Report on the International Exchange 



Service 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the activi- 

 ties of the International Exchange Service for the fiscal year ended 

 June 30, 1964: 



The original plan of organization of the Smithsonian Institution 

 presented to the Board of Eegents by Joseph Henry in 1847 pro- 

 vided for a system of exchange of current publications which would 

 afford the Smithsonian Institution the most ready means of entering 

 into friendly relations and correspondence with all the learned so- 

 cieties in the world and of enriching the Smithsonian library with the 

 current transactions and proceedings of foreign institutions. 



When the first of the Smithsonian's long series of scientific publi- 

 cations, Ancient Monimients of the Mississippi Valley^ was issued, 

 copies were sent to scientific and learned institutions abroad. In re- 

 turn, the Smithsonian Institution received many valuable publica- 

 tions from foreign institutions. To continue this desirable interna- 

 tional exchange of scientific information, the Smithsonian Institution 

 appointed agents in a number of foreign countries to distribute the 

 publications received from the Smithsonian Institution and to forward 

 to the Smitlisonian Institution the publications received from the 

 foreign institutions. 



In 1851 the privilege of transmitting scientific, cultural, and literary 

 publications through the Smithsonian Institution to other countries, 

 and of receiving similar publications from foreign institutions in 

 return, was extended to Government agencies and a number of scien- 

 tific societies in the United States. This opportunity to distribute 

 their publications abroad was eagerly accepted and the system grew 

 so rapidly that today most Government agencies, many universities, 

 and scientific organizations representing every State in the Union 

 utilize the International Exchange Service. The International Ex- 

 change Service functions as a medium for developing and executing 

 in part the broad and comprehensive objective of the Smithsonian 

 Institution — "the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." 

 This service has grown from a few hundred packages of publications 

 transmitted per year to more than a million packages during the past 

 fiscal year. 



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