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Show would, as nearly as possible, maintain an acquisition program with the goal of securing total coverage for those selected subject fields. To accomplish this it is necessary to develop bibliographic control for the selected subjects. This means the librarians must develop a system that will not only inform them of new publications as they appear, but they must also make and maintain contacts with dealers in out of print books and manuscript materials that will be offered to their library before any other. The only way to maintain this kind of relationship is to have a good acquisition budget so the dealer knows you will be able to purchase what you desire from the items he brings to your attention. Once this bibliographic control mechanism has been developed, the library will also have created an important reference and research resource related to the selected subject areas. As we worked to strengthen this process in 1955-56, other libraries interested in material on Utah, the Mormons, and the West were invited to cooperate in the project. It was agreed that the BYU Library would accumulate this information on new publications, compile a list, and distribute it to all cooperating institutions. By 1960 Mormon Americana, the title given to this multilithed list, was being distributed semi-monthly to a growing mailing list that spanned the United States. That same year selections from the semi-monthly list began to appear annually under the title "Mormon Bibliography" in BYU Studies; compiled the first couple of years by Ralph Hansen, and since by Chad Flake. It was also about 1956 that we began to work with John James, Vll |