SUNDAY MAGAZINE
. ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, SUNDAY, MARCH 19, 1922
An International Center of Learning
at Brussels
(By Virgiula -Tryon) be catalogued and distributed to the the development of such things as the work was divided into two parts-one
ese days of the development of world. The main idea with which the railroad and telegraph-all these tealing with the formation of a sub-
of internationalism, which be- center has been organized lies in the things and many more like them are ject index, the other with an author
fact that the advancement of knowl- studied in their relation to the devel- index. The author index is by far the
e great war was scarcely felt edge has been so rapid and so broad opment of the civilization of the most complete. They have listed not
the nations of the world, per- that some center of organization world. only the more important books which
5e greatest actual accomplish-- where it can be recorded is necessary. The museum began its work in 1910 an author has written,-but even maga-
ash beenemadeeinnthesInstakla- Therezine articles which he -has produced.'
as been made in the fnstalla- There are now established and snd was fully organized on its pres- The works listed are mainly those pro-
Brussels, Belgium, of "Le working directly in the Palais Mondial ent basis in 1920. It now occupies duced since 1900.
International," a great world several organizations. The interna- forty rooms in the Palais Mondial. It
of learning. tional museum, the international li- contains approximately fourteen thou- Their work was begun on the basis
brary, the international institute of sand pieces and documents. Its work of the great catalogue of the British
city of Brussels has long been bibliography, and the international is that of study, classification, instruc- Museum, and later was augmented by
at of many international or- university are the most important of lion, and research. The international the use of the catalogue of the na-
.ons having as their aim the these. university will, in time, find great help tional library of France. A great im-
on and distribution of learning The international museum has its in its work from the abundance of ma- petus was given to it when, in 1899, the
aried phases, each one acting work separated into several main di- terial which the museum can supply Library of Congress at Washington
rId clearing-house for its par- visions, some of them national in as- i-began to print cards of its books.
branch of knowledge. pect, others international. That is, it Another division of the Centre In- Soon other libraries began to do the
they are all united into one aims to assemble all the characteris- ternational which is doing, perhaps, same thing, which greatly helped the
orld center. In 1920, under the tics-geographical, physical, and Intel- the most important work of all, comes institute at Brussels. There are now
n of the Union of interna- lectual of, a certain nation, and the under the general classification of "Ia almost six million author cards in
tasociations, there was estab- actual history of its civilization. It documentation universelle." In this their collection, occupying about seves
.n a large building in the Parc records in what that nation has ex- is the international library, the inter- lthousand sytemat cally a ranged by
tenaire on the outskirts of celled, and what has been its great national institute of bibliography, and the decimal system df classification,
s, the headquarters of "Le contribution to human knowledge. the documentary encyclopedia. which, it is interesting to note, was
International,' the newly The political, economic, and social or- The international library was insti- adopted in imiitation of the American
- international center which ganization of that country, its cul- tuted in 1907. It desires to make a plan. There are also approximately
d all the hitherto separate in- ture, its natural and artistic re- vast collection of books of all coon- six million subject cards. The whole
into one. The building itself sources are looked into. This work tries, and of national periodicals. As collection is about three times as large
n christened the "Palais Mon- of classifying each nation is to be yet, however, the book collection is as any other of its kind in the world.
done by that state itself, with the aid small, but there are more than seventy
,im of this world organization of its government and administration, thousand specimens of periodicals, The theory on which recorders work
arily to offer to the various in- The international divisions take the representing as many different types is that people will write in for infor-
nal associations under its information which has been gathered of papers, though no attempt has been mation regarding a certain subject,
e the greatest facility for rea- by those just described, and by com- made to gather files of each one. The and by means of the photostat, cheap
heir ambition of a world con- parison and classification make a collection of works is based on the and accurate copies of the desired
nd a permanent union. The world record of what has been accom- donations by the various international material may be made and sent out.
