“Wholly Visionary”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.53n2.68Abstract
This paper offers a historical review of the events and institutional influences in the nineteenth century that led to the development of the Library of Congress (LC) card distribution program as the American version of a national bibliography at the beginning of the twentieth century. It includes a discussion of the standardizing effect the card distribution program had on the cataloging rules and practices of American libraries. It concludes with the author’s thoughts about how this history might be placed in the context of the present reexamination of the LC’s role as primary cataloging agency for the nation’s libraries.
References
Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress 1901): 37-n Catalog Rules: Author and Title Entries (Boston: ALA 1908)nElizabeth W. Stone, American Library Development, 1600–1899 (New York: H.W. Wilson 1977) Paul Edlund, “A Monster and a Miracle: The Cataloging Distribution of the Library of Congress, 1901–1976,”
Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress
, no. 4 (Oct. 1976): 383–421nLibrary of Congress,
Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress
, 36nMelvil Dewey, '“Co-operative Cataloguing,”' Library Journal 1 no. 2–3 (Nov. 1876): 118nEdith Scott, '“The Evolution of Bibliographic Systems in the United States, 1876–1945,”' Library Trends 25 no. 1 (July 1976): 293-309 Jim Ranz,
The Printed Book Catalogue in American Libraries, 1723–1900
(Chicago: ALA, 1964)nRanz,
The Printed Book Catalogue in American Libraries
, 99nIbid.; Scott, “The Evolution of Bibliographic Systems,” 301nMelvil Dewey, '“Co-operative Cataloguing,”' Library Journal 1 no. 4–5 (Jan. 1877): 171nT. M. Heisey, '“Early Catalog Code Development in the United States, 1876–1908,”' Journal of Library History 11 no. 3 (July 1976): 218-48 Kathryn Luther Henderson, “‘Treated with a Degree of Uniformity and Common Sense’: Descriptive Cataloging in the United States, 1876–1975,”
Library Trends
, no. 1 (July 1976): 227–71nHeisey, “Early Catalog Code Development in the United States,” 221nCharles A. Cutter, '“Rules for a Printed Dictionary Catalogue,”' Public Libraries in the United States of America: Their History, Condition and Management: Special Report. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Part II. 3-89 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office 1876) Melvil Dewey,
Library School Card Catalog Rules
, 3rd ed., rev. (Boston: Library Bureau, 1890); Klas August Linderfelt,
Eclectic Card Catalog Rules
(Boston: Charles A. Cutter, 1890)nHeisey, “Early Catalog Code Development in the United States,” 225nIbid.; Henderson, “‘Treated with a Degree of Uniformity and Common Sense.’”nHeisey, “Early Catalog Code Development in the United States.”nPaul S. Dunkin, Cataloging U.S.A. (Chicago: ALA 1969): 10-nIbidnHenderson, “‘Treated with a Degree of Uniformity and Common Sense.’”n'Advisory Committee on Cataloging Rules, [Report]' Library Journal 26 no. 4 (Apr. 1901): 211nDan Lacy, '“Library of Congress, A Sesquicentenary Review. II, The Organization of the Collections,”' Library Quarterly 20 no. 4 (Oct. 1950): 238-39n Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress 1907): 57-n List of Subject Headings for Use in Dictionary Catalogs (Boston: Library Bureau 1895)nFrancis Miksa, The Subject in the Dictionary Catalog from Cutter to the Present (Chicago: ALA 1983)nDoralyn J. Hickey, '“Subject Analysis: An Interpretive Survey,”' Library Trends 25 no. 1 (July, 1976): 273-92nFrancis Miksa, The Development of Classification at the Library of Congress,
Occasional Papers no. 164
(Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science 1984): 22-nJohn Y. Cole, '“Ainsworth Rand Spofford: The Valiant and Persistent Librarian of Congress,”' Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress 33 no. 2 (Apr. 1976): 108nIbidnIbid., 112; Dewey, “Co-operative Cataloguing,” 120nJohn Y. Cole, '“LC and ALA, 1876–1901,”' Library Journal 98 no. 18 (Oct. 1973): 2967nIbidnHerbert Putnam, '“The Library of Congress,”' Atlantic Monthly 85 no. 508 (Feb. 1900): 145-58 Library of Congress, Card Division, “An Account of the Catalogs, Classifications, and Card Distribution Work of the Library of Congress,”
Bulletin
(June 15, 1904)nFrederick W. Ashley, William Warner Bishop Ed., Andrew Keogh Ed., '“Three Eras in the Library of Congress,”' Essays Offered to Herbert Putnam by His Colleagues and Friends on His Thirtieth Anniversary as Librarian of Congress, 5 April, 1929 (Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press 1967): 62- William Warner Bishop, “Thirty Years of the Library of Congress,” in
Essays Offered to Herbert Putnam by His Colleagues and Friends on His Thirtieth Anniversary as Librarian of Congress, 5 April, 1929
, ed. William Warner Bishop and Andrew Keogh (Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1967): 25nUnited States Congress, Joint Committee on the Library,
Condition of the Library of Congress
(54th Cong. 2d Sess., 1897, S. Rept. 1573): 228nJohn Y. Cole, Harold Goldstein Ed., '“Herbert Putnam and the National Library,”' Milestones to the Present: Papers from Library History—Seminary V (Syracuse, New York: Gaylord Professional Publications 1978): 112-113nAshley, “Three Eras in the Library of Congress”; R.R. Bowker, “The Appointment of Herbert Putnam as Librarian of Congress,” in
Essays Offered to Herbert Putnam by His Colleagues and Friends on His Thirtieth Anniversary as Librarian of Congress, 5 April, 1929
, ed. William Warner Bishop and Andrew Keogh (Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1967): 15–21; John Y. Cole, “LC and ALA”; John Y. Cole,
