Records of the Records Bureau

Records of the Records Bureau relating to the provision of information about research carried out by the department and associated organisations.

Technical reports from the library are in DSIR 36, and miscellaneous papers collected from a variety of sources in the early years of the bureau are in DSIR 37

A Records Bureau was established in the department in 1920 after consultations with representatives of the research associations and other associated research organisations. Early proposals had envisaged it as a national clearing house for the results of all research, but the Advisory Council considered the scheme too ambitious and its scope was restricted to the results of work undertaken by the department and its associated organisations, including other departments of state. It provided an information service for out-stations and other government departments, primarily through circulating a monthly summary of the reports it received.

The Bureau was also responsible for the custody and disposal of the records of boards, committees and research stations which were wound up, and it maintained the headquarters library of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. In 1946 it became part of a new Intelligence Division.