APPENDIX 6 

 REPORT ON THE INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE SERVICE 



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

 ties of the International Exchange Service for the fiscal year ended 

 June 30, 1950: 



The Smithsonian Institution is the official United States agency for 

 the exchange with other nations of governmental, scientific, and 

 hterary publications. The International Exchange Service, initiated 

 by the Smithsonian Institution in the early years of its existence for 

 the interchange of scientific publications between learned societies 

 and individuals in the United States and those of foreign countries, 

 serves as a means of developing and executing in part the broad and 

 comprehensive object, "the dift'usion of knowledge." It was later 

 designated by the United States Government as the agency for the 

 transmission of official documents to selected depositories throughout 

 the world, and it continues to execute the exchanges pursuant to 

 conventions, treaties, and other international agreements. 



The number of packages received for transmission during the year 

 was 1,009,675, an increase over the previous year of 169,550 packages, 

 or approximately 20 percent. The weight of the packages was 

 832,087 pounds, an increase of 35,387 pounds, or approximately 4.4 

 percent. It was only through the installation and utilization of labor- 

 saving devices that the International Exchange Service was able to 

 process the additional number of packages without increased personnel. 



The average weight of the individual package decreased to approxi- 

 mately 13 ounces as compared with the average of 15 ounces for the 

 fiscal year of 1949. This indicates that the majority of the publica- 

 tions now being transmitted are current publications rather than accu- 

 mulated publications. A further reason for the reduction in the 

 average weight of the individual package is to be found in the fact 

 that more of the departments of the United States Government are 

 using the International Exchange Service for the transmission of their 

 periodical publications. The publications received from both the 



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