NO. I ETHNOGEOGRAPHIC BOARD BENNETT 4I 



of the Survey, still under the supervision of Dr. Murdock, now a 

 Commander, USNR. The Ethnogeographic Board, through ar- 

 rangements with the Navy and the Institute of Human Relations, 

 became the depository of a copy of the file in order that Government 

 war agencies might have access to these valuable materials. 



The Survey file contains full abstracts from over i,ooo books, re- 

 ports, and articles on Micronesia, Formosa, the Ryukyu, Izu, and 

 Kurile Islands. Foreign language materials are translated into En- 

 glish and everything is typed on 5 X 8-inch cards and filed by area, 

 topic, and subtopic. The file contains approximately 70,000 cards, 

 exclusive of reproductions of maps and illustrations. A simple 

 printed guide makes it possible to assemble information on the 295 

 main topics with ease and rapidity. 



The Cross-Cultural Survey's staff used the files to prepare a series 

 of "Strategic Bulletins of Oceania" which were widely distributed 

 by the Board. After 1943 similar bulletins were prepared for, and 

 distributed by, the Navy Department. 



The Director issued a mimeographed statement which described 

 the files and invited all agencies to use them. The response has been 

 continuous, particularly by the Army, Navy, Office of Strategic Ser- 

 vices, and the Foreign Economic Administration. The first interest 

 was predominantly military, but more recently the files have been 

 consulted for information on forests, industries, peoples, diseases, 

 and the like. These files will continue to be important as a source of 

 background information, even in the postwar period. Although the 

 Board assisted the Government representatives in their consultation 

 of the survey, it made little use of the materials itself. 



General 



A few miscellaneous lists contain general information on the 

 sources of regional motion pictures, and the letter files contain fold- 

 ers on many potential sources of information, such as professional 

 societies, institutions, and individuals. In summation, the Board's 

 experience shows that a rather extensive service operation can be 

 conducted without any elaborate information files. Bibliographies, 

 lists, and detailed files are not only time-consuming to assemble, but 

 are apt to become ends in themselves. The Board preferred action to 

 system. This was possible because of the close relationship of the 

 "promotion" activities to other aspects of the Board. By keeping in 

 close touch with what was needed, little time was wasted on side lines. 

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