The Committee on Public Documents this year makes an exclusively
negative report. The Congress was occupied so exclusively with matters
of larger public policy, particularly in relation with new territorial
developments, that no attention was given in either house to public
documents measures. A bill was presented in the House of Representatives
by Mr. Heatwole, on somewhat different lines from the Platt bill offered
in the Senate last year, but like that in essential conformity with the
general position taken by the American Library Association. This bill
did not, however, progress beyond the introductory steps.
Within the past twelvemonth the Indiana State Library has issued its
useful "Subject catalog of U. S. public documents in the Indiana State
Library," as an appendix to the 23d biennial report of the state
library, covering 289 pages, and presenting a useful conspectus within
its field. This index, while serving helpfully as a general key for the
use of other libraries through the range of documents contained in each
specific library, suggests the greater importance of an adequate subject
index to U. S. government publications in general, which could be made a
checklist by several state and other libraries. The Indiana State
Library has also prepared an index to the _Documentary Journal_ of
Indiana from the beginning of that publication in 1835 to 1899, which is
included in the 23d report of that library.
There is also little to report as to state publications, although there
is evident a growth of interest in state bibliography, particularly in
the state libraries. Part second of the bibliography of "State
publications" is promised for the present year, including the states of
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan,
and Wisconsin.
A contribution of interest within this field has been made by the Acorn
Club, of Connecticut, which has issued an elaborate bibliographical
record of "Connecticut state laws," from the earliest times to 1836,
compiled by A.C. Bates, librarian of the Connecticut Historical Society,
a useful feature of the work being the indication, when possible, of
some library in which each issue recorded may be found. Record may also
be made, in this connection, of the work accomplished or accomplishing
by the Public Archives Commission of the American Historical
Association, headed by Prof. William McDonald, of Bowdoin College, as
chairman, in which Professors Robinson, of Columbia, Caldwell, of
Nebraska, Bugbee, of Texas, who are his associates on the committee,
have the co-operation of representatives in the several states. While
this commission does not concern itself specifically with bibliography,
it is preparing the way for a better bibliography of state publications
than has hitherto been possible, by investigating the conditions of the
public archives of each state, with a view to inducing the systematic
and more complete collection in each state of its own archives,
including its printed documents as well as manuscript records.
R. R. BOWKER, }
W. E. HENRY, }_Committee._
JOHNSON BRIGHAM. }
HERBERT PUTNAM: I would suggest that the Superintendent of Documents is
here, and that possibly he might have some suggestion or recommendation
to make on the subject of this report.
L. C. FERRELL: I suppose anything I may have to say will be in addition
to what was said in the report of the committee on public documents, as
the report was rather negative. The matter of bringing about any
legislation requires time and involves a great deal of hard work upon
somebody. This is especially so if the subject is one in which no member
of Congress, in particular, has a personal interest. It generally takes
10 or 12 years to pass any bill of interest to the people that no member
of Congress will take care of personally. If it is a matter like saving
the country, you can get a fifty million dollar bill passed in half an
hour, but you cannot get a member of Congress to take up and pass a bill
changing the method of printing and the distribution of documents
without a great deal of pressure. Now, if Mr. Heatwole, chairman of the
House Committee on Printing, was here, I think we might accomplish
something to advantage on that subject, because I think if he could meet
this great body of librarians face to face, we might get him to commit
himself as to what he will do next session. He has promised me to take
up this matter next winter and revise the printing laws from "A" to "Z,"
as he expressed it, but whether he will do so or not, I cannot say. Now,
I shall prepare another bill, or have the old bill introduced again, I
do not know which, and, as long as I remain in the office of
Superintendent of Documents, I shall endeavor to bring about legislation
on the lines proposed in the bills heretofore presented to Congress. In
the first place, I want all the government periodicals taken out of the
Congressional series and bound in cloth, so that they can be distributed
to the libraries as soon as they are printed. But one edition of any
document ought to be printed, and that edition ought to have the same
endorsement on the back and the same title on the inside. If we continue
to print duplicate and triplicate editions--departmental, bureau, and
congressional--librarians will always have trouble in classifying and
cataloging them. As far as my record is concerned, I suppose most of you
are familiar with it. I am constantly endeavoring to improve the
service. I have adopted a cumulative index for the monthly catalog;
cumulative for six months, with a consolidated index for the entire
year, in the December number. That was done mainly because the annual
catalog cannot be printed so as to be distributed promptly, and the
monthly catalog fully indexed can be made to answer all temporary
purposes. Now, we have three series of catalogs, as you all know,
perhaps, each one serving a distinctive purpose. The document catalog,
or comprehensive index--its official title--is intended for permanent
use. It includes all documents printed during a fiscal year--July 1 to
June 30, following. The document index is a subject, title, and author
index of all congressional documents, indicating the number of each
document and the volume in which it is bound up. In the monthly catalog
all documents are arranged alphabetically under the author of the
document, and everything related to the same subject is brought together
in the index. Now, we are broadening out a little in our work; probably
doing something Congress never contemplated we should do when the office
was established. We are doing a good deal of bibliographical work, and I
intend to enlarge upon it as I have the opportunity. We have published
"Reports of explorations printed in the documents of the United States
government, a contribution toward a bibliography," by Miss Hasse; a
"Bibliography of U. S. public documents relating to inter-oceanic
communication across Nicaragua, Panama, etc.," and we expect soon to
take up the subject of documents relating to the various states, the
purpose being to make a complete bibliography of everything printed in
the U. S. public documents concerning each state and territory. We
propose to take up the matter of documents relating to the Louisiana
purchase first, because we are going to have a great exposition two
years from now at St. Louis to commemorate that great event.