Index to Library Reports

BY KATHARINE TWINING MOODY
American Library Association Publishing Board 78 E. Washington St., Chicago 1913 Copyright 1913 by American Library Association Publishing Board

The following table shows that this index is intended to cover reports of library commissions, state libraries, university libraries and the public libraries of the United States and Canada.
When reports of a library were found to contain material of general interest, sufficient to warrant their inclusion in the index, all the years examined were listed in the table, although, as in some instances, a number of reports in the series are not represented by references in the index.
Several small yet exceedingly live libraries are not included, because the activities of these libraries appeared in short paragraph reports, no subject being fully treated; and the plan of this work did not allow minute indexing.
The object has not been to provide an exhaustive index of any one library—one for the benefit of the library indexed—but to make available matter of general interest.
The person seeking references, we will say, to work with children, will possibly find only one or two in the reports of a particular library, but it has been presupposed that one desiring a thorough acquaintance would not limit his study to the entries appearing in the index.
Financial statements, lists of donors, routine reports upon the work of a library have not been included, nor have lists of books purchased, unless these were of bibliographical importance or formed regular supplements of a catalogue.
The index aims to include legislation, historical sketches, monographs upon any subject, bibliographies, biographical sketches, memorial tributes, addresses, dedication ceremonies, plans and descriptions of library buildings, by-laws, rules and regulations, names of librarians, maps, portraits, illustrations, all divisions of library economy when fully treated, many features of library work, original or unique, and curious items; in short, all unusual material and all matter not common to all reports.