The Client's Request
A family asked whether their relative, A. R. Galanides, had ever written a book on electrical fuses in the 1960s. Memory suggested a bound volume, but no title, publisher, or ISBN could be found in modern commercial catalogues.
The Investigation
Conventional bibliographic searches were performed across national and international library catalogues, academic databases, citation indexes, engineering publication lists from the 1950s–1960s, and digitised book collections. These searches confirmed technical publications by Galanides but found no commercial textbook or trade book under his name. Rather than stop there, the investigation reframed the question to consider how mid-century engineers circulated work; many outputs were issued as bound technical reports by research associations — standalone volumes, professionally bound, distributed to industry and libraries, and inconsistently catalogued.
Key Findings
Research uncovered several relevant outputs by A. R. Galanides, including journal articles and contributions to professional discussions. Crucially, a 1958 bound technical report co-authored by Galanides was located:
The Effect of Filler Deficiency on the Performance of Cartridge Fuses (co-authored by A. R. Galanides). Although labelled a "technical report," it was printed as a standalone bound volume, focused entirely on fuse technology, catalogued as a book in some systems, and published in the correct period — matching the family's recollection.
Findings and Evidence
Further bibliographic and archival searches confirmed several publications by A. R. Galanides. Notable items included a 1958 bound report co‑authored with H. W. Baxter, The Effect of Filler Deficiency on the Performance of Cartridge Fuses (ERA Technical Report 308), a 1965 article, Some Experiments on Time‑Lag Fuses (Baxter & Galanides), and a 1968 contribution, The Cult of D.C. and A.C. Circuits (Galanides & Longley). The ERA report, which had been printed as a standalone bound volume and was catalogued as a book in some systems, matched the family's recollection of a "book on fuses" and emerged as the most likely candidate.
Galanides also appeared in IEE discussion records and proceedings from the period, demonstrating his active participation in professional debates over HRC fuse discrimination and related topics.
To confirm holdings and obtain copies we contacted the IET Archives and successor bodies to the Electrical Research Association, and carried out manual searches of institutional catalogues. Those enquiries identified a physical copy in a research library collection and produced scanned reproductions, which were supplied to the family.
Locating the Physical Copy
The report was not available online and circulated only within specialist engineering archives. Work then focused on identifying institutions holding physical copies, contacting archives, confirming shelf holdings, and requesting reproductions. This process produced a confirmed physical copy in a research library collection and scanned copies were obtained for the family.
Outcome
The investigation reached a clear conclusion: no separate commercial textbook by A. R. Galanides appears to have existed. The remembered "book on fuses" was almost certainly a bound technical research report — identified, located, and recovered.
Why This Matters
This case shows how publications outside modern commercial norms can vanish from view, and how contextual historical research and archive liaison can recover them. Family memory was upheld, once publication practices of the era were understood.
Services Demonstrated
- Archival & bibliographic research
- Academic database analysis
- Historical publishing context reconstruction
- Library & archive liaison
- Evidence-based historical conclusions