LIBEAKY. 323 



shape for printing, it is, even in its incomplete form, a valuable biblio- 

 graphical tool. 



CATALOGUING AND CLASSIFICATION. 



Miss Helen M. Thompson, Chief, Catalogue Division. 



The record of the material classified and catalogued during the year 

 is as follo^vs: 2,186 volumes, 721 pamphlets, 4,853 serials and contin- 

 uations, and 63 maps and cliarts, making a total of 7,823, a decrease 

 of 1,134 compared with the preceding year. In addition to the com- 

 plete cataloguing of the above books, pamphlets, and maps, author 

 cards were made for 570 pamphlets of less importance and 945 " re- 

 prints." 



There were added to the main (dictionary) catalogue 26,229 cards, 

 and 3,846 were withdrawn, making a net addition of 22,383, an in- 

 crease of 3,221 compared with the previous year. The main (diction- 

 ary) catalogue now contains approximately 392,000 cards and occu- 

 pies eleven 60-drawer cabinets. 



The number of titles prepared during the year by the Library for 

 printing by the Library of Congi-ess in what is known as the "Agri- 

 cultural series of catalogue cards " was as follows : Cards for acces- 

 sions and recatalogued books, 483 ; cards for Department publica- 

 tions, 577; total, 1,060. The total number of titles prepared by this 

 Library since 1902, in which j^ear the printing of cards was begun. 

 is 30,918. 



The amount of uncataloguecl material on hand July 1, 1918, was as 

 follows : Forty-one volumes, 178 pamphlets, 190 continuations, and 2 

 maps. The cataloguing was much retarded during the year by the 

 loss of three experienced cataloguers and the necessity of making tem- 

 porary appointments to fill the vacancies. Nine temporary assistants 

 were employed in the Catalogue Division during the year, some for 

 periods of only a month. As a consequence, comparatively little 

 progress was made in the work of reclassifying certain portions of 

 the Library, which are badly in need of subdivision. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL WORK. 



In response to a demand from the State agricultural college libra- 

 ries, a beginning was made by the staif of the main Library and the 

 branch libraries in the preparation of checklists of State agricultural 

 publications. Work has been begun on the publications of the follow- 

 ing States : Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota^ Nebraska, New 

 Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. 



The main Library, in cooperation with the branch libraries, also 

 prepared a compilation on the bibliographical work, special indexes, 

 directories, and lists of publications in progress in the Department 

 of Agriculture, which was issued in multigraphed form as Library 

 Notes No. 6. ^ _ 



Various bibliographical lists on food subjects were prepared by the 

 main Library for the periodical " Food News Notes,*" issued Ijy the 

 Food Administration. 



