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Dissertation Information for Lucy Jane Maddox

NAME:
- Lucy Jane Maddox

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA) (1958)

ADVISORS:
- Rudolph H. Gjelsness

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Howard Yale McClusky
- Mary Duncan Carter
- Russell E. Bidlack

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Trends and issues in American librarianship as reflected in the papers and proceedings of the American Library Association, 1876-1885.

Abstract: The decade from 1876 to 1885. when Justin Winsor served as
. the first and continuing president of the American Library Association,
marked the beginning of the modern American library movement.
The purpose of this study has been to identify the trends and issues
in librarianship which developed during this de~ade.
Since the trends and issues in librarians hip did not develop
apart from the social, economic, and political conditions of the decade.
the first chapter is devoted to the historical background of the
period. There follows a detailed review of the conference in 1876
which culminated in the organization of the American Library Association.
For background. a brief sketch of t.he library convention of
1853 is given. and the librar-.f leaders of the 1876 conference, six of
whom attended the 1853 convention. are introduced in brief biographical
sketches. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the results
of the 1876 conference.
The most widely discussed library topic of the decade was
classification and cataloging. Six classification schemes devised
during this period are reviewed, and such aspects of classification
as notation, mnemonics, shelf arrangement, and the order of classes
and subclasses are noted. Other issues concern "movable" or
"relative" versus "fixed" location; the cost of cataloging,
particularly the cost of printed catalogs; the arrangement of printed
catalogs; full versus simplified cataloging; and the subject analySiS
of books.
The various cooperative ventures which were proposed are
studied, including cooperative cataloging, indexing, and standardized
library supplies and procedures.
The'development of public library service for adults was a
major topic. Included were discussions on aids and guides to readers,
book selection, reading ta-sies, and the place of fiction in the
public library. Of primary interest in the area of library service
to children and young people were public library cooperation with
the public schools, book selection, and guidance in the reading of
children and young people.
An issue of speCial interest during the period concerned the
planning of more functional and economical library buildings. Receiving less attention, but nonetheless warmly debated, were contemporary
opinions concerning the qualifications, duties, and training of
librarians. Various other library topics which received a measure
of attention were library legislation, the printing and distribution of
public documents, care and protection of books, college libraries.
special libraries, the preservation of pamphlets, bibliography as a
science, and charging systenls.
The study concludes with an evaluation of the contributions
which the American library pioneers made during the decade. The
major contributions were the organization of the American Library
Association, the establishment of the Library Journal, the first
A.L.A. cataloging code (based on Cutter's Rules for a Dictionary
Catalogue), Dewey's Decimal ClaSSification, and Poole'S Index to
Periodical Literature. Other. contributions include the establishment
of the Library Bureau; the adoption of the Cutter author-numbering
system and the standard-size catalog card; Samuel S. Green's pioneer
work in library and school cooperation and reference service
to readers; the beginning of library service to children and young
people pioneered by Caroline M. Hewins and Mrs. Minerva W.
Sanders; the groundwork for the A.L.A. Catalog. under the leadership of Dewey; and the foundation for more functional and economical
library architecture under the leadership of Justin Winsor and William
F. Poole.
The general conclusion which is drawn in this study is that.
though libraries have enlarged their areas of service, the methods
which were established during the first decade of the American
Library Association are still widely used. and many of the general
pattern's which emerged at that time have formed the basis for
library achievements of later years.

MPACT Scores for Lucy Jane Maddox

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-04-25 16:40:53

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