Specialized disciplines found institutional homes in which to pursue scholarly legitimacy in the United States within the research universities developing at the turn of this century. Struggles between faculty in discipline-focused departments over academic resources swayed the course of library development in these universities. As a case in point, The University of Chicago Libraries were basically a congeries of branch collections designed to serve new faculty interests and aspirations. The roles played by Professors Ernest D. Burton and William I. Thomas in library development were accommodative ones - they brokered contending departmental concerns. The contributions of Thomas as superintendent of branch collections and as advisor to the Historical Group Library are highlighted as evidence of faculty oversight in the shaping of the university's libraries. It is suggested that library historians have tended to neglect the distinct contributions of the professoriate to the early development of U.S. research university libraries.
BT - Libraries & Culture IS - 1 LA - English N2 -Specialized disciplines found institutional homes in which to pursue scholarly legitimacy in the United States within the research universities developing at the turn of this century. Struggles between faculty in discipline-focused departments over academic resources swayed the course of library development in these universities. As a case in point, The University of Chicago Libraries were basically a congeries of branch collections designed to serve new faculty interests and aspirations. The roles played by Professors Ernest D. Burton and William I. Thomas in library development were accommodative ones - they brokered contending departmental concerns. The contributions of Thomas as superintendent of branch collections and as advisor to the Historical Group Library are highlighted as evidence of faculty oversight in the shaping of the university's libraries. It is suggested that library historians have tended to neglect the distinct contributions of the professoriate to the early development of U.S. research university libraries.
PY - 1995 SP - 57 EP - 68 T2 - Libraries & Culture TI - Faculty Involvement in Early Research University Libraries: The Case of the University of Chicago, 1892-1912 VL - 30 ER -