NO. I ETHNOGEOGRAPHIC BOARD BENNETT 55 



on Arctic plants which were being prepared for the Canadian Army. 

 Arrangements were made for a military officer to attend a confer- 

 ence on this subject in order to ascertain whether such manuals 

 could not be prepared at the same time for our own army. 



Placement 



Inevitably the Ethnogeographic Board JDCcame a placement bureau 

 for area specialists, particularly unemployed anthropologists. This 

 service was conducted largely on a personal basis and not formally 

 recorded. Undoubtedly many individuals received appointments 

 through the good offices of the Board. However, this was not 

 considered as a primary function, and it was recognized that the 

 Councils, especially the Washington office of the Social Science Re- 

 search Council, were in a much better position to handle this type 

 of activity. 



Advice 



The Board sometimes assisted individuals and agencies in formulat- 

 ing or executing projects. This is exemplified by the advice on how to 

 build up a comprehensive bibliography of agriculture in the Central 

 Pacific islands ; the best means for obtaining meteorological informa- 

 tion for the Bering Sea region ; and the methods of compiling sources 

 of information on topography, that is, such things as questionnaires, 

 analysis of published data, and the like. The Board also suggested 

 ways and means of locating rare Japanese geological and geographi- 

 cal publications, and a complete set of Shibaura Review (of the 

 Shibaura Engineering Works, Ltd., Tokyo). 



Some sought the Board's opinion on such things as to whether a 

 manuscript was worth publishing, whether it was possible to prepare 

 anthropology books for pre-flight (high-school level) training, 

 whether outlines for scientific study of such things as botany and 

 geology would have morale value in remote army posts. The State 

 Department even asked for a list of places which a Chinese scholar 

 should visit in the Midwest. 



In some instances the Board ofl:'ered assistance as well as advice. 

 Operation Intelligence wanted certain detailed information and 

 photographs on foreign areas. The Director not only suggested 

 that the American Museum of Natural History might be will- 

 ing to undertake the assignment, but also confirmed this by a con- 

 sultation with the Museum. The Weather Bureau wanted advice 



