Acquisitions aside from books and periodicals include a microfilm 

 reader and a microcard reader. A collection of records, consisting of 

 folksongs, Indian dances, tribal music, bird calls, sounds of the sea, 

 etc., has been acquired. Additions to this collection will be made. 



While its primary purpose is service to the Museum staff, the 

 Library has become over the years an important center of research 

 for other scholars and students. The Museum Library seeks to assist 

 readers in securing information and in using the resources of the 

 Library in study and research, and the reference librarian gives 

 prompt, efficient service both to the scientific staff and to visitors. 

 Our visitors are usually scholars pursuing advanced studies, col- 

 leagues in the fields of natural science, or random seekers after 

 facts. They are sometimes hesitant about using the card catalogue 

 and may have difficulty in expressing their needs for reference mate- 

 rial. In such cases the reference librarian can be especially helpful. 

 Our reference work includes answering inquiries by telephone and 

 through the mail and, because of the specific nature of the Library's 

 collection, there are many unique requests. For specialized data the 

 reference librarian has found it expedient to supplement the pub- 

 lished information by consulting the Museum's scientific staff. 



The reference librarian is also responsible for maintenance of the 

 Kardex Record on which are recorded daily the hundreds of serials, 

 journals, monographs, and series received in the Museum. The ref- 

 erence division sent out many form-letters for material that failed to 

 come in and compiled the quarterly lists of books overdue in the 

 General Library. Visitors used 1,636 volumes in the reading room, 

 and 6,645 items were entered on the Kardex. The Library was for- 

 tunate to have the services of Phillip Mershon, Antioch College 

 student, who, in addition to other Library duties, assisted in the 

 reading room. 



The generally recognized difficulty in obtaining cataloguers is a 

 serious impediment in the progress of our cataloguing and classifica- 

 tion work. Our cataloguing division is currently understaffed because 

 of the absence in mihtary service of William P. Fawcett, former An- 

 tioch College student. It is necessary for the Library not only to 

 produce required information but also to produce it in short time. 

 The information sought is often quite specific, so that cataloguing 

 must be detailed in extreme. As a result the catalogues are large in 

 relation to the collections, and the work necessary to produce and 

 maintain them is great and expensive. 



Accomplishments for the year are as follows: 802 new volumes 

 (represented by 576 main entries in the card catalogue) were cata- 

 logued and classified; 1,220 volumes (represented by 188 main entries 



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