146 AOSnsrTJAL report SMITHS-ONIAN institution, 19 50 



Neil M. Judd's gift of his personal collection of some 500 books 

 and papers on archeological subjects made it possible for the division 

 of archeology to continue to have the use of this literature after 

 Mr. Judd's retirement. 



Acknowledgments for 7,392 gifts received were sent to many differ- 

 ent donors to whom the library owes a lasting debt of gratitude for 

 their generous contributions. 



The first published appearance of information about new discover- 

 ies, inventions, and the progress of science, technology, and the arts 

 in general is usually to be found in serial publications, which conse- 

 quently are of the utmost importance in a scientific library. A great 

 many of those the Institution regularly receives are sent by organiza- 

 tions and institutions with which it is in continuing exchange. Ex- 

 cept for the issues represented by 287 paid subscriptions, most of the 

 16,961 parts of periodicals currently entered were exchange publica- 

 tions. In the course of the year 344 new exchanges were arranged, 

 and 7,016 volumes and parts needed to complete sets, or for other 

 pm'poses, were obtained in response to 604 special requests. 



A good catalog is the key to the contents of the library, and good 

 cataloging is a basic requirement of efficient library service. Upon its 

 quality and completeness depends the ease or difficulty with which 

 the resources of the library can be discovered. The classification 

 and subject analysis of complex scientific publications, many of them 

 written in foreign languages, is scholarly work. The cards filed in 

 catalogs and shelflists are the clerical records of that work. During 

 the past year 6,822 publications were fully cataloged, and 30,006 

 catalog and shelflist cards were filed. The work of correlating the 

 central periodical records with those of the central catalog was con- 

 continued, and 1,000 entries were checked and accurately unified. 

 Neither the central catalog nor the individual catalogs of the different 

 bureau libraries can be the fully effective instruments that they 

 ought to be until the very large number of unclassified and incom- 

 pletely cataloged publications throughout the Institution can be 

 properly cataloged. This is so large an undertaking that a special 

 corps of catalogers would be needed to complete it within a predict- 

 able period of time. 



In all, 18,719 publications were sent to the Library of Congress. 

 Of this number 6,053 volumes and parts were marked and recorded as 

 permanent additions to the Smithsonian Deposit. Other publica- 

 tions included 1,303 doctoral dissertations, received chiefly from conti- 

 nental European universities. The remainder were foreign and 

 domestic documents and miscellaneous books, pamphlets, and period- 

 icals on subjects not of immediate interest to the Institution. 



