24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I07 



Area and Language Specialists." This roster, unique in many ways, 

 was constantly used both by the Washington staff and by other 

 agencies. The emergency value of the roster and its potential future 

 importance justify a detailed description. 



Need 



Rosters are no novelty. The American public seems to enjoy writ- 

 ing its name and experience on a questionnaire blank, and many an 

 organization finds pleasure in assembling this information in files. 

 Who's Who, American Men of Science, and other publications cover 

 the field of up-to-date biographical references. Most professional 

 societies keep records of the careers of members. All these lists 

 allow some evaluation of the individuals. In wartime Washington, 

 with personnel at a premium, almost every agency drew up its own 

 list of experts or potential employees. These were classed as house 

 documents, not for circulation. Others, like the Office of Strategic 

 Services list of Near Eastern Authorities, bore the label : "Not for 

 distribution to non-Governmental agencies." 



Of all the rosters which the Board examined before starting its 

 own, the most important was the National Roster of Scientific and 

 Specialized Personnel (NRSSP). This is tindoubtedly the most com- 

 plete and significant registration of the country's scholarly personnel. 

 Started well before the war, the National Roster makes every effort 

 to record up-to-date information on all scientific fields. During the 

 war it became an important part of the War Manpower Commission. 



Before the Ethnogeographic Board was established, each of the 

 area committees felt the need for specialized area rosters. The 

 extant printed biographies and even the National Roster were not 

 satisfactory from the area point of view. The personnel lists 

 assembled by these committees formed the core of the Board's Area 

 Roster and stimulated its expansion to cover the other areas and 

 utilize other sources. A large volume of the Board's information 

 service concerned personnel data, so that it was inevitable that a 

 handy reference file would be needed. 



Apart from the practical convenience of an office personnel file, 

 there was a recognized need for a roster which placed the primary 

 emphasis on area. The Board wanted to know who had been where, 

 how long, doing what. The experience of the Oceania committee had 

 shown that if such a list were limited to professionals it would be 

 pitifully small. Furthermore, it was reasonable to assume that sig- 

 nificant knowledge and materials on an area could be acquired by 



