Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Librarians and Bibliographers in the news

While we all take advantage of a break between spring and summer semesters, it's always a good time to read professional literature. I usually read some serious materials searching for engaging articles for students and colleagues alike.  Today the Huntington Library posted an article about George Watson Cole, one of the great bibliographers on the early twentieth century. Cole's biographer, Donald Dickinson, wrote about his prolific work cataloging and describing the Huntington's ever-growing collection. (Dickinson, Donald C. George Watson Cole, 1850-1939. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1990.)  At the end of the Huntington's article, there's a link to a piece on 12 Librarians who saved LA history.

Las Angelenas, “12 Librarians Who Made or Saved Los Angeles History” KCET Departures’ series on the “Land of Sunshine.” (April 11, 2012) http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/landofsunshine/history/collective-memories/librarians-who-made-or-saved-los-angeles-history.html 

 

Another well-known librarian on KCET's list is Adelaide Hasse, who not only classified LA Government documents, but made her career as a librarian at the Government Printing Office working with federal government documents. (Beck, Clare. The New Woman as Librarian: The Career of Adelaide Hasse. Meuthen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 2006.)

 

All around us are librarians, archivists, museum curators, historians, and information scientists working behind the scenes to keep our history alive.