College and Research Libraries


B y R A L P H R . S H A W 

Distinguished Agricultural Librarians 
Mr. Shaw is librarian, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture. 

LIBRARIANS SERVE. I n a r e s e a r c h insti-
/ tution their service covers not only 

the w o r k incident to the organization and 

use of published materials but it includes, 

in addition, intensive w o r k w i t h the con-

tent of publications. A t times they even 

create new tools to facilitate the discovery 

and dissemination of knowledge. T h e y 

w a n t no more than the privilege of serv-

ing, and they serve so quietly that fre-

quently the contributions they make to 

research and, indeed, to the w e l f a r e of 

mankind are not very generally k n o w n . 

A m o n g the outstanding tools of biblio-

graphical research which are prepared in 

the Department of A g r i c u l t u r e L i b r a r y 

are the P l a n t Science C a t a l o g , the Index 

. . . to the Literature of American Eco-

nomic Entomology, and our series of 

bibliographical publications in agricul-

tural economics, which include a monthly 

review of the literature of agricultural 

economics and rural sociology, as w e l l as 

hundreds of special bibliographies. 

T h e s e three m a j o r contributions to the 

w o r k of the department were, respectively, 

the w o r k of A l i c e C a r y A t w o o d , M a b e l 

Colcord, and M a r y G . L a c y , all of w h o m , 

interestingly enough, entered the service 

of the department library in the first ten 

days of J u l y in 1904 and all of w h o m 

have retired during the past f e w months, 

a f t e r contributing a total of more than 

a hundred years of intelligent interest and 

leadership to the task of putting k n o w l -

edge to w o r k . 

A l t h o u g h their part in the building of 

these tools is now history, their w o r k 

lives on in usefulness and w i l l , w e hope, 

continue to g r o w through the efforts of 

staff members w h o m they have trained. 

I t is impossible to put into print the f u l l 

flavor of the personalities, perseverance, 

judgment, and the countless other attri-

butes w h i c h have gone into the creation 

of these tools as a part of the heritage of 

f u t u r e research and administration. T h i s 

brief sketch of the careers of these three 

outstanding contributors to research, to 

bibliography, and to library administra-

tion is intended both as a tribute to their 

accomplishments and to make their con-

tributions more widely known, so that 

they may increasingly serve the purposes 

for which they were designed. 

A L I C E C A R Y A T W O O D . A l i c e C a r y A t -

wood, w h o first came to w o r k for the 

Department of A g r i c u l t u r e L i b r a r y as 

cataloger in 1904, has just the combina-

tion of education, scholarly interest, and 

wholehearted application to the w o r k in 

hand to make her an outstanding bibliog-

rapher. 

A graduate of St. L a w r e n c e University, 

she continued her education both in library 

science, w i t h courses at D r e x e l Institute, 

and in botany, w i t h courses in morpho-

logical and physiological botany at C o r n e l l 

University. H e r first scientific biblio-

JUNE, 1943 
20 7 



graphical w o r k w a s at A r n o l d A r b o r e t u m , 

where she w o r k e d on The Bradley Bibli-

ography for t w o years. 

A f t e r t w o years as a cataloger in the 

department library she w a s transferred 

to the rolls of the B u r e a u of P l a n t Indus-

try in 1906, and since that time she has 

been one of the mainsprings in the depart-

ment's mechanism for botanical biblio-

graphical w o r k . A t first, in collaboration 

w i t h M a r j o r i e F . W a r n e r and Eunice 

R o c k w o o d O b e r l y , and finally in sole 

charge of the project, she developed the 

P l a n t Science C a t a l o g of the department 

library, w h i c h n o w contains approximately 

six hundred thousand cards in its author, 

botanical, and plant industry sections. 

A l t h o u g h this project w a s initiated by 

D r . C o v i l l e in 1896, it w a s not really 

begun until 1903. T h u s M i s s A t w o o d ' s 

contact w i t h this w o r k , ranging as it did 

from 1906 to date, spans in effect the 

history of this tool. 

Plant Science Catalog 

T h e P l a n t Science C a t a l o g has never 

attempted to be all-inclusive. Its useful-

ness, therefore, may be attributed more 

to M i s s A t w o o d ' s discriminating selection 

of the important literature than to its size 

alone. In this w o r k she w a s always able 

to obtain the interest and active coopera-

tion of plant scientists and botanists in 

the department, and the resultant tool is 

recognized as a primary bibliographical 

source not only in the department but by 

plant scientists all over the country. Its 

use as a reference tool increased as the 

catalog g r e w until, at the present time, 

it is used more by assistants in the library 

in answering reference and bibliographical 

questions in the field of plant sciences 

coming f r o m all over the w o r l d than it is 

by all others together. 

