Foreword

Perhaps this Index is the most useful volume the Institute has ever published. At least, it is likely to be referred to more frequently and by more people than any other single volume. It covers the contents of 27,058 pages of TRANSACTIONS in addition to special volumes, MINING AND METALLURGY and sundry pamphlets (T.P.'s) that were not subsequently included in the TRANSACTIONS. In the 54 years from 1871 to 1925 the Institute published 72 volumes; in the following ten-year period covered by this index it published 57 volumes, including TRANSACTIONS and special publications sponsored by the Rocky Mountain and Seeley Mudd Memorial Funds. These include the complete series for the Institute of Metals, Iron and Steel, and Coal Divisions, and all of the volumes on Petroleum Development and Technology. Indexing is an exacting task at best; it is something of an art. And a composite index like this, covering a wide range of subjects contained in volumes appearing over a period of ten years, presents added problems. Miss Katharine Lovell developed the system of indexing as the years went along, and did most of the original work. Mrs. Harriet K. Broughton, under Miss Lovell's direction, sorted and organized the accumulation of 33,000 cards on which the entries were made. For five years the Institute has needed a cumulative index badly; but until this year the Directors have not felt justified in authorizing publication. The delay has caused much inconvenience in the past; but to some extent this will be compensated by the great advantage of being able to find items covering the entire ten-year period in a single volume.