Dissertation Information for Thomas Frederick O'Connor NAME: - Thomas Frederick O'Connor
DEGREE:
- Ph.D.
DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science
SCHOOL:
- Columbia University (USA) (1983)
ADVISORS: - Phyllis Dain
COMMITTEE MEMBERS: - Susan Otis Thompson - Ellis Mount - Richard L. Darling - Larry E. Sullivan
MPACT Status: Fully Complete
Title: THE YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, 1865-1931
Abstract: During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Yale evolved from a primarily undergraduate college into a research university, its Library, the second largest among American academic libraries, was also transformed. Three men directed the Yale Library during this period: Addison Van Name, who emphasized collection building; John C. Schwab, who improved the organization of the Library; and Andrew Keogh, who helped plan for the Sterling Memorial Library.
Philanthropy in the form of both gifts of funds and library materials played a key role in the development of the Yale Library. Since the librarians controlled the use of the Library's income, which was largely derived from its endowment, they were able to exert more influence over book selection than was usual at American university libraries at that time. The Yale librarians collected books, periodicals, government documents, manuscripts, and other materials in support of teaching and research. They acquired many important collections en bloc, often as gifts. A subject analysis of library book expenditures, Ph.D. dissertations, and faculty publications during the period, however, does not indicate that the relationship between collection development and advanced teaching and research at the University was very close.
The Yale Library accepted limited standardization in cataloging and classification. It adopted Library of Congress printed cards, some Library of Congress book classification schedules, and the 1908 Anglo-American cataloging rules, but it continued to use its own book classification and notation systems and subject headings throughout the period.
The Yale Library staff became not only larger but more specialized. The first reference librarian was appointed in 1900, the first head of the cataloging department in 1918, and the first head of the acquisitions department in 1919. By the end of the period, the top administrators and the department heads enjoyed faculty rank, which entitled them to the salaries and pensions of faculty members.
Like other American university libraries, the Yale Library became physically decentralized during this period, but by the end of the 1920's most of the school and departmental libraries were, at least in principle, under the direction of the University Librarian.
The study concludes with the year 1930-31, when Yale opened the Sterling Memorial Library, the largest American academic library building at that time.
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MPACT Scores for Thomas Frederick O'Connor A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
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TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:01:58
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