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Dissertation Information for Michael Waldo

NAME:
- Michael Waldo

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Indiana University (USA) (1985)

ADVISORS:
- David Kaser

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Bernard M. Fry
- James H. Madison
- Clayton A. Shepherd

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY ACADEMIC AND LITERARY SOCIETY LIBRARY COLLECTIONS IN THE MIDWEST

Abstract: It has long been assumed by most library and educational historians that the nineteenth-century college and literary society library collections were not only substantially different, but that the college collection was inferior. There has been, however, little objective evidence produced to support these assumptions. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate and compare some of the characteristics of these two nineteenth-century library collections.

Ten college and thirteen literary society libraries located at twelve Midwestern college campuses have been selected for examination. The college and literary society collections were compared in two ways. Eight of the twelve colleges preserved records of both types of collections, with each set compiled roughly at the same time. These library collections were directly compared with one another. In addition, composite profiles, each representing collections of the same type, have been formulated and compared. Some of the characteristics evaluated and compared in this study included the subject composition of the twenty-three library collections, the extent the collection reflected the college curriculum, the number of popular titles in each of the collections, and the number of commonly-held titles in some of the collections. Two of the college libraries were also examined in order to determine the publication dates of the titles in their collections.

This study has demonstrated that while important differences did exist, both types of collections displayed some interesting similarities. For example, certain components of the subject profiles of the two types of library collections consistently contained substantial percentage disparities (e.g. literature and religion), but the percentages of many of the remaining subjects and categories were usually similar. It was also found that the college collection typically contained as many subjects which were well represented as the society collection. Finally, in several instances, a relatively large number of titles were commonly-held by the two types of libraries located at the same campus.

Another important finding was that not only did the college library collection usually contain a variety of well represented subjects, but that a number of titles consisted of popular titles. Also in the two college libraries examined, a high percentage of recently published books were discovered.

MPACT Scores for Michael Waldo

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:07:34

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