176 NINTH REPORT. 



The card catalogue is an indispensable aid in museum work, for it enables 

 one to find a specimen or refer to the necessary data pertaining to any speci- 

 men or species at short notice. The card catalogue has the following ad- 

 vantages : 



1. The cards can be grouped by subjects or species. 



2. Individual cards can be removed when they become obsolete, by the 

 specimen being exchanged or destroyed. 



3. New cards can be inserted whenever new material has been added to 

 the museum. 



A card catalogue is arranged taxonomically for each particular group of 

 specimens in the museum collection, and includes both the specimens in the 

 "exhibition" and "study series." A similar catalogue of equipment, and of 

 the books and pamphlets included in the museum library is also an essential 

 feature. 



Another very important problem that confronts the museum of today is 

 that of labeling. The labels are of two kinds, the descriptive label for ex- 

 hibits, and the distinguishing label which bears the name and data. In the 

 preparation of the former the widest and most accurate knowledge is es- 

 sential. The information it is intended to convey should be set forth in a 

 terse, concise and definite phraseology, and at the same time call attention 

 to the essential points of the specimen which the visitor should observe. 

 The service which the descriptive label does in the education of the public 

 is undoubtedly one of the most important factors in making the museum 

 what it is. I may c^uote Prof. Goode again by saying "an efficient educa- 

 tional museum may be described as a collection of instructive labels, each 

 illustrated by a well selected specimen." ^ 



Under the head of "distinguishing" labels come those labels w^hich are 

 placed upon all specimens, either in the form of the catalogue number alone, 

 or a paper label which is tied securely to the specimen, giving name, locality, 

 date and collector. On account of the variety of material dealt with in a, 

 museum, different methods of labeling are used for each variety, i. e., skins 

 have paper labels securely tied to them, while alcoholics have block tin labels 

 or cloth labels, instead. It is absolutely necessary that there should be 

 a distinguishing label of some description with every specimen, for without 

 it it is practically valueless. 



In the above paper I have not attempted to compile a detailed set of 

 museum directions, but merely to outline some of the more technical prob- 

 lems which confront all Natural History Museums, more especially those of 

 a local type, and to give a general basis that may be used in the organization, 

 of such museums. 



Ann Arbor, Mich. 



1 1889, Goode, G. Brown, "The Museums of the Tuture." Rept. U. S. National Mu- 

 seum, 1889, p. 433. 



