EDITORIAL. 



53 



English equivalent, thus completely losing the identity of the originals, 

 this- latter was a slow and nerve-wearing process. However, by January, 

 1908, most of these matters were fairly worked out, and since that date 

 the strongest emphasis has been placed upon the work of permanent 

 organization. In this, we have been fortunate in having an assistant 

 librarian with long library experience and with recent training in the 

 shelf-listing division of the Library of Congress. The shelf-list has 

 been pushed ahead of the catalogue, and on January 1, 1910, a total of 

 25,837 volumes and 2,276 unbound parts had been classified, shelf-listed, 

 labeled and placed in permanent position. In addition to the official 

 shelf-list, a duplicate, differing from the original only in the omission 

 of accession numbers, has been placed in the reading room, which, with 

 an author index, makes it possible to find any classified work very 

 promptly. 



Although the classification and shelf-listing have frequently been 

 interrupted by the demands of routine work and by change of clerks 

 assisting in typewriting, filing, etc., the work has progressed as rapidly 

 as could have been hoped for, and the time saved in library administra- 

 tion by the aids now available for use more than covers the additional 

 cost of the work to date. 



The system of classification, decided upon after careful consideration, 

 is the one in use in the 'Library of Congress. This system has proved 

 especially well adapted to science, medicine and public documents, of 

 which at least 90 per cent of this library at present consists. 



Mary Polk. 



