Journals Publishing American Library History: A Research Note

Journals Publishing American Library History: A Research NoteAuthor(s): Jean-Pierre V. M. Hérubel and Edward A. GoedekenSource: Libraries & Culture, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Spring, 1994), pp. 205-209Published by: University of Texas PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25542634 .

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Notes & Essays

JOURNALS PUBLISHING AMERICAN LIBRARY HISTORY: A RESEARCH NOTE

Jean-Pierre V. M. H?rubel and Edward A. Goedeken

A growing field of scholarly interest, American library history is showing

signs of maturation. As with all subdisciplines of historical inquiry, library

history exhibits particular scholarly earmarks which characterize it and

make it unique. Recently, Wayne A. Wiegand has called upon library his

torians to broaden their intellectual interests by moving into an expanded

book culture, historical sociology, reader response theory, and the produc

tion of cultural canons, among other approaches.1 This enhancement of

library history's concerns, and thus scholarship, is seen as a major

sea

change in the fortunes of the subdiscipline of library history as it is prac ticed in the United States.

The significance of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research in library

history is linked to the formalistic nature of the scholarly communication

system. Research in library history conforms to the demands of profes sional history and its requirements in publication. Formal scholarly

publication demands uniformity of quality, application of established

methodologies, and spheres of scholarly interest and specialization. Spe

cific journals may, and often do, reflect specific concerns with areas of spe

cialization, methodologies, and specific intellectual orientations. Thus,

over time, particular journals reflect established emphases of scholarly in

terest and methodologies. Consequently, it is natural to look to Isis or the

Journal of Historical Geography to consult research in those specific disci

plines and subdisciplines. Libraries & Culture or the British journal Library

History are both devoted to the study of library history, bibliography, and

book culture. It is expected that these journals would publish research in

these general and ancillary disciplines and subdisciplines. As a subdiscipline in historical studies, American library history is pub

lished in journals dedicated to the historical scholarship published in li

brary and book culture studies. Just as the history of biology or art is

published in the Journal of the History of Biology or Art Bulletin, American

library history is published in its respective and disciplinary organs. It is

interesting, if not instructive, to establish the disciplinary, subdisciplinary, and perhaps, interdisciplinary activity in American library history as it Libraries & Culture, Vol. 29, No. 2, Spring 1994 ?1994 by the University of Texas Press, P.O. Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819



206 L&C/Journals Publishing American Library History

becomes expansive in its purview. Examining journals which publish li

brary or book culture research would be interesting for the historian for

several reasons. The fact that library history is a cultural topic with many

interdisciplinary linkages to society at large opens it to the possibility that

other scholars in the social sciences and the humanities would be inter

ested in studying library and book culture phenomena. Also important to

note is the fact that library historians should regularly consult their par ticular topical research. There is a wealth of cross-disciplinary research,

displays of nuanced methodologies, and compelling topics of research in

other fields which can be useful to the greater concerns of American li

brary history.

To examine the disciplinary nature of journals publishing American li

brary history, an examination of bibliographic essays appearing in the

Journal of Library History, re-named Libraries & Culture in 1988, should re

veal the salient features which characterize American library history along

disciplinary lines.2 Essays published between 1968 and 1990 contained

203 individual journal titles and 1,030 bibliographic citations. Each jour nal title was examined for disciplinary affiliation and categorized accord

ingly. A wide range of subjects was represented in each bibliographic essay,

covering public, academic, and special libraries, biographies, library edu

cation, etc. Although perhaps not comprehensive, this is a valuable illus

tration of what is available in American library history; these essays

permit a typology of the disciplines in which American library history is

written. If journals represent disciplinary orientation, then it should be ev

ident which journals are more likely to publish research in library history. This hypothesis proved to be fruitful and bears out Wayne A. Wiegand's observation that, "library history scholarship, like library scholarship in

general, is not usually submitted to nonlibrary literature periodicals or

presses and is generally not reviewed outside the professional literature."3

These characteristics generally hold true, but with some interesting and

instructive deviations.

