2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 10/ 



ing and staffed by Smithsonian personnel familiar with the Washing- 

 ton scene. Being non-Governmental it was outside most of the compe- 

 tition and suspicion. Its services were open to all agencies. Since it 

 had no fixed place in the Government hierarchy, it could receive a 

 general or a private, the chief of an agency or a junior research assis- 

 tant. Withal, however, many of its actions and methods seem mean- 

 ingless if the Washington environment is forgotten. 



Research versus Action 



The Ethnogeographic Board, as an intermediary between academic 

 institutions and Government agencies, faced a second general problem, 

 that of research versus action programs. In general, the emphasis of 

 universities, foundations, councils and scholarly institutions is on re- 

 search, or training for research. Government agencies, on the other 

 hand, are engaged in the execution of action programs. Undoubtedly 

 the careful investigation and ordering of facts carried on in many a 

 Government agency is as much entitled to the term "research" ^s is 

 the most pedantic university program, but that the two differ in orien- 

 tation seems clear. The Government interests lie in the applied field ; 

 academic scholars prefer placing application in a secondary category, 

 if they recognize it at all. 



The Board was, theoretically, supposed to adjust these two ap- 

 proaches. Although not in itself a research organization, it was an 

 agency for the procurement of such information. In order to do this it 

 had the dual task of translating the Government action needs into 

 terms which the academic researcher could understand, and likewise, 

 of presenting the research materials in a form which would make them 

 useful for the Government agencies. In part this also involved antici- 

 pating Government needs, and following up "quick" reports with 

 others of a more considered nature. Actually, little was ever done 

 about this last point, but the need is nonetheless real. Hasty reports 

 produced in the heat of an emergency have the tendency of gaining 

 prestige by the mere virtue of remaining unreplaced by anything better 

 in somebody's file. 



The Ethnogeographic Board is but a junior member of the corps 

 of agencies. Governmental and non-Governmental, which have been 

 struggling with this vitally important question of the integration of 

 non-Federal research and Government needs. The three Councils and 

 their numerous committees, the National Resources Planning Board, 

 the Office of Scientific Research and Development, and many another 

 agency have worked out some techniques. Many Government bureaus 



