20 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



two principal classes, namely: first, bibliophiles, or those who 

 attach an undue personal value to books; and secondly, those 

 who see in them no worth as property, arguing, apparently, 

 that what costs nothing may be esteemed at the same value. 

 Both classes, however, have the common property of assiduous 

 solicitation. Quite a different set of difficulties is presented by 

 learned societies and other organizations between which the 

 custom long since arose of interchange of publications. But 

 while this is practicable to an organization which issues a book 

 only once a year, or perhaps once in five years, it may be quite 

 impracticable to an establishment which is issuing from twenty 

 to fifty volumes per year. Thus the Institution finds itself 

 compelled to decline any such system of exchange for the simple 

 reason that its entire income would be insufficient to meet the 

 demands thereof. 



Another sort of difficulty arises from the nearly universal 

 assumption that a research organization must maintain a hbrary ; 

 but since the headquarters of the Institution are located in the 

 near vicinity of many efficient libraries, it would be a waste of 

 resources to attempt to build up an additional one. In spite of 

 this obvious fact, however, the Institution receives annually a 

 large number of pubhcations which are useful only as small num- 

 bers of them may be distributed to the working libraries of the 

 departments of research. 



An additional source of embarrassment arises from the unwar- 

 ranted assumption that since the Institution is occupied with the 

 business of research it may be able to look after the needs and 

 requirements not only of technical societies and hbraries but also 

 anticipate and supply the needs of individual workers in science. 

 Experience proves, however, that no such paternahstic functions 

 are realizable. The number of individuals, societies, and organi- 

 zations desiring such aid is far greater than any single estab- 

 lishment can deal with. Moreover, httle short of omniscience 

 would be required to determine, without the aid of the benefici- 

 aries, what may be essential to satisfy their needs. Accumulated 

 experience has tended to confirm the conclusion that the only 

 practicable and stable plan for free distribution of the Institu- 

 tion's publications is the one adopted a decade ago, namely, that 

 of supplying them to a limited list of the greater hbraries of the 