For Congress and the Nation
; William C. Lane, “The Appointment of a Librarian of Congress,”
Library Journal
, no. 3 (Mar. 1899): 99–101; Thorvald Solberg, “An Unwritten History of the Library of Congress From January 17, 1899 to April 5, 1899,”
Library Quarterly
, no. 3 (July, 1939): 285–98nCole,
For Congress and the Nation
, 116n Report of the Librarian of Congress for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1900 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress 1900): 3- (accessed Oct. 11, 2008)n'Catalog Section, [Report]' Library Journal 28 no. 7 (July 1903): 190-91n List of Subject Headings for Dictionary Catalogs (Boston: Library Bureau 1895)nHerbert Putnam, '“What May be Done for Libraries by the Nation,”' Library Journal 26 no. 8 (Aug. 1901): 13nArchibald MacLeish,
introduction to
A Catalog of Books Represented by Library of Congress Printed Cards Issued to July 31, 1942,
by the Association of Research Libraries and Library of Congress
(New York: Pageant Books 1958–60): vi-nHerbert Putnam, '“Printed Catalog Cards,”' Papers and Proceedings of the Twenty-Third General Meeting of the American Library Association, held at Waukesha, Wisconsin, July 4–10, 1901 (Chicago: ALA 1901): 131-nEdlund, “A Monster and a Miracle,” 398nHerbert Putnam, '“The Library of Congress as a National Library,”' Library Journal 30 no. 9 (Sept. 1905): 27nJohn M. Dawson, '“The Library of Congress: Its Role in Cooperative and Centralized Cataloging,”' Library Trends 16 no. 1 (July 1967): 85-96 Dan Lacy, “Library of Congress, A Sesquicentenary Review. II, The Organization of the Collections”; Scott, “The Evolution of Bibliographic Systems in the United States.”nGeorge A. Schwegmann, Robert B. Downs Ed., '“The National Union Catalog in the Library of Congress,”' Union Catalogs in the United States (Chicago: ALA 1942): 277-63nPutnam, “The Library of Congress as a National Library,” 31nEdlund, “A Monster and a Miracle.”nScott, “The Evolution of Bibliographic Systems in the United States,” 304nJ. C. M. Hanson, '“The Subject Catalogs of the Library of Congress,”' A.L.A. Bulletin 3 (Sept. 1909): 389nEdlund, “A Monster and a Miracle.”n A.L.A. Catalog: 8000 Volumes for a Popular Library, With Notes (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office 1904)n Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress 1905): 77-nEdlund, “A Monster and a Miracle,” 400nIbid., 405nPutnam, “What May be Done for Libraries by the Nation,” 11nPutnam, “The Library of Congress as a National Library,” 32nIbidnCharles Harris Hastings, William Warner Bishop Ed., Andrew Keogh Ed., '“Reminiscences and Observations on the Card Distribution Work of the Library of Congress,”' Essays Offered to Herbert Putnam by His Colleagues and Friends on His Thirtieth Anniversary as Librarian of Congress, 5 April, 1929 (Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press 1967): 198-99nCharles Harris Hastings, '“The Card Distribution Work of the Library of Congress,”' Library Journal 27 no. 7 (July 1902): 69nFrederick Leypoldt, '“The Proposed ‘Finding List,’”' Publishers Weekly 4 (Sept. 13, 1873): 281nMelvil Dewey, 'speaking at the “Fifth Session,”' Papers and Proceedings of the Twenty-Third General Meeting of the American Library Association held at Waukesha, Wisconsin, July 4–10, 1901 (Chicago: ALA 1901): 128-n Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress 1901): 34-nFrederic Vinton, '“Hints for Improved Library Economy, Drawn from Usages at Princeton,”' Library Journal 2 no. 2 (Oct. 1877): 53nHenderson, “‘Treated with a Degree of Uniformity and Common Sense,’” 230nWilliam Warner Bishop, '“Cataloging as an Asset: An Address to the New York State Library School, May 1, 1915,”' The Backs of Books and Other Essays in Librarianship (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins 1926): 128-nLibrary of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control, “On the Record: Report of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control,” Jan. 9, 2008, www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/news/lcwg-ontherecord-jan08-final.pdfnCharles Ammi Cutter, Rules for a Dictionary Catalog (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office 1904)nONIX is a publishing industry standard consisting of both a data dictionary of the elements that make up a product record and a standard means by which product data can be transmitted electronically by publishers to data aggregators, wholesalers, and booksellers; see www.editeur.org/ONIX%20International%20FAQ.htmlnMelvil Dewey, 'speaking at the “Sixth Session,”' Papers and Proceedings of the Twenty-Third General Meeting of the American Library Association, held at Waukesha, Wisconsin, July 4–10, 1901 (Chicago: ALA 1901): 138-39nMartha M. Yee, '“Will the Response of the Library Profession to the Internet be Self-Immolation?”' The U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian 144 (2007): 3-7 (accessed Nov. 1, 2008)http://slc.bc.ca/response.htmn Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records,
UBCIM Publications—New Series v. 19
(Munich: K.G. Saur 1998) (accessed Nov. 1, 2008). FRAD is an expansion of FRBR that has been under development since 1999; see IFLA Working Group on Functional Requirements and Numbering of Authority Records (FRANAR) [now FRAD],
Functional Requirements for Authority Data: A Conceptual Model
(The Hague: International Federation of Library Associations, 2007), n
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after it has been accepted for publication. Sharing can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
