Dissertation Information for John Neal Waddell NAME: - John Neal Waddell
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Columbia University (USA) (1973)
ADVISORS: - Oliver L. Lilley
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Phyllis Dain - Susan Otis Thompson - Ray L. Trautman - Frances Henne - Henry F. Graff
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: THE CAREER OF ISADORE G. MUDGE: A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF REFERENCE LIBRARIANSHIP
Abstract: Underlying this study is the basic
assumption that Isadore G. Mudge, 1875-1957, is the most distinguished and the
most successful figure in the annals of
American reference librarianship, primarily
because of her editing the Guide to
Reference Books and--her administration of
the reference department of the Columbia
UniverSity library from 1911 to' 1941. The
question posed is twofold: (1) in examining her life
and her career, to what extent were her genetic heritage and her
educational and social environment
influential in shaping her career; and (2)
in what ways was her career of significant influence upon other,
libraries and librarians, especially' in expanded concept of reference service? Data used were, first, primary documents
emnating from Columbia University and the 5everal Other educational
institutions which Mudge and her forebears were ccnnected; next,
questionnaires from and interviews with former staff members, colleagues,
library patrons, and students of , , Mudge; third, manuscript and published
reports of reference work and reference teaching at selected American uiversities
other than Columbia, and a quantity of
secondary sources used as background
materials. Examination and-analysis of these data give
strong support to the hypotheses implicit in the original
questions. Almost without exception Mudge's forebears for three generations Were
people of education, devotion to duty, and high moral purpose, with
careers in the ministry, eDucation, at a time when education and professional
careers for women were beginning to be accepted, if not,yet taken for
granted. Her education at Cornell and at the New York State Library School at
Albany was of high quality, and -- her
professional experience before her beginning
at Columbia was varied and fruitful. Columbia in 1911 was a fertile field for an
innovative librarian, and Mudge secured the approval and the
support of her superiors, especially President Nicholas Murray Butler, early in
her regime. Building step by step with staff, collection, and services
she transformed the reference department from one of passive and limited
custodianship to one of dynamic and sophisticated service, especially to the
sCholarly segment of the uiversity community. Following her example,
one by one other major university libraries instituted or expanded reference
services along sImilar lines. In much the same way Mudge's teaching of
advanced bibliographic and reference methodology in the Columbia
library sChool from 1928 to 1942 served as a kind of model upon which similar
work was instituted in the other major library schools of the time. Finally, there was the Guide to -Reference
Books. Mudge took over the editorship of this work in 1910, and
supplement by supplement, edition by edition, refined and expanded it from an
elementary manual until it became the undisputed reference bible of the
English-speaking world: of major importance in the building of
collections in countless libraries, as well as the standard text in its field for
generations of libray school students.
By virtue of inheritance, education, social
environment, and uncommonly fine mental
powers, Mudge succeeded as no other single
person has ever done in establishing reference service
of a high quality as an essential part of the work of the academic
and general library in America.
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MPACT Scores for John Neal Waddell A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:01:46
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