NEW CATALOGUE OF HARVARD MEN SOON, TO BE PUBLISHED

The names of 38,149 University men now living, arranged in alphabetical order, together with their degrees, addresses, and occupations will be contained in the 1919 edition of the University Directory which will be ready for distribution on November 1. This total is nearly three thousand greater than that of the 1913 edition.

Frederick S. Mead '87, who is in charge of the University directory office and the University war records office has announced that the new directory will not include the geographical list as did the earlier editions. As the office receives in normal times more than 1,000 changes in its records in a single month, it is imperative that as little time as possible should elapse while the directory is on the press. The addition of the geographical list of University men would add to the time necessary for the preparation of the volume more than two months.

Due to the perfection of the indexing system now in use at the directory office, Mr. Mead hopes to have the list more than 90 per cent. correct when it is issued. During the three months intervening between sending out the proof sheets and going to press changes took place at the rate of more than 2,000 a month, and it is expected that in spite of the most painstaking work more than three thousand addresses will be out of date when the directory is issued. The difficulty is increased by the fact that 1,551 men are now carried on the records as lost, no record of their whereabouts or occupation being available. These names will be printed in the 1919 edition in the body of the list rather than at the end of the volume. Another change in the printing of the directory will be the insertion of the names in heavier type than the rest of the page.

The work of the office, which formerly was confined solely to the printing of the directory has now increased so much that the directory has become of almost secondary importance. By the aid of class and alumni association secretaries, and the various Harvard clubs throughout the world Mr. Mead has assembled a card catalogue which is at the disposal of the University office and the various alumni activities, and furnishes a much more convenient and ready list of addresses than was obtainable by the older methods. The most signal use of the catalogue at the present time is in forwarding the work of the Endowment Fund Committee, making it possible for the managers of the $11,000,000 campaign to get in personal touch with every living University man through the district organizations which cover the world. These cards can be distributed geographically, by classes or professions, or in whatever way the local conditions of the campaign warrant.