FEB. 19, 1021 sosman: distribution of scientific information 99 



GENERAL SUMMARY 



The production of new information in the United States is much 

 better managed than its distribution. It is distributed through 

 five main channels: (1) by personal communication or through the 

 "informational middleman;" (2) by public lectures; (3) by the museum 

 and public exhibition; (4) by the printed page — books, scientific 

 and technical periodicals, bulletins, general periodicals, newspapers, 

 and separates; (5) by the cinematograph. Ineffective distribution 

 results from (1) disinclination to use new knowledge, a cause not 

 discussed in this paper; (2) the inaccessibility of scientific information, 

 arising from (o) the bulky form in which it comes from the producer, 

 (b) its heterogeneous character, and (t) the arithmetical or psychologi- 

 cal limitations peculiar to each method of distribution. The bearings 

 of these various factors on existing methods of distribution, both 

 to producers of information and to the general public, are touched 

 upon, and desirable or probable future developments in each are 

 briefly discussed. 



