2. From Co‐operation to Contracts

The Rubber and Plastics Research Association of Great Britain (RAPRA) has, since 1923, provided a conventional abstracting service. The major scientific and technological abstracts are published in a monthly abstract journal, originally entitled The Summary of Current Literature but today known as RAPRA Abstracts. Subject, patent, and name indexes are provided for each volume. From the beginning two of the main objectives of RAPRA Abstracts have been the reduction of essential reading time and the reduction of individual abstracting effort within the industry. The efficiency with which these objectives were met obviously decreased as the rate of publication of scientific and technical literature rapidly increased.