NO. I ETHNOGEOGRAPHIC BOARD BENNETT 47 



nature of some of the questions and partly to the fact that the cate- 

 gories themselves are somewhat artificial. However, the groups serve 

 to illustrate the nature of the information service. 



Personnel 



The majority of the questions were, either directly or indirectly, 

 ahout people. One-third of the requests listed in the card file were 

 concerned exclusively with personnel, and many of the others asked 

 indirectly about individuals with special knowledge or training. Some 

 examples of these questions and answers have already been given in 

 the description of the Area Roster. Some of the queries, however, 

 could not be handled by quick reference to the roster, particularly 

 if the qualifications involved went beyond the limited information 

 included in the roster questionnaire. Various types of personnel 

 inquiries are illustrated : 



I. SPECIALISTS 



Requests came in for people who could speak little-known languages 

 like Motuan (Southeast Papuan dialect), or Fijian, and for individ- 

 uals able to read Amharic, Japanese, or Hebrew script. One agency 

 wanted a man who could check a phrase book in Pidgin English for 

 West Africa. Most of the questions which involved linguistic abili- 

 ties were answered by the Intensive Language Program stafif or others 

 at the American Council of Learned Societies. 



2. REGIONALISTS 



Who were the travelers who had recently been to the Gilbert Is- 

 lands, to the Japanese Mandated Islands, to Marcus Island, to Bora 

 Bora in the Society Islands? Who might have motion pictures of the 

 Arctic? What were the names of some individuals in Oceania who 

 could be used as native informants? Most questions of this simple 

 regional type could be answered by consulting the Area Roster. 



3. SPECIALISTS AND REGIONALISTS 



Some inquiries were for professional or specialized personnel who 

 also knew particular regions. Some of these were general requests 

 for geographers who knew the Arctic, Asia, or Latin America, or 

 regional botanists who could aid in preparing the Army and Navy 

 manuals. Others were for men with specific knowledge on the weather 

 conditions in Alaska or navigation conditions in the Arctic. One 



