WHEREAS: The reading public of the United States are looking more and more to the libraries and especially to the depository libraries, to supply to them and advise them about all the publications of the United States Government, and
WHEREAS: The librarians must of necessity largely depend for information as to these publications, upon the catalogs and bibliographical aids issued by the office of the Superintendent of Documents, and
WHEREAS: Promptness in the printing of these bibliographical aids is most essential to the timely use of current government material. Therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the librarians of the American Library Association assembled at Ottawa, respectfully urge the Superintendent of Documents to use all reasonable haste in the compilation, printing and distribution to libraries, of the Monthly Catalog of United States Public Documents and of the Document Catalog, so that they may be available in libraries as soon as possible after the periods covered by the same.
Mr. James I. Wyer, Jr., director of the New York state library, Albany, called attention to the withdrawal of free distribution of the specifications and drawings of United States patents, and moved the following resolution, which was carried:
RESOLVED: That the librarians of the for a limited free distribution of the bound volumes (or less desirable, the unbound volumes) of the Specifications and Drawings of the United States Patents, the Superintendent of Documents, perhaps, to designate or determine such libraries upon presentation of good reasons.
Mr. Charles H. Hastings, chief of the card section in the Library of Congress, expressed regret at the impossibility of printing on Library of Congress printed cards the volume numbers of the documents in the Congressional series, since the documents were not assigned to volumes until some time after publication.
The following resolution, proposed by Mr. Thompson, was adopted;
RESOLVED: That the Committee on Public Documents recommend that arrangements be made at the Government Printing office for the assignment of bulletin or document numbers at a later stage than at present, in order that they may correspond more nearly with the order of publication, and that wherever possible, documents be assigned to their volumes in the Congressional series at the time of publication in order that the volume numbers may be used in cataloging.
Mr. Solberg called attention to the unsatisfactory method of numbering Treasury decisions and decisions of the Attorney General.
Attention was called to the House amendment making centralization of distributors in the office of the Superintendent of Documents obligatory to all departments. A similar provision was stricken out of the Senate appropriation bill.
Mr. Thompson and Mr. Solberg opposed obligatory centralization and suggested that the association register with the Senate Committee on Printing its disapproval on the grounds both of economy and of promptness of service.
Mr. Bowker expressed a hope that the association would strongly endorse the attempt now being made to establish a legislative reference department at the national capital.