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Dissertation Information for Francis Xavier Roberts

NAME:
- Francis Xavier Roberts

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- SUNY, Buffalo (USA) (1986)

ADVISORS:
- George Sylvan Bobinski
- Philip Altbach

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Henry Warren Button

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIBRARIES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO, 1846 - 1960 (HISTORY, ACADEMIC, NEW YORK)

Abstract: The dissertation analyzes the development of the libraries of the University of Buffalo from 1846 to 1960 and relates this to the growth of the University in the context of American academic librarianship and American higher education.

Data were found in primary sources in the University's Archives, and in secondary sources. These were surveyed for problems encountered by the libraries in their support of the University's educational mission, and in trying to keep pace with its expansion. In analyzing the handling of these problems by the libraries the study gives a fuller understanding of their evolution, their status at the start of the 1960's, and their present status. Use was made of the case history method with concentration on issues germane to the development of the libraries, providing a chronological picture of their progress, and bringing into clearer perspective the complex causes which governed their development.

Research showed: Before 1922 the University had only its Medical Library developed to any appreciable extent; both before and after 1922 students and faculty were highly dependent upon the libraries in the City of Buffalo; and until after 1946 the development of the University's libraries remained slow at best, leaving their reputation at a low ebb (despite the fact that the main University Library possessed some very important and unique special collections), even as late as 1960.

Conclusions. Dependence upon libraries in the City of Buffalo, and a lack of adequate financial support for collection building, for maintenance of services, and for expansion and technical development caused the University's libraries to grow only slowly. Their slow growth was self-perpetuating, because low salary scales led to a paucity of trained staff, professional and nonprofessional, until the 1950's, and because without the personnel to develop a more progressive and up-to-date administrative structure the University's libraries remained weak. From 1922 to 1960 their weak and retarded state reinforced negative attitudes about the libraries, and also caused them to be only partially successful in fulfilling their support mission and in keeping pace with the development of other academic libraries in the United States.

MPACT Scores for Francis Xavier Roberts

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-07-07 17:44:53

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