Inventory of the Bibliographical Center Collection, 1963-1969

Kay Schellhase
Graduate Theological Union Archives
2400 Ridge Road
Berkeley, California, 94709
Phone: (510) 649-2523/2501
Email: archives@gtu.edu
URL: http://www.gtu.edu/library/special-collections
© 1999
The Graduate Theological Union. All rights reserved.

Inventory of the Bibliographical Center Collection, 1963-1969

Accession number: GTU 88-3-2

Shelf location: 3/A/1; Record group RG 4, Subgroup C

The Graduate Theological Union Archives



Berkeley, California

Contact Information:

  • Graduate Theological Union Archives
  • 2400 Ridge Road
  • Berkeley, California, 94709
  • Phone: (510) 649-2523/2501
  • Email: archives@gtu.edu
  • URL: http://www.gtu.edu/library/special-collections
Processed by:
Kay Schellhase, Archivist
Date Completed:
1988
Cataloged:
12/1994
Encoded by:
Xiuzhi Zhou
© 1999 Graduate Theological Union. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

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.

Administrative Information

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

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.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Bibliographical Center Collection, GTU 88-3-2, The Graduate Theological Union Archives, Berkeley, CA.

Access Points

Baldwin, Paul
Alhadef, John J
Judah, J. Stillson
Graduate Theological Union. Biographical Center
Cataloging, cooperative
Library cooperation -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area

Agency History

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.

 

Office of the Director

 

Correspondence. 1964-69. 1/2 in. Chronological.

 

Primarily but not entirely to and from the Directors.

 

Reports. 1965-69. 1/2 in. Unarranged.

 

General reports and descriptions of the nature and functions of the Center. Annual and special reports by the Director.

 

Budgets. 1966-69. 1/2 in. Chronological.

 

Financial documents. 1/4 in. Unarranged.

 

Salary ranges; processing costs.

 

Office of the Assistant Director

 

Reports. 1964-66. 1/2 in. Chronological.

 

Reports on technical and budget aspects of the Center.

 

Catalog and Order Department

 

Manual and porcedures. 1 in. Chronological.

 

Instructions on how projects were to be accomplished.

 

Serials Department

 

Lists. 1/4 in. Unarranged.

 

GTU Librarians Meetings

 

Minutes and logs. 1964-66. 1/4 in. Chronological.

 

The librarians of the GTU schools met to clarify their relationships with the Center.

 

Project Files

 

Catholic Microfilm Center

 

Correspondence and reports. 1967-68. 1/4 in. Chronological.

 

A project of the Roman Catholic schools to share library resources by microfilming catalogs and books.

 

Associated Theological Schools.

 

Guides. 1968-69. 1/4 in. Unarranged.

 

Cooperative use program among BBDS, CDSP, PLTS.