In addition to the P l a n t Science C a t a l o g 

M i s s A t w o o d has been engaged in many 

other bibliographical projects in the field 

of botanical plant science literature, such 

as " T h e C a t a l o g u e of the Botanical L i -

brary of John D o n n e l l S m i t h , " 1 Descrip-

tion of the Comprehensive Catalogue of 

Botanical Literature in the Libraries of 

Washington,2 " I m p o r t a n t E r r o r s in L i n -

dau and S y d o w ' s T h e s a u r u s , " 3 " E r r o r s 

in L i n d a u ' s T h e s a u r u s and Saccardo's Syl-

l o g e , " 4 and "Bibliographical N o t e s . " 5 

She has also published bibliographies on 

orchid literature, state and local floras, 

daffodil literature, and a number of other 

subjects in the scientific press. 

H e r interest in general bibliographical 

problems is clearly shown by her article, 

" T h e Increase in Scientific Periodicals 

since the G r e a t W a r , " 6 and her latest 

publication, Geographical Guide to Floras 

of the World,7 done in collaboration w i t h 

D r . S , F . Blake as the senior author, is 

an indication of the level of subject com-

petence attained in her bibliographical 

w o r k . 

T h e P l a n t Science C a t a l o g has been 

housed in the main library since 1923 to 

make it more accessible to readers w h o 

use it in conjunction w i t h the department 

library catalog, the collections of the de-

partment library, and other bibliographi-

cal tools. 

O n e of the important by-products of 

M i s s A t w o o d ' s bibliographical w o r k was 

improved and intensified selection and 

acquisition of important botanical publi-

cations. T h i s has strengthened the de-

1 Contributions from U.S. National Herbarium, 
v. 12, pt. 1, 198. 94P. 

2 U . S . B u r e a u of P l a n t I n d u s t r y . C i r c u l a r 87, 
1 9 1 1 . 7p. 

3 Mycologia 3:1-12, 1911. 
4 Mycoloyia 12:169-71, 1920. 
5 Mycologia 15:103-05, 1923. 
6Science 65:255-56, M a r c h 1 1 , 1927. 
7 U . S . D e p a r t m e n t of A g r i c u l t u r e . Miscellaneous 

Publication 401, 1942. 336p. 

240 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



partment library and has increased its 

potential for service to the department and 

to the country at large. 

M i s s A t w o o d ' s o w n approach to the 

purpose of bibliography is clearly shown 

in her Description of the Comprehensive 

Catalogue of Botanical Literature, in 

which, on page 7, she says: " T h e catalog 

is only a tool for the use of the w o r k e r 

in botanical literature. . . . " N e v e r did 

the catalog become to her or her staff an 

end in itself, and the result has been a 

tool of ever increasing usefulness. 

A s an administrator M i s s A t w o o d suc-

ceeded in developing assistants w h o aided 

in the w o r k of compilation of the P l a n t 

Science C a t a l o g and w h o now carry on 

this w o r k . 

M i s s A t w o o d ' s membership in profes-

sional associations parallels her w o r k in-

terests by combining membership in the 

American L i b r a r y Association, the D . C . 

L i b r a r y Association, and the American 

Association of University W o m e n w i t h 

membership in the Botanical Society of 

W a s h i n g t o n . 

Miss Colcord's Contribution 

M A B E L COLCORD. M a b e l C o l c o r d 

came to the department library w i t h a 

very well-rounded background of public, 

scholarly, and administrative library w o r k . 

A f t e r graduation f r o m Radcliffe College 

and the N e w Y o r k State L i b r a r y School 

she served as assistant in the Y o u n g M e n ' s 

Association L i b r a r y in A l b a n y , in the N e w 

Y o r k State T r a v e l i n g L i b r a r y Division, 

as assistant cataloger at the State U n i v e r -

sity of I o w a L i b r a r y , as assistant librarian 

in charge of the State University of I o w a 

L i b r a r y , and as classifier and cataloger 

at the N e v a d a Public L i b r a r y , N e v a d a , 

I o w a . 

H e r most outstanding single contribu-

tion in the field of bibliographical w o r k 

is the Index . . . to the Literature of 

American Economic Entomology, which is 

published each five years by the A m e r i c a n 

Association of Economic Entomologists. 

In this highly specialized field M i s s C o l -

cord was able to enlist the assistance of 

entomologists, both in the department and 

out, to such an extent that these quin-

quennial volumes are the standard tools 

of entomologists all over the w o r l d . 

D r . L e l a n d O . H o w a r d , chief of the 

Bureau of Entomology and P l a n t Q u a r a n -

tine during most of the time that M i s s 

Colcord served, reports that an ento-

mologist w h o was calling upon him said, 

" M i s s Colcord's Index is the finest and 

most perfect of its kind. It is w o r t h 

everything to all of us." D r . H o w a r d 

adds: " A n d that is the opinion of all the 

entomologists of the country. I t is a 

first-class thing done by a master." T h e 

cooperative arrangements w i t h the A m e r i -

can Association of Economic Entomolo-

gists, which makes publication of this 

Index possible, has given it maximum 

availability and usefulness to entomol-

ogists, and its praises may be found 

throughout entomological literature. 

