788 The Smithsonian Institution 



and each library to have the right of using all the titles in 

 the possession of the Institution, as often as desired, for the 

 printing of its own catalogue by the Smithsonian Institution, 

 paying only the expense of making up the pages, or press- 

 work, and of distributing the titles to their proper place. 

 And lastly, the Smithsonian Institution to publish, as soon as 

 possible, and at stated intervals, a " General Catalogue of all 

 Libraries " coming into this system. 



In urging the economy of this scheme, the interesting fact 

 was brought forward that the printed catalogues of libraries 

 in the United States comprised a total of 450,000 titles, but 

 of these not more than 150,000 titles were different. This 

 was in 1850; now there are several single libraries which have 

 on their shelves more books than all the combined libraries 

 of the United States then possessed. 



Professor Jewett proposed an extension of the copyright law 

 to all books, and the publication of a monthly "Bulletin" as 

 well as a " General Catalogue" every five years. He favored 

 an alphabetical arrangement of titles on account of the diffi- 

 culties surrounding any attempt at classification. His scheme 

 provided for a superintendent to revise the titles so that they 

 conform to the " Rules," and to supervise the stereotyping. 



The " Rules for Preparing Catalogues " embody detailed 

 instructions as to the transcription of titles, the choice of 

 headings, the treatment of foreign names in alphabeting, the 

 character of cross-references and the arrangement of data; 

 they are followed by examples and a library check-list show- 

 ing in what American libraries (thirteen selected) the books 

 catalogued are to be found. The "Rules" have formed the 

 basis of all subsequent publications of like character, although 

 certain ones have been materially changed. 



The plan of stereotyping separate titles was carried on 

 for several years by the Smithsonian Institution, but the 



