﻿114 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPOET 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  limes 
  and 
  107,629 
  pamphlets. 
  It 
  was 
  increased 
  during 
  the 
  past 
  year 
  

   by 
  2,247 
  volumes 
  and 
  748 
  pamphlets. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  additions 
  came 
  

   by 
  purchase 
  and 
  gift, 
  but 
  most 
  by 
  exchange. 
  

  

  The 
  current 
  work 
  was 
  kept 
  up 
  as 
  usual, 
  but 
  often 
  by 
  a 
  depleted 
  

   force. 
  The 
  staff 
  entered 
  9,759 
  parts 
  of 
  periodicals, 
  catalogued 
  1,422 
  

   volumes 
  and 
  pamphlets, 
  and 
  had 
  1,331 
  volumes 
  bound. 
  They 
  sent 
  

   to 
  the 
  sectional 
  libraries 
  5,518 
  publications 
  and 
  loaned 
  to 
  the 
  curators 
  

   and 
  their 
  assistants 
  4,793, 
  of 
  which 
  2,163 
  were 
  borrowed 
  from 
  the 
  

   Library 
  of 
  Congress 
  and 
  271 
  elsewhere. 
  They 
  returned 
  2,336 
  books 
  

   to 
  the 
  Library 
  of 
  Congress 
  and 
  299 
  to 
  other 
  libraries. 
  About 
  200 
  

   publications 
  were 
  loaned 
  to 
  Government 
  libraries 
  and 
  to 
  libraries 
  

   outside 
  of 
  Washington. 
  Among 
  the 
  latter 
  were 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Ameri- 
  

   can 
  Museum 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  Carnegie 
  Museum, 
  Field 
  Museum, 
  

   Department 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  of 
  Canada, 
  E. 
  I. 
  du 
  Pont 
  de 
  Nemours 
  

   & 
  Co. 
  Experimental 
  Station, 
  and 
  the 
  following 
  colleges 
  and 
  universi- 
  

   ties 
  : 
  Buffalo, 
  California, 
  Goucher, 
  Minnesota, 
  and 
  Princeton. 
  One 
  

   loan 
  to 
  the 
  Field 
  Museum 
  consisted 
  of 
  a 
  duplicate 
  set, 
  in 
  43 
  volumes, 
  

   of 
  Linnaea, 
  Berlin, 
  1825-1882, 
  and 
  was 
  made 
  on 
  semipermanent 
  

   charge. 
  It 
  was 
  the 
  third 
  loan 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  three 
  years, 
  

   the 
  others 
  having 
  been 
  made 
  to 
  Johns 
  Hopkins 
  University 
  and 
  the 
  

   University 
  of 
  Chicago. 
  All 
  three 
  were 
  for 
  the 
  furthering 
  of 
  special- 
  

   ized 
  scientific 
  research, 
  in 
  keeping 
  with 
  the 
  general 
  purpose 
  of 
  the 
  

   Museum, 
  as 
  a 
  branch 
  of 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution, 
  of 
  increas- 
  

   ing 
  and 
  diffusing 
  knowledge. 
  

  

  About 
  as 
  many 
  publications 
  as 
  usual 
  were 
  consulted 
  in 
  the 
  library. 
  

   But 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  marked 
  growth 
  in 
  the 
  reference 
  and 
  informational 
  

   service 
  rendered 
  by 
  the 
  staff", 
  not 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  scientists 
  of 
  the 
  In- 
  

   stitution 
  and 
  to 
  investigators 
  from 
  different 
  departments 
  of 
  the 
  

   Government, 
  but 
  to 
  scholars 
  generally 
  and 
  to 
  inquirers 
  throughout 
  

   the 
  country. 
  In 
  this 
  connection 
  special 
  attention 
  should 
  be 
  called 
  

   to 
  the 
  growing 
  importance, 
  both 
  to 
  the 
  employees 
  of 
  the 
  Smith- 
  

   sonian 
  Institution 
  and 
  its 
  branches 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  visiting 
  public, 
  of 
  the 
  

   recently 
  reorganized 
  reading 
  and 
  reference 
  room, 
  with 
  its 
  loan 
  and 
  

   information 
  desk, 
  in 
  the 
  Arts 
  and 
  Industries 
  Building. 
  In 
  the 
  

   course 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  the 
  assistant 
  in 
  charge, 
  besides 
  performing 
  her 
  

   other 
  duties, 
  recorded 
  700 
  visitors, 
  answered 
  more 
  than 
  200 
  inquiries 
  

   for 
  information, 
  some 
  involving 
  a 
  good 
  deal 
  of 
  research, 
  and 
  loaned 
  

   nearly 
  3,000 
  books 
  and 
  periodicals. 
  

  

  Because 
  of 
  the 
  amount 
  and 
  urgency 
  of 
  the 
  current 
  work 
  and 
  the 
  

   smallness 
  of 
  the 
  staff, 
  only 
  a 
  little 
  time 
  was 
  found 
  during 
  the 
  year 
  

   for 
  the 
  further 
  revision 
  of 
  the 
  catalogue, 
  the 
  completing 
  of 
  the 
  

   shelf 
  list, 
  or 
  the 
  solving 
  of 
  the 
  major 
  problems 
  that 
  are 
  calling 
  for 
  

   attention 
  in 
  the 
  sectional 
  libraries. 
  Time 
  was 
  found, 
  however, 
  for 
  

   supplying 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  publications 
  needed 
  by 
  these 
  libraries, 
  pre- 
  

  

  