i2 International Agricultural Institute. 



Although very satisfactory results were obtained, it has 

 naturally been necessary to make certain purchases which 

 have cost about £720. 



When the Library receives the working material, it dis- 

 tributes it as follows : — the volumes are placed in the 

 Library, where they are subdivided into periodical publica- 

 tions, newspapers, and reviews. The titles of the books are 

 indexed, catalogued, and classified. Books are catalogued 

 according to : (a) subjects, on the decimal system adopted 

 by the Bibliographical Institute of Brussels; (b) authors, in 

 alphabetical order ; (c) countries, limiting the publications to 

 single countries and to subjects which relate directly to the 

 work of the Institute. The classification of the volumes is 

 made according to their size. Periodicals and newspapers 

 are filed in the Newspaper Room, where a register according 

 to countries is kept. These publications are examined, and 

 suitable contents are duly noted, the extracts being also classi- 

 fied on the decimal system, according to subjects, so that they 

 can be systematically indexed. A copy of the list of publica- 

 tions received in the Library is sent every day to the various 

 Departments. The list of articles in periodicals is similarly 

 circulated once a week. 



It is obvious that the duties of the Librarian are consider- 

 able, intricate, and difficult, more especially as the publica- 

 tions which reach the Library are printed in every variety 

 of language. It was therefore necessary to recruit the 

 Library Staff from different nationalities, and to utilise the 

 talent so obtained. It was therefore decided to transfer to 

 the Library the work of translation required by the various 

 Departments. In addition to the Librarian, the Library 

 Staff at present includes nine officials of various grades, viz., 

 editors, translators, clerks, and shorthand-typists. This 

 number is not in excess of the requirements, in view of the 

 fact that from the 1st May to the nth December, 1909, 

 5,411 publications, comprising 9,840 separate parts, were 

 catalogued ; 420 magazines were received, from which 

 12,500 index-cards were made. The work of the Library 

 will be realised from the publication which will shortly 

 appear as the first volume of the Annals of the Institute for 

 1909. It will include a subject-index of the books in the 



