Google Books and Library History Digitization

June 24th, 2009

In an earlier post I discussed Google Books and its value to the library history buff and library historian. I also acknowledged that there were some limitations to retrieving documents using this feature of Google. As a regular user of Google Books I have been building a library of books and periodicals relating to library history using the "My Library" feature of Google Books. The Google Books "My Library" for Larry Nix is located at here. There is a permanent link to the library on the Library History Buff Blog home page. My "My Library" contains over 200 library history related publication along with a limited number of items related to philately. I have created labels for these publications on the left side of the home page. A major flaw in Google Books is the difficulty in locating periodicals. I have created labels for the library periodicals that I have been able to locate. These include many volumes for ALA Bulletin, Library Journal, Public Libraries, ALA Proceedings, and others. I encourage you to create your own "My Library" and select items from my "My Library" which may be of use or interest to you. The hit and miss nature of Google Books as it relates to library history calls for a more proactive approach by the library history community in identifying priority publications for digitization and working to get them digitized. In Wisconsin we have succeeded in getting the Wisconsin Library Bulletin digitized by Google Books and a few years of this publication are beginning to appear, but much more needs to be done. Also, because of the poor quality and organization of some of the digitization by Google Books, other approaches to the digitization of library history materials need to be explored.

Full views of items in Google Books are included for many publications. Limited views, snippet views, and no views are included for others depending on copyright status and agreements with publishers. In the future if the proposed agreement between Google and publishers is finalized, full views of many more items will be available either through institutional or personal subscriptions.

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Alma S. Jacobs, Montana Librarian

June 24th, 2009

Hooray for Great Falls, Montana for dedicating their library plaza in the name of former public librarian Alma S. Jacobs (1916-1997). In a period when you can buy your name on just about anything, its refreshing to see something named for a librarian who deserves to be so honored. Alma S. Jacobs served as the director of the Great Falls Public Library from 1954 – 1973 and as Montana State Librarian from 1973 – 1981. She was chosen as one of the top 100 Montanans of the 20th century in 1999. Mayor Dona Stebbins also proclaimed June 16-22 as Alma Jacobs Week in Great Falls. Click here for the story of the dedication and more background on Jacobs.

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Battle of the Catalog Cards

June 21st, 2009

"The battle as to whether 32 or 33 size cards are preferable has been waged up one side and down the other, and after quantities of oratorical blood have been spilt, the invariable result is that each side is more than ever convinced that they are in the right." - Agnes Van Valkenburgh, Head Cataloger of the Milwaukee Public Library, at the 1906 American Library Association Conference. In 1877 the American Library Association adopted two sizes of library catalog cards as standards for use by libraries. Under the influence of Melvil Dewey, a strong proponent of the metric system of measurement, the standard sizes were set in centimeters. The first size was 5 x 12 1/2 cm (approximately 2 x 5 inches). This was the size currently in use by Harvard College and the Boston Athenaeum. The second size was 7 1/2 x 12 1/2 cm (approximately 3 x 5 inches). The height of the second card was very similar to the height of Post Office Department pre-stamped postal cards, and this size was sometimes referred to as the postal size. The Library Bureau, the primary provider of library supplies, assigned no. 32 to the smaller card in its supply catalog and no. 33 to the larger card. The major argument in support of the smaller card was that it reduced the space required for catalog card cases. As the ALA Cooperation Committee which recommended the standard sizes said in its first report: "There is complaint that the cards take too much room, and some have expressed fears that the books might be compelled in time to camp outside the building to make room for the catalogue-cases." Those who argued for the larger size felt there was a need for more room for headings and additional book related information on the card. The push for cooperative cataloging and printed catalog cards was the major motive for moving toward a single standard. At the 1901 Waukesha, Wisconsin ALA Conference, Anderson H. Hopkins, Chair of the Cataloging Section, stated the goal: "Now what do we want? We want an arrangement whereby any one may be able at reasonable cost to get accurately made and well printed cards for any book at any time. This and nothing else will do." The ALA Publishing Board had been providing printed cards in both sizes but the Library of Congress was being encouraged to take on the production and distribution of printed catalog cards. The continuation of both formats by the Library of Congress was not seen as feasible. The overwhelming sentiment expressed at the Cataloging Section meeting at the Waukesha Conference was to go with the no. 33 size cards but with a wide border at the top and no printing below the punched hole on the catalog card. This would allow libraries using a no. 32 size card to cut the no. 33 card down to the smaller size and libraries using the no. 33 size cards to use the wider border at the top for subject headings. The Library of Congress did indeed begin the centralized printing and distribution of catalog cards in 1901 using the no. 33 size cards. In explaining the decision to do so, Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam stated: "American instinct and habit revolt against multiplication of brain effort and outlay where a multiplication of results can be achieved by machinery. This appears to be a case where it may." The 7 1/2 x 12 1.2 cm size no. 33 catalog card is, of course, the standard catalog card used by almost all libraries up to the widespread demise of the card catalog. A number of libraries using the no. 32 size cards continued to use them for many years. The New York Mercantile Library was one of those libraries. The image above shows a card catalog at the New York Mercantile Library with no. 32 size cards. For more information on the evolution of the card catalog click here. There is a nice overview of the Harvard size catalog cards on the Harvard Law School Library Blog. A more recent post on Harvard's Catalogue Cards is located here.

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Hathi Trust Digital Library

June 20th, 2009

This is pretty nifty. Hathi Trust is a digital repository of materials being scanned at research libraries. (Hathi is the Hindi word for “elephant.”) You can get the fulltext of out-of-copyright books and government publications. I found examples of old government documents with fulltext in Hathi Trust, but not in Google nor Google Books. I’ll be using this a lot, I suspect.

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Finding Summer Work and Moving

June 18th, 2009

Finding summer work has been harder than I could ever imagine possible. I suppose I should have looked more during the middle of spring semester, but the exam crunch pretty much consumed my life (and I’m glad it did because I had pretty good grades second semester of Freshman year). One thing I want to do is move away from my parents house and get my own place in the Fall, somewhere right by campus sounds ideal. Somewhere where I can wake up ten minutes before class and make it to class on time without worrying about driving through interstate traffic or spending a whole tank of gas in just a few days. That is my dream right now. I’d like to study abroad as well, but I still need a bigger scholarship boost if I hope to do that. I’m actually excited for the Fall, although it is still months away. To be busy again with lots of things to do and new people to meet will be nice. I’d love to keep a travel blog while I study abroad…can’t wait. Another thing I need to pick up is a new camera, my current camera is pretty much broken. There’s so many things to get haha and no stable income yet to supply them. One can dream though. =]