Field  Columbian  Museum — Reports,  Vol.  i. 
decimal  system  and  the  books  have  been  labeled  and  marked  both 
with  subject  and  author-number.  A  shelf  list  card  catalogue,  contain- 
ing about  9,000  cards,  has  been  written  and  is  used  as  a  subject 
catalogue  to  the  books.  Some  5,000  cards  have  been  written  on 
the  author-catalogue — about  one-third  of  the  work  necessary  to 
finish  this  catalogue.  A  card  catalogue  has  also  been  commenced  of 
books  on  science  and  technology  in  the  different  Chicago  Libraries, 
with  a  reference  to  the  Library  where  located;  the  idea  being  to 
provide  the  Curators  with  means  of  knowing  what  literature  on  a 
given  scientific  subject  is  to  be  found  in  the  city,  and  also  to  avoid 
purchasing  for  the  Museum  Library  expensive  books  already  in  other 
libraries  of  the  city.  This  is  a  typewritten  catalogue,  and  probably  five 
or  six  thousand  cards  have  already  been  prepared,  but  a  large  amount 
of  work  is,,  of  course,  still  necessary  to  complete  the  catalogue. 
The  Library  has  been  quite  generally  and  constantly  used  by  the 
Curators.  The  number  of  books  drawn  for  desk  use  by  Curators 
during  the  year  amounts  to  some  630  volumes.  All  periodicals  are  re- 
served for  the  use  of  Curators  for  three  days.  After  this  time  they  are 
exposed  upon  the  tables  of  the  reading-room  for  public  use  and  remain 
there  until  the  receipt  of  new  numbers.  Out  of  a  total  of  52  periodi- 
cals constantly  exposed  on  the  tables  in  this  way  only  two  numbers 
have  been  abstracted. 
The  ultimate  plan  of  organization  for  the  Library  is  upon  the 
departmental  system,  according  to  which  the  more  important 
reference  works,  cyclopedias,  sets  of  periodicals,  etc.,  will  be  re- 
served in  the  main  library  room,  with  smaller  libraries  in  each 
department  containing  books  bearing  distinctly  upon  that  depart- 
ment. Departmental  libraries  are  already  commenced  in  the  de- 
partments of  Geology  and  Ornithology. 
Records — The  system  of  recording  accessions  and  inventorying 
specimens  has  worked  efficiently.  A  set  of  records  for  "  Accession 
Catalogues  "  is  kept  in  the  office  of  the  Recorder,  one  book  for  each 
Department,  in  which  the  accessions  are  entered  as  soon  as  received. 
Besides  the  Accession  Record  the  Recorder  keeps  an  "Announce- 
ment Record,"  which  is  an  account  of  all  material  expected  to 
arrive  or  to  which  the  Museum  is  entitled;  a  "Transportation 
Record,"  in  which  is  entered  the  facts  pretaining  to  the  transportation 
and  receipt  of  material;  a  "Distribution  Record,"  which  gives  the 
history  of  the  material  sent  away  from  the  Museum  as  a  gift,  loan  or 
sale;  a  "Storage  Record,"  accounting  for  the  collections  put  away 
for  future  use.  The  archives  contain  all  the  correspondence  pertain- 
ing to  the  accessions,  including  copies  of  the  letters  of  the  Director 
in  each  case.    These  files  of  papers  are  jacketed   and  numbered, 
