88 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 6 



to libraries outside of the Smithsonian system. The number of 

 items borroAved from the Library of Congress was 2,330, and from 

 other libraries 484. 



The following will show the work done on the union catalog: 



Volumes cataloged 4, 397 



Pamphlets and charts cataloged 2, 423 



New serial entries made 195 



Typed cards added to catalog and shelf list 6,415 



Library of Congress cards added to catalog and shelf list 18,749 



SPECIAL ACTIVITIES 



Among the special activities of the year, a few may be mentioned 

 as indicating further progress toward making the library system a 

 more complete and efficient instrument in the work of the Institu- 

 tion and its branches. 



The slow and tedious task of sorting, arranging, and labeling the 

 large collection of miscellaneous material, including many thousands 

 of scientific and technical serials, that had accumulated for years on 

 the second and third floors of the west stacks of the Smithsonian 

 Building — an undertaking referred to in several annual reports as 

 receiving special attention — was at last practically finished, with the 

 gratifying result that, as in 1934 and 1935, hundreds of publications 

 were brought to light that were needed in tlie libraries of the Insti- 

 tution. It is hoped that the unchecked material on the first floor 

 can receive similar treatment during the coming year, in connection 

 particularly with the reorganization of the office library and the 

 rearrangement, and possible reassignment, of the Watts de Peyster 

 collection. 



The staff sorted and arranged the 7,000 and more publications that 

 were recently given to the library by the International Catalogue of 

 Scientific Literature, selecting 1,019 for the National Museum, 108 for 

 the Astrophysical Observatory, and 235 for the Smithsonian deposit. 

 Most of these found their way into the active sets ; the others into the 

 reserve file — a collection, begun a year or two ago, of standard scien- 

 tific works designed to meet the future requirements of the Institution. 

 To this file will probably be added many of the remaining items, 

 especially some of the longer runs, in this noteworthy gift. It is 

 expected that permanent shelf room will be provided for the reserve 

 collection in the west end of the Smithsonian Building when disposal 

 is made of the duplicates now occupying this space. 



The staff also continued the task of reorganizing the technological 

 library and several of the sectional libraries, notably that of administra- 

 tion, in the Arts and Industries Building; advanced the work of classi- 

 fying the Bell aeronautical clippings ; withdrew 913 reprints and sep- 



