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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXrV. No. 885 



include the introduetion of lecture courses ; 

 the organization of debating or other clubs ; 

 the formation of night classes; the spread 

 of library facilities ; the opening of labora- 

 tories; the promotion of educational meas- 

 ures in business organizations; the assist- 

 ance of town or rural communities in civic 

 or social improvement; the conduct of in- 

 stitutes or conferences — the number of 

 these activities is too great for enumeration. 

 The district representative's acquaintance 

 with the people and the organizations in 

 his district, having for their object indus- 

 trial, social or civic betterment, will enable 

 him to place the university at their service. 



An important possibility for extension 

 activity is that which would bring the work 

 of the great research departments of the 

 nation, the state and the university within 

 the grasp of the people to whom their re- 

 sults would be valuable, if spread abroad 

 in terms suited to the layman's compre- 

 hension. 



Scores of men are at work for the state, 

 and for the nation, solving problems af- 

 fecting industrial and commercial condi- 

 tions, whose results never reach the people 

 at large, or do so after costly delays. 

 Much of this information is gathered at a 

 cost of millions of dollars and would be of 

 incalculable value if properly disseminated. 

 It is not sufficient to determine in the labo- 

 ratory that coal should be purchased on the 

 basis of number of heat units in a pound, 

 other things being equal, but this fact must 

 be made known to coal users or buyers if it 

 is to be of real value. Results obtaiaed by 

 experts and specialists to be of general use 

 must be put into simple and direct form 

 and brought to the knowledge of the people. 



The need of the general public for non- 

 partisan and dispassionate information 

 upon the live problems of the day, political 

 and other; the want in many places of 

 library facilities for the study of such ques- 



tions, or in the presence of the library, the 

 lack of knowledge of its contents and how 

 to use them; also the demand from schools 

 for aid in arousing the interest of growing 

 boys and girls in the issues that are before 

 the country, all point to a fruitful field of 

 university service. The policy is surely 

 questionable, at least, which leaves to the 

 press and political orators the education of 

 the public in matters so essential to its 

 welfare, as, for example, election of senators 

 by popular vote, good roads, the wheel tax, 

 commission form of city government, the 

 recall, etc. 



Existing organizations, of which there 

 are many — such as civic clubs, women's 

 clubs, business men's clubs, commercial 

 clubs, debating clubs, etc. — and groups of 

 people needing only a suggestion to lead 

 them to form themselves into bodies for 

 study and discussion, are anxious to con- 

 sider the newer questions of the day, but 

 often do not know where to turn for advice 

 and assistance. There should be available 

 at the university for the use of these organ- 

 izations, collections of classified reference 

 material in the shape of newspaper and 

 magazine articles, books, and state and na- 

 tional publications relating to those sub- 

 jects, to be lent under definite regulations 

 free of cost. 



There should also be published and dis- 

 tributed bulletins formulating subjects for 

 debate and containing full lists of refer- 

 ences, negative and affirmative, with in- 

 formation as to where and how they may 

 be obtained. State traveling library com- 

 missions should cooperate in the work. In 

 fact, as traveling libraries have such an 

 important relation to all university exten- 

 sion work, it is a question whether the 

 traveling library commission should not 

 have an organic relation with university 

 extension. 



Topical package libraries, adapted to 



