Description | In reply to Sanderson's letter of the 12th, enclosing a note from the Netherlands Minister on the subject of the proposed International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, Harrison is directed to say that the preparation of a scheme for the organisation and administration of the proposed Catalogue is under the consideration of a special Committee of the Royal Society, to which it was referred by a resolution of the Conference which met at the Society in July.
The scheme of organisation which is being prepared with a view to its submission to the countries represented at the Conference, has not yet a sufficiently definite form to enable the Committee to express a final opinion as to the necessity of making any appeal to the Government for financial assistance, but so far as the deliberations of the Committee have yet gone, no such appeal is contemplated.
Regarding the vote of the United States Government towards the expenses of the proposed Catalogue, it seems to the Committee probable that the sum voted must be regarded as provision for the expenses of the National Bureau, which it is contemplated that each state shall establish to co-operate with the Central International Council; rather than as a contribution from the United States towards the general expenses of the International Administration. |