Page:Library Administration, 1898.djvu/220

 of the works, who will deposit them in a place of security outside the Museum buildings.

The concluding paragraph of each permit runs thus: "This permission is given subject to any copyright which may be claimed by authors or others, but as to which the Trustees . . . cannot undertake to give information or offer an opinion." This proviso will be found in some form in similar documents issued by all libraries.

PROVISION OF CATALOGUES

We have already treated at length of the catalogues, the chief means by which the librarian makes known to the public the books in his care, but in connection with this an important point arises, whether or no the catalogues shall be accessible to the public. It would seem at first sight as if there could be no two answers to this question ; the reader ought to have the means of finding out the exact titles of the books he wants, and of appending to his requests the marks by which the position of the books in the library is indicated. Yet the two largest libraries in the world follow exactly opposite courses in the matter. At the British Museum the readers have to write down the press-marks on their demand-tickets ; at the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris they need not unless they like, and the work of searching has to be done by the staff. The head of the Bibliotheque in a recent report tabulates some results of the latter system. Of 1000