670 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The 18 library assistants employed by the various bureaus, divi- 

 sions, and offices are paid from their respective appropriations. They 

 have not (previous to July, 1911) been under the jurisdiction of the 

 main Library, but it is believed that they have been in sympathy 

 with its policies, for there has been hearty cooperation between the 

 libraries of the Ijureaus, divisions, and offices and tlie main Library. 

 It is probable, therefore, that there will be no radical changes as a 

 result of the recommendation of the department committee on econ- 

 omy and efficiency that the library staff of the department be brought 

 under the jurisdiction and supervision of the librarian of the depart- 

 ment. The wisdom of this provision is that it insures cooperation and 

 unity in the work in the future instead of allowing these to depend 

 upon a happy combination of circumstances. 



If any reorganization of the library work of the department is 

 desirable, especially as regards the relation of the main Library to 

 the libraries of the bureaus, divisions, and offices, past experience has 

 seemed to indicate that it should be along the following lines, namely : 

 To relieve the bureau libraries as much as possible of the business and 

 routine work in order that they may devote their energies to their 

 special field of reference work and to concentrate in the main Library 

 the business connected with the acquisition of all books and period- 

 icals, whether acquired by purchase, gift, or exchange. A very 

 important part of the routine work to be considered in this connec- 

 tion is the work of cataloguing. At the present time the catalogue 

 of the main Library contains cards for all the books acquired by the 

 main Library by purchase, gift, or exchange, and in addition con- 

 tains cards for a large part of the material acquired by the bureau 

 libraries by gift. Some of the bureau libraries send to the main 

 Library to" be catalogued the material which they receive by gift, 

 others catalogue it and send duplicate cards to the main Library, still 

 others catalogue and file the material which they receive by gift and 

 exchange, but do not furnif4i the main Library with records of it. 

 Some of the bureau libraries also do considerable indexing of the 

 material contained in their collections. Copies of these cards have 

 not, as a rule, been sent to the main Library. The main Librar^^, on 

 the other hand, with a few exceptions, has not furnished duplicate 

 catalogue cards to the bureau libraries. As a large proportion of the 

 accessions are, however, catalogued on printed cards prepared by the 

 Library of Congress and by this Library, the libraries of the bureaus, 

 etc., have been able to obtain copies. The questions to be considered 

 are whether the catalogues should be allowed to continue to grow as 

 circumstances direct, or whether some definite policy should be 

 adopted. Should all the cataloguing be done in the main Library 

 and duplicate cards be provided for the libraries of the bureaus, etc., 

 in those subjects in which they are especially interested, and should 

 the catalogue in the main Library' include all the cards contained in 

 the catalogues of the libraries of the bureaus, etc., including cards for 

 material acquired by the bureaus by gift and exchange? If this is 

 not desirable or practicable, what is the ideal plan toward which we 

 should work? These are important questions and should be settled 

 in the near future. 



