Los Angeles herald., 1910-01-20

| IE 3 @d M tation that would attract
lN U the attention Of the gem
ia y NEsl eral public, there is being
llss9AsaesaS2 carried to successful Gull
mnation the greatest in
dexing work of the ages. This great
index is the International Catalogue of
Scientific Literature, starting with the
beginning of the present century. Each
year there is published seventeen vol
| umes, in which are catalogued every
contribution to scientific knowledge
! made in every ,ountry of the world.
/ Twelve thousand pages are required
to list these according to authors ana
subjects.
To have one consolidated index of
all the d ing0 of mankind in the field
/ of science, e. to possess one of the most
valuable aids to human endeavor. And
this is what the International Cata-
logue is aimed to be. 1t aims not only
to cite the tile and the autho- of every
scientific book and paper, but brief
" to supply an analytical digest of the
| subtect-.natter of each. This is ac-
{ npished in a most ingenious way.
! tiers are made to represent heads
/ and figures suLheads, and by these
symbols the user of the index can de-
/ termine at once what subjects are
treated in each contribution cited.
This great publication, growing at a
rate that will make seventeen hundred
volumes by the end of the present CEN
tusy. is not in existence as money
! king scheme. In fact, there is no
provision whatever for the use Of any
surplus that might accrue from its
publication and sale. 1t is purely
permanent establishment of world CO.
operation, with no other aim than to
support itself and become invaluable
to the race. 1t has commanded the
! active cooperation of nearly every civ
| ilized government, and is the product
OF the leading scientific minds of the
globe.
| The task of it's preparation is diVid
| ed into three sections. First comes
! the gathering of the material. This
! is done by each nation which supports
the catalogue, through what is known
as the regional bureau. The Smithson-
bureau for this country. Nearly every
8 ientihc publication in the United
| States is sent to the Smithsonian, and
| everything tina. comes Their is indeXed.
! Then recourse is had to every index
| publ ied in this country. Every stone
| OF literature that may cover some
scientific truth is turned in the patient
! search lOI new illtllltl. y I've Ca pCl -
aIe busily engaged throughout the year,
and they can scent an article that
| ought to be indexed as accurately as
| bloodhound can scent the hunted
criminal Whe New Year comes they
are ready to offer a reward for the
articl, they have missed.
When, the index for the United
States is finished it is sent to Lon
don, where it meets the indexes made
in a similar way by other nations
The central bureau there, following
prescribed rules, then proceeds to con-
| solidate all of the contributions into
| one This is a great labor and largely
! accounts for the delay in the appear
| ance of the volumes of the finished
! index. AS there are hundreds of thou
| sands of entries to be classified prop
| erly, and a great deal of careful edit
| ing to be done, the wonder is that the
| printed volumes are not even more
tardy in their appearance. Further
| more, some of the regional bureaus
| are inclined to be slow in getting up
| their indexes, which seriously delays
| the central bureau in its work.
The third task is the printing. To
| publish seventeen volumes a year. con-
| tanning 10000 pages of matter where
accuracy is the first essential, is a
task worthy of the best printer. 1t
is slow and tedious work. Made up
SO much of Symbols in which one
sign is not a guide to the one that
follows, the printer and proofreader
must be all attention. When the work
is published the price is $50 per set.
Unfortunately the scientists who are
ever adding to the worlds wealth
seldom accumulate much money for
| themselves, and many of them find
| the price prohibitive. The sponsors of
| the catalogue have been anxious to
lower the price, but they have not sue
ceeded in doing so up to this time.
However, they are still hoping and
praying that some philanthropic per-
son will endow the work, so that the