Bibliographical Center Collection, 1963-1969

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Summary

Creators:
Bibliographical Center
Abstract:
The GTU Bibliographical Center existed from 1963-69. It was essentially a centralized book ordering, cataloging and processing center for the GTU schools. Subgroup C contains all existing records of the Center. The records appear to be far from complete and were probably sorted and rearranged sometime after the Center was succeeded by the GTU Library. The correspondence and reports that remain provide fair documentation for the operation of the Center. Some supplementary material may be found in the records of the GTU Dean John Dillenberger.
Language:
English.

Background

Biographical / historical:

The establishment of the Graduate Theological Union in 1962 gave new impetus to cooperative ventures among its member schools. A GTU library committee was created in December 1963, and began to work for, among other projects, the establishment of a Bibliographical Center. In July 1964, a grant from the Sealantic Fund provided partial funding for the Center, which was not to be a new library but to perform specific functions for the GTU schools. (At that time, BBDS, CDSP, PLTS, SFTS. PSR, SAC and SKSM were also served by the Center.) The Bibliographical Center, operating from the newly-purchased building at 2465 LeConte Avenue in Berkeley, microfilmed the author/title entries of the member schools and created a union catalog, assembled a strong bibliographic reference collection, and set up procedures for cooperative book selection, ordering, cataloging and processing. The classification system, and the Library of Congress recognized the Center as a national facility and invited it to participate in a Shared Cataloging Program.

Paul Baldwin, SFTS catalog librarian, became Assistant Director of the Center in January 1965. Early that same year David Green, GTU graduate student, was appointed Bibliographer, and by the middle of the year Father John J. Alhadef, head librarian of Alma College, was Director of the Center on a part-time basis. The cataloging staff quickly grew to ten, and costs outpaced income. In July 1966, came a drastic reduction in staff and new leadership, with J. Stillson Judah becoming Director and Oscar Burdick Associate Director. Both men retained their library positions at PSR, giving half-time to the Center.

The Center continued in operation until June 1969 when the GTU Common Library was officially instituted.

SEE ALSO: Bibliographical Center files are also contained in: Victor Gold, GTU Collection, GTU 91-7-01 (GTU Library Committee files); GTU 94-9-1, from PLTS files; and GTU 98-2-1, from CDSP files.

Physical location:
3/A/1; Record group RG 4, Subgroup C
Physical description:
1 box, 5 in.

Access and use

Location of this collection:
2400 Ridge Road
Berkeley, CA 94709, US
Contact:
(510) 649-2523/2501
archives@gtu.edu
Website