"It is not only safety and accuracy in the performance of its regular duties, but also expansion and development at which a progressive firm is aiming; and this can be attained only when the business is analyzed from all aspects of practical interest, when the horizon is being constantly searched, and endeavors are made to explore new commercial avenues."
Studies of mineral, oil and gas deposits, tests of boiler and furnace efficiencies, analyses and tests of fuels, production of crops and cattle, labor problems, electrolysis, standards for gas and electric service, foreign trade, water power and statistics of all industrial activities, constitute a few of the subjects on which the government periodically reports.
The daily paper called "Commerce Reports," which gives reports and business tips on trade and industrial conditions, gathered by American Consular officers at their respective posts throughout the world, is an invaluable periodical for business men in this after-the-war period of trade development.
The United States Shipping Board has issued a valuable series of free pamphlets in the interest of export trade, some of which are:
World Trade; A List of Books on World Trade.
Selection of Books on Foreign Languages.
Ships and the Ocean; A List of Books on Ships, Commerce and The Merchant Marine.
Foreign Countries; A List of Books on Foreign Countries.
Many practical illustrations could be given, if space permitted, of the use made by business firms of government publications. For example, a large mail order house made a decision, based on consulting the Weather Bureau's temperature records in the different sections of the country for a range of years, as to what date would be best for sending out, to various districts, advance catalogs advertising summer and winter wearing apparel; while an engineering firm, designing a gas holder to be erected in a northern city, decided on the factor of safety to be adopted against the lowest possible temperature, by consulting the weather reports for the lowest temperatures which prevailed in that section for a long range of years.
How to Procure Government Documents
To keep thoroughly informed on the large body of constantly growing data issued by the government, to know how to procure it without delay and apply to a specific problem is no small accomplishment, and this is one of the important reasons why the business man needs the assistance of a trained library worker. The average business man gets mentally lost in the thick woods of government documents; he either does not know which department or bureau of the government can give the specific information he desires, or he does not know how to procure, in the shortest time, desired data which he knows the government has on file.
Every business librarian should read these two monthly lists regularly