The development and classification for a typology of disciplinary, sub

disciplinary, and interdisciplinary orientation was based upon in situ ex

amination of journals' titles and editorial statements. By way of caveat,

when a journal's disciplinary affiliation was not easily identifiable, re

course to cataloguing information was used to determine affiliation. Using this approach, the majority of the journals were in the general library and

information science disciplines (see Table 1). Library history articles also

appeared in state library organs and were published by higher education

institutions via their respective library's official publications, i.e., Harvard

Library Bulletin. State library associations have been and continue to be ac

tive in local and state-wide library history, while academic library spon sored organs tend to publish subjects tied to their own histories and/or



207

TABLE 1

DISCIPLINARY AFFILIATION OF JOURNALS

Library & Information Science 84

State History Organs 37

State Library Organs 28

Interdisciplinary 12

Library Organs (Institutional) 11

History 10

General Interest 6

Book Trade 5

Library History 3

American Literature 2

Religious History 2

Government 1

Music 1

collections. These latter topics, as with local library history, focus upon

personalities, special conditions in a given town or

city, and in the case of

collections, emphasize a collection's special

or significant nature. Most ar

ticles appearing in the general library and information science category covered technical, cultural, and/or historically interesting topics. Broader

appealing topics or topics of an idiosyncratic nature appeared in general interest journals such as Cape Cod Life.

The most important finding is the strong representation of library his

tory being published in state history journals. State historical societies

have been traditionally very active in promoting research and have pro

vided avenues for publication of local and regional history through offi

cially sponsored organs. The data indicates that no national region clearly

dominates, although Southern state historical societies show a strong

commitment to library history. These articles indicate a wide range of

scholarly interest, from studies concentrating upon individual library ad

ministrations, to local public library affiliations with local cultural set

tings. Almost all articles are narrative and a small number entertain social

historical analysis. If one considers library history explicitly designated as

focusing solely upon library history, then the number of articles appearing in state historical journals is negligible indeed, but library historians

would do well to consider state historical avenues for their research efforts, as well as possible publication.

It is obvious that Libraries & Culture dominates the data and is the major organ for articles in American library history (see Table 2). As the preem inent home for library historians, it contributes to the maintenance of the



208 L&C/Journals Publishing American Library History

TABLE 2 TWENTY MOST CITED JOURNALS

214 Journal of Library History/Libraries & Culture

51 Library Trends

48 Library Quarterly 35 Wilson Library Bulletin

27 Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress 26 College & Research Libraries

25 American Libraries"

23 Texas Libraries

20 Library Journal 16 AB Bookman's Weekly

16 Southeastern Librarian

15 Bulletin of the Medical Library Association

14 Library Resources & Technical Services

14 California Librarian

13 Illinois Libraries

12 Catholic Library World

12 Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science

11 Government Publications Review

10 University of Illinois Occasional Papers

10 Journal of Education for Library and Information Science

subdiscipline and is the animating force behind American library history. The British contributions to American library history are negligible; yet,

perhaps with the internationalization of library history, this will change. Even as most library history appears in library history journals, contribu

tions appearing in "mainstream" history journals are also in evidence, al

though their numbers conform to Wiegand's observations.4 If American

library history is to move into "mainstream" historical circles, then pub

lishing in "mainstream" journals may become more critical. As with all

disciplines, interdisciplinarity permits a wider audience and promotes ex

perimentation. All other categories represented particularistic interests

and do not indicate any general trends, i.e., musicology, religious history,

medical science.

As can be seen in these bibliographic essays, the status of American li

brary history indicates that the future of library history scholarship has

been tied to the publication of research in library history and library and

information science journals. Significant publication in other history jour

nals, specifically state history journals, portends continued interest on the

part of historians in library history. As the subdiscipline of library history



209

continues to mature and develop its agenda and expands its scholarly ho

rizons through the vision offered by Wiegand, and historians such as

Daniel Roche and Henri-Jean Martin from abroad, American library his

tory will be found in disciplinary journals other than in library and infor

mation science. This will allow the library historian to join ranks with

fellow scholars in book history and culture, where social, economic, cul

tural, and political forces can be studied profitably.

Notes

1. Wayne A. Wiegand, "Library History Research in the United States," Li

braries & Culture 25 (Winter 1990): 105-110. For recent discussions and bibliogra

phy in American library history, see Donald G. Davis, Jr. and John Mark Tucker, American Library History: A Comprehensive Guide to the Literature (Santa Barbara: ABC

CLIO, 1989), especially pp. 3-6, 180.

2. An in-house literature/citation search of library and information science lit

erature confined to the fournal of Library History!Libraries & Culture should contain

research deemed most pertinent to practicing American library historians. Al

though the complexities of and motivations behind citation behavior are difficult to

definitively explain, examining citations is an effective approach to examining sub

ject literatures. Within the limited scope of this research note, bibliographic cita

tions can yield useful information about the state of a discipline.

3. Ibid, 108.

4. Ibid.



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Journals Publishing American Library History: A Research Note