Dissertation Information for John Cushman Abbott NAME: - John Cushman Abbott
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA) (1957)
ADVISORS: - None COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Rudolph H. Gjelsness - Frederick Clever Bald - Raymond L. Kilgour - Russell E. Bidlack
MPACT Status: Incomplete - Inspected
Title: RAYMOND CAZALLIS DAVIS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN GENERAL LIBRARY, 1877-1905
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to provide a detailed description of the University of Michigan General Library during the administration of Raymond Caza11is Davis, fran 1877 to 1905, and to supply such biographical material relating to Davis as will explain his role as Librarian. Part I of this study is comprised of. a biography of Davis, from his birth in a Maine seacoast town in 1836 to his death in Ann Arbor in 1919. His early education was obtained in the local district schools which he attended until the age of thirteen. Then came two years spent in a world voyage and four years in academies in New Hampshire. He entered the University of Michigan in 1857, but as a result of a nervous breakdown near the end of his second year he was forced to give up serious intellectual labor for ten years. By 1868 he had recovered sufficiently to permit him to accept the position of Assistant Librarian of the University of Michigan, a post which he filled with much success. In 1872 he was unexpectedly appointed to succeed the incumbent Librarian, Andrew Ten Brook. However, Ten Brook received considerable support from the faculty and was allowed to continue in his post, with the result that Davis returned to Maine without an occupation. In 1877 Ten Brook was deposed without apparent opposition and Davis, then forty-one, became Librarian. "Part II is comprised of a history of the University Library under Davis. The most important single event of Davis' administration was the construction of the 1883 Library building, the most notable features of which were the multitier book stacks and the provision of seminar rooms. The chief problem faced by Davis was the necessity of building up the book collections in order to provide adequately for the instructional and research needs of the University. While the collections did not increase as rapidly as did those of most of the major universities, the co11ections did increase eight times from the approximately 24,000 volumes in 1877, a considerable achievement in view of the funds available. Unfortunately, same aspects of the Library's services were in some degree slighted due to the limited resources available and the demands made by the basic functions of acquisition and organization of the collections. Davis' interest in the public service aspects of librarianship is illustrated by his introduction, in 1883, of a credit course in bibliography, the first such course offered in this country. Since the book collections were accessible to only a small prpportion of the users, much emphasis was placed upon improving the card catalogs, which were divided into author and subject sections, the latter including periodical articles and other analytics. Tbe fixed location classification which Davis devised in 1883 presented major difficulties and in 1897 the reclassification according to the Dewey system was begun. A major innovation was the aSSigning of most literary works, regardless of form, and works pertaining to them, of American and British authors, to Dewey 828, or equivalent numbers for other literatures. Also the Dewey 400's, philology, were eliminated, and combined with the 8oo's,literature.
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MPACT Scores for John Cushman Abbott A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-04-17 15:26:22
Advisors and Advisees Graph
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