SECRETARY'S REPORT 247 



Duplicate and extraneous materials sent to other libraries amounted 

 to 58,818. Of this, 51,512 pieces went to the Library of Congress, 

 3,018 to the National Library of Medicine, and 1,375 went to other 

 agencies. The section handled a total of 176,919 pieces of material 

 during the year. 



CATALOGING AND BINDING 



The catalog section cataloged 7,146 volumes, recataloged 234 items, 

 transferred 203 publications, discarded 583 volumes, recorded 32,981 

 serials in the Serial Record, and filed 31,270 cards into the card cata- 

 log. In addition, 563 trade catalogs and 1,945 titles of short-form 

 cataloging were added to the collection. Cataloging of newly ac- 

 quired publications on a current basis was emphasized. 



The binding unit prepared 6,600 volumes of books and journals for 

 binding by a commercial binder. The hand-binding staff preserved 

 2,957 volumes and pamphlets which were either too fragile or valuable 

 to be sent outside the Institution for repair. 



REFERENCE AND ORCULATION 



The reference librarians answered 31,769 requests for specific types 

 of information, replied to 2,511 pieces of correspondence, circulated 

 35,781 books and journals, and cleared the loan records on 28,874 

 volumes. No record is kept of the circulation of books and journals 

 assigned to the division collections where they circulate freely within 

 the division. Publications borrowed from other libraries, chiefly the 

 Library of Congress, totaled 6,423, and 992 volumes were lent. The 

 reading and reference facilities of the central and branch libraries 

 were used by 27,267 persons. 



BRANCH LIBRARIES 



The branch library for the Museum of History and Technology 

 answered 13,057 reference questions, circulated 13,509 books and 

 journals, and added 563 trade catalogs to the collection. Visitors 

 using the library facilities totaled 6,212. 



The Bureau of American Ethnology branch library answered 1,964 

 reference questions, circulated 1,100 books and journals, and provided 

 assistance of 1,300 visitors. With improved physical rearrangement 

 of the collection, addition of new equipment, and a revised system 

 of book selection, the use and importance of this library are developing. 



Procedures for ordering and binding of books and journals were re- 

 vised for the branch library of tlie Smithsonian Astrophysical Observ- 

 atory, Cambridge, Mass. The number of visitors using this library 

 was 7,083, reference questions answered numbered 2,521, and 1,998 

 books and journals were circulated. 



A plan to organize and control the collection in the entomology 

 branch library was put into operation. A. J. Spohn, formerly with 



