32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I07 



eralized judgment of the individual's real knowledge could be obtained 

 from these answers. Likewise, a rough rule-of-thumb evaluation was 

 based on the length of residence in an area, the particular inter- 

 ests, etc. 



Most questions of linguistic abilities were turned over to the 

 American Council of Learned Societies which was better equipped 

 to make a judgment or administer a test. In some cases, however, 

 the Directorate handled such requests. For example, a request came 

 for a list of Russian-speaking personnel in this country who had 

 professional training equivalent to the Ph.D., especially in engineer- 

 ing, medicine, dentistry, physics, and other technical sciences. The 

 roster contained few such names, and sources like Who's Who in 

 Engineering had equally few. The Board turned to the National 

 Roster and got a list of scientists, many of Russian birth, who claimed 

 to be familiar with the language. The Russian Medical Society, the 

 Russian Student Fund, Inc., and Dr. Paul S. Galtsofif furnished 

 other names. All these lists were turned over to a competent Russian 

 scholar who rated each individual's claims on the basis of his edu- 

 cation in Russia, the duration of his residence and his general back- 

 ground. Out of 251 names from the National Roster, 139 were 

 accepted as competent. 



For some requests, however, the Board used a shotgun technique 

 in preference to time-consuming methods of evaluation. Five hun- 

 dred or more selected names from the roster would be circularized, 

 and if the salvo brought down a brace of fat ducks everyone was 

 happy. It usually worked. 



Uses 



The Area Roster received extensive use. It was consulted at some 

 point by every war agency and by most of the prominent civilian 

 agencies. At first the agencies concerned with military matters had 

 the greatest interest in personnel information, but later the roster 

 was consulted frequently by those interested in rehabilitation, reloca- 

 tion, and postwar planning. The Board encouraged direct consulta- 

 tion of its roster by distributing a mimeographed description of its 

 nature and content to many Government agencies. To all who came, 

 the staff offered personal assistance in order to obtain the most effec- 

 tive results. 



The staff made constant use of the roster as part of its informa- 

 tion service. A letter which furnished area information would also 

 list the names of individuals who knew the region and consequently 

 might be able to supply additional material. In this sense the use of 



