3. Reading Courses.— Reading courses on various topics are prepared and made available by libraries, schools, individuals and govern mental departments of education and by means of these guides to study, the individual is enabled to inform himself fully on the subjects covered by the courses.
In the Home Education Department of the United States Bureau of Education work is carried on large! through personal correspond ence and througi the dissemination of reading courses. In 191 there were 10 courses offered and approximately 100,000 copies of the printed outlines were distributed during the year. The bureau has been able to secure the co-operation of libraries and library commissions in bringing these courses to the attention of the public and in carrying on the work. About 6,000 persons are now enrolled in the National Reading Circle and certificates are granted to persons complet ing the courses.
4. Museums.— The rise of the museum as a new force in town, city, state and nation is one of the latest phases of educational evolution. The growing museum influence which during the past quarter of a century has been especially remarkable throughout the cities of the United States is largely due to what may be called the new museum idea, namely that the museum is not a negative but a positive educational force and that it has teaching qualifications peculiar to itself. The most important function of a pub lic museum is that of usefulness to the public in an educational way. With the great resources at their command museums are working out plans of various kinds for the definite instruc tion of the public, such as study rooms, illus trated lectures in the museum or elsewhere, tours of the museum under trained and com petent guides, and loan collections.
One of the most interesting and important developments is the Children's museum, or Children's room which is one of the results of the growing conviction that the museum is a public educational institution which should meet the needs of all ages and classes of people.
5. Correspondence Courses.—Certain univer sities have especially emphasized correspond ence-study work. At those institutions where this form of instruction has had the longest trial statistics show that the students who take advantage of the opportunities offered by these courses to do a certain portion of the work re quired for a degree cannot be classed among those who are seeking easy methods for gain ing credit but are earnest students as a rule, frequently doing considerably better riork than the average class-room student.
The subjects offered are mainly cultural; those courses for which there has been the greatest demand include the languages, mathe matics, history, education, political economy and technical subjects. A large number of biblical and theological courses are offered by some institutions.
Correspondence schools also play a large part in Home Education, but instruction by correspondence can never take the place of class instruction for it lacks the inspiration of personal contact. As a means of helping am bitious people along special lines, however, it has been and is of very great value. In the commercial schools the great bulk of examina tion and correction of student's work is done by clerks who are under the direction of ex perienced men, but the textbooks and questions to be answered are usually prepared by com petent experts. The system is and in the best of the schools it is fairly efficient and satisfactory to patrons. Extensive advertising and organized systems of branch offices contribute greatly to the financial success of these schools. The methods of the stock company schools may not commend themselves to the conservative person but the results ac complished have been in the right direction. Schools of this character are usually incor porated under State laws and are managed by a board of directors. It was from the Metho dist camp-meeting that the correspondence school first came into being. The work at Chautauqua, N. Y., developed from a camp meeting and as a part of that work correspond ence classes were conducted. These were be gun in 1871 and appear to constitute the first complete plan formally announced in the United States for correspondence work. For financial reasons this branch of the work at Chautauqua was dropped in 1900, but through it the way had been marked out for others. The commercial possibilities of correspond ence work were soon recognized, several busi ness schools adding that feature to their resi dent work. Some of the largest of the com mercial correspondence schools were estab lished through the interest of certain publishing houses as a means of selling their books.