Mill make for better co-opera- pushed in all lines of knowledge and associations of complete sets of their There are many scientific and biblin-
ween them, and each will find thought. It gathers together every- publications. The establishment of graphical societies which are contrib-
etter able to accomplish its thing on a certain subject, and inter- the international library will pro- uting to the collection ,in return for
purpose. The results of their prets it in its international aspect, as vide against many dangers of loss and the benefits which they receive, and
ill be the establishment of of benefit to mankind. The conception destruction which national librasies to further the work. It is partly on
ternational collections repre- of man himself; the evolution of his are likely to undergo. this account that the material for the
e of the intellectual, political, ideas, beliefs, and philosophies; the The international institute of biblio- fields of science and medicine has been
c, and social activities of all organiatlon of the sciences; the suc- graphy began its work in 1891. It particularly well covered.
so that each may know the cession of great inventions, of liter- owes its inception and progress to the According to Librarian W. W.
life, customs, and achieve- ary and artistic masterpieces; the devoted labors of Sen. Henri Lafon- Bishop, who had occasion to visit the
>f the others. They will also methods of the production, the circu- taine and H. Paul Otlet. It began by institute on his recent trip abroad and
and per.ect a general system lation, and the distribution of the classifying and making card catalogue who conferred at length with M. Paul,
lfication by which it will be great riches of the earth; the means systems of all that was published in Otlet, secretary of the Union of as-
for collected information to of transportation and communication, the way of books and magazines. The (Continued on page 4)
What lDo Ala rks Tell?
(By Marlon Kerr)
smarter the student is the less
tes," is apparently the amazing
ry bothering the minds of the
orial body at large. In fact, one
universities are even sending
lligence charts to prove it. We
.om the University of Washing-
a general the man. who studies
ets better marks...... The
r the student is the less effort
es and the less he needs to."
rg down to the vernacular of
scimens studied,' it's the best
who gets by. One inherits a
et of cranial mechanism and
it proudly with one into a four
intelligence.trackmeet. The
y is that (acecording to official
those who spend the least
ing through the prescribed
ic rituals get the best marks.
Thus another fable is disproved. It
is the hare than wins the race and
not the tortoise. And included in the
Washington report is another fire-
cracker applied to the present regime,
in that, "Teaching standards are ap-
plied to the duller students with the
result that brighter students are not
required to work to capacity and are
often bored."
Quite evidently something is wrong.
Illustrating it, there are now on cam-
pus more than three hundred students
of varying intelligence who are on the
blacklist of those who received bad
marks. Of the 335 students who took
the probation examinations recently.
there were 290 men and 45 women,
ranging. in mental capacity from .the
average intelligence of the seventh
grade school to an intelligence ap-
proaching the realms of genius. From
142 of the probationers came the wail,
"I don't know how to study," in ex-
case of this judgment of marks. signmnents which, according to~ Pro-
Ninety-five of them admitted'that they fessor WhippIe, are often given out
did not study enough. Eighty-seven, without regard .to the student capac-
apparently, were worried over their ity, would be regulated in the new
studies and sat up long hours of the method.
nights consumed with grief over the
possibility of poor marks. Many and in The theory is a plausible one, and
enlightening were the excuses for most outstanding evil of the present
their presence there on the fatal lists, regime-that of sentencing the student
Athletics, social affairs, rooming con- body twice a year by a decidedly arbi-
ditions, insufficient sleep, poor teach- trary and artificial system of grading
ing, campus activities, inadequate which is vulnerable not only to mis-
high school preparation, physical de- understanding of ability and effort, but
alibis offered. to personal prejudice; it pays a spe-
cial premium to cramming, and in
A possible solution for existing con- many cases is not in the least indi-
ditions is advanced by Prof. Guy M. cative of the amount of real knowl-
Whipple, head of the department of edge the student has carried away
educational psychology. He suggests from the course. A "D" may be the
that classes be segregated according professorial judgment on a funda-
to individual ability. Thus the duller mental groundwork of real knowledge,
students would plod their weary way and "A" may reward a chimera of de-
in peace, and keener minds would be tails hurriedly gleaned and soon.for-
made to exert themselves. Class as- (Continued on Page 8)