A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF IOWA STATE PUBLICA

TIONS FOR 1900 AND 1901

INTRODUCTION

The growing appreciation in late years of the historical value of the United States documents, together with a more general use of the "source method" in the study and teaching of history, has awakened a keener interest in the publi cations of the several States. It has been discovered that these publications contain a wealth of information-historical, political, scientific, and statistical-which is indispensable to the student of State and local history. And to those students of our national history who have accepted the view that State history is an essential part of American history, supplementing at almost every point the annals of the nation, these same publications are equally indispensable. For a confirmation of this, it is necessary only to mention such State publications as the following: statute laws; legislative journals; legislative documents; official registers; supreme court reports; and the reports of the several administrative departments, the boards of health, the railroad commissioners, the bureaus of labor statistics, the State institutions, and the various special commissions. Apart from the immediate practical purpose for which all of these documents are published by the State, they become in time invaluable to the historian for the light which they throw upon the social, political, and economic history of the State and nation.

But in many of the States this valuable data has too often been inaccessible owing to incomplete or inadequate bibliographical records. Recently in several States bibliographies have been compiled; but in Iowa no regular or complete bibliography of State publications has yet been published. It is hoped that the list given below for the years 1900 and 1901 may be the beginning of a series which will eventually appear as a reasonably complete bibliography of all publications issued by the State of Iowa from its organization in 1846.

The difficulties in the way of compiling such a bibliography are very great. Completeness can hardly be expected. It will be found impossible to secure all of the pamphlets and miscellaneous documents which were published in earlier days when few efforts were made to preserve State publications for their historical value. No adequate provision seems to have been made by the State for their permanent preservation. Many of the administrative departments do not have in their offices in the capitol complete files of their own publications. This is true even of the last biennial period. These conditions make the compilation of a bibliography all the more necessary, so that at least a record of our State publications may be preserved.

There is one quarter in particular in which a bibliography of our State publications should be welcomed. I refer to the public libraries of the State. Many of these libraries are now in their infancy, and few have been able to undertake the collection and preservation even of the more valuable of the State publications. But in time the public will demand that these libraries become depositories of at least

the more important State documents and publications. A reliable and reasonably complete bibliography will then become indispensable to the public libraries as a check list.

The plan followed in the compilation of this bibliography is a simple alphabetical list of the departments, institutions, etc., each with its publications. In each case the title page of the publication is exactly quoted. The typography of titles and title pages is such as to make the problem of capitalization a difficult one in any bibliography. There is, perhaps, no system of rules with regard to capitalization which can satisfactorily be followed in quoting titles of publications. In this bibliography the usual library rules are followed, and capitals are avoided wherever practicable. The division of titles into lines on the title page is indicated by the insertion of uprights. Abbreviations used in describing the publications are as follows:

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The preparation of this bibliography was suggested to me by the editor of the Iowa JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS, upon whose request the work was undertaken. the officers in the State departments and institutions I am indebted for many courtesies, and especially to Mr. A. J. Small, of the Iowa State Library, whose ready assistance has made the task of compilation much less laborious than it otherwise would have been.

MARGARET BUDINGTON

THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF Iowa

IOWA CITY