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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.




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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Students under John Neal Waddell

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None