80 The Forest Products Laboratory 



111 offering cooperative service, liowever, it has been necessary to 

 place certain limitations upon the work which will be accepted. The 

 laboratory does not desire to engage in mere routine testing, and it is 

 iK^t its purpose to do so. To meet all requests of this character would 

 require many times its present appropriation. Kspecially does it 

 avoid a type of routine work that could })e readily done by an industry 

 tlirough the installation of simple testing machinery, at reasonable 

 cost, by the industry itself. Advice on such installations will invari- 

 ably be given if desired. It is not its purpose to promote one product 

 as against another, but to present facts which will enable the public and 

 the industries to put wood to its best use. It has therefore adopted as 

 one of its underlying principles of this cooperative work that it will not 

 accept any project the results of which will not be of some general 

 value and application. As between two pieces of cooperative work, 

 only one of which the la))oratory could undertake, the one would be 

 accepted M'hich it appeared would give results of broadest application. 



The conditions under which this cooperative service is rendered 



are: 



( 1 ) The lalioratory will plan and carry out the tests of investi- 

 gations desired and will ])repare the necessary report. Tlie coop- 

 erator will pay all expenses incidental to the work. He will be 

 cliarged actual cost of work only. The laboratory does not render 

 cooperative services on a profit basis. In cases wliere tlie work is 

 of direct value in furthering tlie regular research program of the 

 laboratory, the cost is often divided l^etween the lalioratory and 

 the cooperator. 



(2) The laboratory shall have tlie unrestricted right to publish 

 and distribute the results obtained from the investigation. The 

 cooperator shall not pulilish for general distribution any state- 

 ments or reports commiting the laboratory unless specific ap- 

 proval is first obtained. Experience has shown this restriction 

 necessary as a protection to the laboratory, the cooperator, and 

 the public against possilile misuse of data obtained and against 

 dissemination of incomplete and misleading results. The value 

 of the laboratory's work depends upon the authenticity of its re- 

 sults and the confidence which the public and the industries can 

 ])lace in them at all time. 



(3) Results are not subject to private patent. 



