—Specialists exist in almost every line of business. There are consulting engi neers, certified public accountants, testing chemists . and patent-lawyers. In the steel business there are agencies which will inspect the work in the mills, while there are advertising and sales experts and informa tion bureaus without number. This specialty work is now being systematized by many agencies, so that the business man may secure informatign more readily than he ever could before.