LIBEART. 321 



in the Library catalogue. In a number of instances, however, these 

 subjects were under investigation by offices of the Department which 

 were able to supply the desired information. In order to make these 

 various sources of information readily available, the Library under- 

 took, with the cooperation of the bureau and division libraries and 

 various offices of the Department, the experiment of indexing the 

 subjects under investigation by the various offices of the Department. 

 A beginning on this index has been made. It will contain a list in 

 card form of the offices and specialists in the Department who are 

 willing to supply information on the subjects listed to inquirers when 

 the latter have not succeeded in getting information enough on the 

 subjects from library resources. If the Library is successful in com- 

 pleting the index it is hoped that it may be an aid in handling De- 

 partment correspondence and that it will also provide an additional 

 means " for getting at the men behind the books, for being led to 

 human sources, to authorities who will consider special needs in per- 

 sonal ways, as books can not do." It is possible that it may also in 

 time be made to help to prevent overlapping and duplication of 

 effort. The purpose in calling attention to the index in its very in- 

 complete form is to bespeak an interest in it in the Department and 

 to suggest to other libraries and institutions dealing with agricultural 

 and scientific subjects the possibility of obtaining additional un- 

 printed information on these subjects from the Department. 



CIRCULATION. 



The circulation for the year was 76,329 books and pamphlets and 

 approximately 125,000 current periodicals. As the total circulation 

 of books in the fiscal year 1917 was 86,977, the circulation of books 

 during the year shows a decrease of 10,648. This decrease is un- 

 doubtedly due to the war conditions. A large number of the scien- 

 tific workers of the Department have entered the military service. 

 This fact has affected the amount of scientific work done by the De- 

 partment, and the demands upon the Library for literature have been 

 correspondingly less. 



INTERLIBRARY LOANS. 



The number of books lent to libraries, institutions, and individuals 

 outside of the city was 893, a decrease of 200 compared with the pre- 

 vious year, due to war conditions, as many of the scientific staffs of 

 the agricultural colleges and experiment stations have also gone into 

 the military service. To the total number of books lent, namely, 893, 

 should be added 84 photostat copies and 11 typewritten copies, mak- 

 ing the total use outside of the city 988. 



The number of books borrowed from other libraries in the city was 

 4,717, a decrease of 1,375 compared with the previous year. The 

 number borrowed from libraries outside of the city was only 35, a 

 decrease of 47 compared with the previous year. These 35 books 

 were borrowed from different libraries, the largest number having 

 been borrowed from the Arnold Arboretum. Further detailed sta- 

 tistics with regard to the circulation are given in Appendices 1 to 5. 

 Attention is called to the classification of borrowers, which is given 

 this year for the first time. 



