INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

1122 SPRING GARDEN STREET e PHILADELPHIA 23, PENNSYLVANIA

August 13, 1960

De. Joshua Lederberg
Stanford University
Genetics Dept.

Palo Alte, Calif.

o

.
aar Joshs

Sorry to delay a reply to your letters of July 2 and Aug. 1, but these
last two weeks have really been something. We put out the second issue
of INDEX CHEMCISS. We were short help on CURRENT CONTENTS as a result

of vacations and finally I took my pre-lims at the Penn. Linguistics
Dept. This was a written exam which they gave me five days to answer.

I suppose if they gave me ten I would have used it too. In any event
after thirty five pages of answers I am glad to repyrt that I passed.
One thing that might interesta youeein disucssing “analogic change" in
language I told them that scientific terminology. was one of the best
study areas uvailable because it provides experimental data comparable
to the study of drosophila in genetics. In other words scientific language
changes rapidly enough in one or two generetions so that you can study
the process of languaze change(historical linguistics) without resorting
to clay tablets and the like!!

I den't knew if I told you, but I tried to sell the Air Fores on thse
citation index for exactly the reason given in your letter of July 29the=
as a means of tracing where their grant money and contract money had

an impact. If I have your okay I will send 2 copy of your letter of the 29th
to Dr. Wilson. Or if you prefer I will raise the question the next time

I am in touch with her. Dr. Wilsons name omings me quite logically to a
discussion of the business of a non-profit opgneization. When I sent her
2 copy of my letter to my lawyer(Mr. Vought) I had a phone cell from her
almost immediately in which she said that such a development(National Doc.
Center) would have an important impact at NIH although she wouldnt say
how much. I suppose it would make it easier for her to give out the money
if this were the case(i.e. non-profit). I also learned that our proposal
has been assigned to the Genetics Study Section which is godd because all
the members are now familiar with the idea.

I myself do not like the non-profit angle. If we can get the grant without
it then I am in favor of doing it that way. It would save any confrontation
with the problem of "conflict of interest". This question is different than
the ons you raise about adooting the name "National Documenation Center",
T think that the comment I got from Chauncey Leake is worth quoting.
"T see no reason why you should be upset about taking the neme of NDC!"
This is what you are doing, and hold to it until someone takes the title
away from you, and the only one who can do that is the government of our
country. Hang on to the Institute for Selentific Information"
The only people I have encountered who have an aversicn to the titles
have chosen are those people who fehl that we have vre-empted somet bing
tnat is peculiargly theirs-.this seems to match with the dictionary de
of jealousy--the people who benefit from what we do, teke deily advantage
TELPHONE: POPLAR 5-7818 ¢ CABLE: CURRCON ¢ TWX: PH 803
INSTITUTE FOR SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

1122 SPRING GARDEN STREET ° PHILADELPHIA 23, PENNSYLVANIA

of our services--couldn't care less. You would be amazed, hewever, how meny doors
our new name has opened for us. There certainly is something in a name!! T have
never seen anything like it. Just as you said, the aversion to profit making
organizations is not so well based on sound logic that there is mich point in
trying to reason with it. However, those people who sre rather illogically opvposed to
free enterprise find it easier to swallow when there is 4 candy coating. In this
case the name works magic. In dealing with people abroad it has an extra magic
because they have no way of really knowing the difference. I wonder if the head of
the All-Union Inst. for Seientific Information in Moscow wnew we were profitmaking
when he invited me to speak there. Perhaps in his case that would only add to the
attraction. Khrushchev seemed more interested in IBM than in the US governemtn!!

However, I am still open to suggestion on other useful names. I don't know what

the laws in Pennsylvania are regarding the incorporation of non-profit organizations
but if we decide to go ahead with this then I hope that you will be 4 member of

the board of directors. I think it will have to be up to the board of directors

to decide what represents a conflict of interest on my part. Somebody has got to
publish the SCI. Hither the NOC can do it on its own or it can farm the job out

to Someoneeesither ISI or someone else. If we could get it done cheapsr elsewhere

I would see no reamnwhy not. I would hope that we would do the job most efficiently.
ISI would remzin as a pubdisher if kiiodomodutt the board of NDC decided that a
privat te firm would be better off publishing the SCI. Reinhold Publishing Company
does an awful ict for the Am. Chem. Soc. In fact, T recently made an offer to the
Diractor of Chem. Abstracts to help him catch up on his backlog on a contract basis.

My plans for IST include floating a stock issue--the way things are going now we
really don't need the capital as we have received so mmch money in advance on the

NDEX CHEMICUS we need a financial adviser to tell us what to do with it. For the
time being I am putting it in savings accounts. However, when we have spent a lot
of money servicing the INDEX CHSMICUS we may need more capital to expand it,etc.
In addition, we are now running out of space and will have to move egain in the
late fall or winter. There are now fifteen full time employees and about the same
part-time!! I also thought a stock issue based on a profit would be good phblicz
relations. We sare also definitely goang aheed with a physical sciences edition of
CG. In fact, Im going to L.A. Wednesday, on my way to Mexico City for a vacation,
to discuss buying up a small publication which has been doing a rather inadequate
job of covering the space sciences. We will go ahead whether they agree or not,
but it will be 2 good start to have their S00 circulation if we can swing them
all over to the new, and more expensive edition. They cover 110 journals and we
will cover 400 or so. If other companttes are a lesson to us--we will undoubtedly
need more capit2l as we prosper. That is why I mentioned the problem of the SCI
in connection with ISI. Perhpas we could convince stockholders, on the basis of
our other performances that the SCI would become vrofitable, end therefore it
could get along without government subsidy. I think you can see that I am of two
minds on this whole queBtion and sometimes find it difficult to decide what is
best for the SCI, for me, and all dhers concerned.

    
    
  

In clesing let me say that I found out thet ITEK corp. whisk nes NSF contract ¢
study various indexing systems is going to include Citatién Indexe 28. I told them
however that their deta would not be valid unless they cévered the literature
coriprehensively--we could give them pertirmemt citations , Gur progact<-if we
get the grants. Let's hope this helps. So long. Gefe Met id
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Mec tt je veces fet ee cst jf ?