﻿106 
  ANITUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  and 
  so 
  greatly 
  needed 
  that 
  I 
  can 
  not 
  but 
  believe 
  that 
  if 
  some 
  definite 
  and 
  

   concerted 
  move 
  is 
  made 
  now 
  we 
  can 
  reorganize 
  and 
  renew 
  this 
  great 
  work. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  reply 
  Professor 
  Armstrong 
  reflects 
  the 
  financial 
  despondency 
  

   of 
  Europe 
  but 
  goes 
  on 
  to 
  say 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  wish 
  it 
  were 
  possible 
  to 
  restart 
  the 
  International 
  Catalogue, 
  but 
  I 
  am 
  

   bound 
  to 
  confess 
  that 
  I 
  see 
  no 
  immediate 
  prospect 
  of 
  doing 
  so. 
  Still, 
  I 
  would 
  

   prophesj' 
  that 
  it 
  must 
  again 
  come 
  into 
  being 
  — 
  the 
  idea 
  was 
  too 
  grand 
  and 
  the 
  

   proof 
  obtained 
  that 
  the 
  enterprise 
  was 
  entirely 
  feasible 
  too 
  complete 
  for 
  it 
  to 
  

   remain 
  an 
  act 
  unaccomplished. 
  If 
  the 
  nations 
  are 
  ever 
  to 
  unite 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  

   in 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  natural 
  science 
  before 
  anything 
  else. 
  

  

  An 
  outline 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  situation 
  is 
  briefly 
  this: 
  Publication 
  of 
  

   the 
  International 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  Scientific 
  Literature 
  began 
  in 
  1901, 
  

   when 
  33 
  of 
  the 
  leading 
  countries 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  cooperated 
  by 
  estab- 
  

   lishing 
  regional 
  bureaus 
  and 
  furnishing 
  to 
  the 
  central 
  bureau 
  in 
  

   London 
  classified 
  index 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  scientific 
  literature 
  of 
  their 
  

   respective 
  regions 
  and 
  further 
  agreed 
  to 
  subscribe 
  to 
  a 
  sufficient 
  

   number 
  of 
  sets 
  of 
  the 
  catalogue 
  to 
  support 
  the 
  central 
  bureau 
  and 
  

   pay 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  printing. 
  Beginning 
  with 
  the 
  literature 
  of 
  1901, 
  IT 
  

   volumes 
  were 
  published 
  annually 
  until 
  the 
  last 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  four- 
  

   teenth 
  annual 
  issue, 
  indexing 
  the 
  literature 
  of 
  1914, 
  was 
  published 
  

   in 
  1922, 
  making 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  238 
  volumes, 
  together 
  with 
  several 
  extra 
  

   volumes 
  containing 
  lists 
  of 
  journals 
  and 
  classification 
  schedules. 
  

  

  The 
  regional 
  bureaus 
  were 
  supported 
  locally, 
  in 
  most 
  cases, 
  by 
  

   direct 
  governmental 
  grants, 
  while 
  the 
  central 
  bureau 
  derived 
  its 
  sole 
  

   support 
  from 
  the 
  income 
  received 
  from 
  subscribers 
  to 
  the 
  catalogue, 
  

   the 
  price 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  equivalent 
  to 
  $85 
  per 
  year 
  for 
  the 
  complete 
  set 
  

   of 
  17 
  volumes. 
  Just 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  war 
  central 
  bureau 
  receipts 
  and 
  

   expenditures 
  approximately 
  balanced, 
  but 
  after 
  war 
  began 
  printing 
  

   costs 
  doubled, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  therefore 
  necessary 
  to 
  suspend 
  publication 
  

   in 
  1922. 
  

  

  The 
  Royal 
  Society 
  of 
  London 
  acted 
  as 
  financial 
  sponsor 
  of 
  the 
  

   enterprise 
  from 
  the 
  beginning, 
  aided 
  on 
  several 
  occasions 
  by 
  dona- 
  

   tions 
  from 
  other 
  sources 
  after 
  war 
  began. 
  

  

  The 
  need 
  of 
  the 
  International 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  Scientific 
  Literature 
  

   is 
  obvious, 
  as 
  no 
  publication 
  ever 
  existed 
  so 
  broad 
  in 
  scope 
  or 
  

   exhaustive 
  in 
  treatment 
  and 
  none 
  has 
  since 
  taken 
  its 
  place. 
  

  

  The 
  various 
  abstract 
  journals 
  do 
  not 
  meet 
  the 
  need 
  of 
  libraries 
  as 
  

   reference 
  aids, 
  as 
  they 
  overlap 
  their 
  respective 
  fields 
  and 
  in 
  aggre- 
  

   gate 
  are 
  too 
  bulky, 
  expensive, 
  and 
  dissimilar 
  in 
  plan 
  to 
  serve 
  as 
  

   general 
  works 
  of 
  reference. 
  Abstract 
  journals 
  serve 
  the 
  immediate 
  

   iieed 
  of 
  specialists 
  but 
  do 
  not 
  meet 
  the 
  requirements 
  of 
  librarians 
  or 
  

   general 
  students. 
  

  

  Before 
  outlining 
  a 
  scheme 
  for 
  reorganization 
  and 
  improvement 
  

   for 
  the 
  future, 
  a 
  retrospect 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  may 
  be 
  considered 
  and 
  defects 
  

   noted 
  in 
  order 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  eliminated 
  in 
  the 
  future. 
  

  

  