212 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1962 



Collection of journals, from Mrs. DeWitt C. Ramsay, Washington, D.C. 

 4 trade catalogs, from C. V. S. Roosevelt, Washington, D.C. 



In conjunction with the library's exchange program, a total of 

 32,055 pieces of duplicate and extraneous materials were sent to other 

 libraries. This included 26,717 items forwarded to the Library of 

 Congress and 2,481 dissertations sent to the National Library of 

 Medicine. 



In all, 116,116 pieces of material were handled by the acquisitions 

 section during the year. 



REFERENCE AND CIRCULATION 



The reference librarians answered 30,498 requests for specific types 

 of information, replied to 3,441 pieces of correspondence, circulated 

 33,704 books and journals, and cleared the loan records of 26,269 

 volumes. No circulation record is maintained of those books and 

 journals assigned to divisional libraries. Publications borrowed from 

 other libraries, chiefly the Library of Congress, totaled 5,386; ap- 

 proximately 1,503 volumes were lent. The number of persons using 

 the reading and reference facilities of the central and branch libraries 

 totaled 24,423, an increase of 9,903 over the previous year. Additional 

 funds enabled the library to purchase seriously needed reference and 

 bibliographical materials. 



CATALOGING AND BINDING 



The organization and control of the library's collection are necessary 

 to provide an effective library program for the staff of the Institution. 



The catalog section cataloged 6,564 volumes, recataloged 344 vol- 

 umes, transferred 537 volumes, recorded 29,967 serials in the Serial 

 Record, and filed 34,568 cards into the card catalog. 



The binding unit prepared 6,400 volumes of books and journals for 

 binding by a commercial binder. The Editorial and Publications Di- 

 vision designed end papers to be used for all newly bound or rebound 

 books and journals, which attractively indicate Smithsonian owner- 

 ship. The skilled hand-binding staff preserved 3,049 volumes and 

 pamphlets which were either too fragile or valuable to be sent outside 

 the Institution for repair. This program, to preserve our valuable 

 research and source materials, continues on a rewarding basis. 



PROGRAMS AND FACILITIES 



The library staff continued to develop and put into practice new 

 procedures, routines, and form letters which provided more efficient 

 and expeditious operations. In the central library, for example, 

 45,000 volumes were rearranged and filed in one sequence on the shelves. 

 Such improvements are important to the functioning of the library as 

 a whole. 



