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Inventory of the Bibliographical Center Collection, 1963-1969
GTU 88-3-2
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Table of contents
Title: Bibliographical Center Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1963-1969
Accession number: GTU 88-3-2
Shelf location: 3/A/1; Record group RG 4, Subgroup C
Creator:
Bibliographical Center
Size: 1 box, 5 in.
Repository: The Graduate Theological Union.
Berkeley, California
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.
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Graduate Theological Union. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing
to the Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of The Graduate Theological Union as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], Bibliographical Center Collection, GTU 88-3-2, The Graduate Theological Union Archives, Berkeley,
CA.
Baldwin, Paul
Alhadef, John J
Judah, J. Stillson
Graduate Theological Union. Biographical Center
Cataloging, cooperative
Library cooperation -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area
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.