48 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I07 



call was for anthropologists who knew the peculiar forms of tat- 

 tooing in the Casablanca area. Other examples: a Washington der- 

 matologist familiar with tropical skin diseases; an expert on croco- 

 diles in the Southwest Pacific; agriculturalists familiar with types 

 of containers used for shipping out of North Africa ; businessmen 

 and engineers familiar with Japanese industries. Some wanted 

 specialists who could check a manuscript on Arctic instruction for 

 aviators ; check the accuracy of regional films ; assist in writing sol- 

 dier's handbooks. Answers to most of these questions involved con- 

 sultation with the Sponsors, the Smithsonian staff, and other pro- 

 fessionals in Washington. 



4. EMPLOYMENT 



Many questions concerned qualified people for employment : A 

 curator for the enemy-weapons section of the Quartermaster's Corps ; 

 civilian experts on the Arctic, desert, and Tropics for commissions in 

 the Army Air Forces ; people who could be sent to Portuguese East 

 and West Africa by the Board of Economic Warfare ; an editor of 

 Latin American materials for the Joint Chiefs of Staff; a research 

 analyst for the Balkans and East Section of Navy Intelligence. Some 

 universities turned to the Board for names of teachers in the area- 

 language programs. 



5. EVALUATION 



Besides suggesting candidates for certain jobs, the Directorate was 

 called upon to evaluate the abilities and scientific standing of individ- 

 uals being considered for jobs. Through the roster, the cooperating 

 committees, the Sponsors, and many other sources of information, 

 the Board was able in almost every case to furnish names and 

 evaluations. 



Sources 



A second large category of questions is characterized by requests 

 for sources of information. In general, the personnel category clus- 

 ters around the question "Who?", the source category around 

 "Where?". The Board's principal sources were individuals, commit- 

 tees, institutions, Government agencies, and, most important of all, 

 bibliography. Dr. Collins' work of ferreting out significant area ref- 

 erences has already been described and the usefulness of this bibli- 

 ography is illustrated by the information service. 