A s librarian of the Bureau of Entomol-

ogy and P l a n t Q u a r a n t i n e L i b r a r y and, 

later, chief of the entomological w o r k of 

the department library, M i s s Colcord is 

not only a distinguished librarian and 

bibliographer but also a good friend. She 

has no equal in telling stories, and if she 

could be persuaded to put her store of 

library lore into w r i t i n g , it w o u l d not 

only be one of the best classics of librar-

ianship but w o u l d be by far the most 

readable and enjoyable. She writes poetry 

and can make up rhymes and jingles to 

suit any occasion. H e r loyalty to associates 

and friends, her understanding, sympa-

JUNE, 1943 
20 7 



thetic, and helpful approach to all prob-

lems balanced the high standards of per-

formance she required of her staff, and 

our greatest joy in the day's w o r k is w h e n 

M i s s Colcord comes in to continue some 

bibliographical w o r k she has always 

wanted to get done but never had time to 

do as long as she bore responsibility for 

the selection of materials to be added to 

our entomology collection, for bibliograph-

ical and reference w o r k in entomology, 

and for supervision and training of the 

competent staff w h o now carry on the 

w o r k she started. 

Professional Memberships 

M i s s C o l c o r d ' s subject competence, like 

M i s s A t w o o d ' s , is attested by the fact that 

she participated not only in library affairs 

through membership in the A m e r i c a n L i -

brary Association and the D . C . L i b r a r y 

Association, but that she w a s also a mem-

ber of the Bibliographical Society of 

America and the A m e r i c a n Association of 

U n i v e r s i t y W o m e n , and a f e l l o w of the 

American A c a d e m y for the A d v a n c e m e n t 

of Science, the A m e r i c a n Association of 

Economic Entomologists, the Entomo-

logical Society, the Biological Society, the 

A g r i c u l t u r a l History Society, and others. 

M a i n t a i n i n g the Index . . . to the Liter-

ature of American Economic Entomology 

currently consists in checking incoming 

publications daily, preparation of index 

entries on slips, w i t h subject headings 

noted as the slips are made. T h e s e slips 

are filed, and at the end of each five-year 

period all the headings are reviewed and 

subdivisions are made w h e r e necessary. 

T h e list is then checked by specialists in 

the B u r e a u of E n t o m o l o g y and P l a n t 

Q u a r a n t i n e to decide on the form of scien-

tific names used and on the adequacy and 

accuracy of the headings. 

T h e typing of this manuscript from the 

slips is a gigantic job w h i c h requires about 

t w e n t y people w o r k i n g for approximately 

a month, a f t e r which several months are 

spent on proofreading the typescript, the 

galley proof, and the page proof, which, 

in this bibliographical tool, is a prodigious 

task. T h e A m e r i c a n Association of Eco-

nomic Entomologists does the final editing 

of the typescript, provides the printing 

funds, and arranges for its publication 

and distribution. Its members, and all 

the staff of the B u r e a u of Entomology 

and P l a n t Q u a r a n t i n e as w e l l , have al-

w a y s been available to M i s s Colcord and 

to others in the library for suggestions 

and assistance in this w o r k . 

T o M i s s C o l c o r d her w o r k is not just 

a task to be done but an integral part of 

her life. She has a l w a y s brought to it a 

cooperative spirit and a rare quality of 

devoted service, enlivened by an irrepres-

sible sense of humor. T h e r e are t w o 

things that any library user w h o came in 

contact w i t h M i s s C o l c o r d soon learned 

to expect, namely, expert service and a 

merry quip to spice it. 

Miss Lacy's Work 

M A R Y G O O D W I N L A C Y . M a r y G o o d -

w i n L a c y , respected and loved through-

out the library profession, came to the 

department library as student assistant in 

the summer of 1904 to learn, as she says, 

" w h a t a catalog w a s f o r . " 

She then became librarian of the V i r -

ginia Polytechnic Institute and remained 

in this position until 1 9 1 0 w h e n she took 

the position of reference assistant in the 

department library. F r o m 1 9 1 9 to 1921 

she w a s agricultural librarian of I o w a ' 

State C o l l e g e and assistant in the Scripps 

Economic Bureau in W a s h i n g t o n . F r o m 

1921 to date she has been in the D e p a r t -

242 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



ment of Agriculture, first as librarian of 

the Bureau of Agricultural Economics 

Library and later as assistant department 

librarian. 

As noted above, Miss Lacy first came 

to the department library to learn, but, 

to the profit of librarianship and biblio-

graphical research, she stayed to teach. 

Probably her greatest single contribution 

has been the development of an outstand-

ing staff of bibliographers and librarians 

through whom her great contributions to 

agricultural economics bibliography have 

been made. 

Agricultural Economics Bibliography 

A gricultural Economics Literature, now 

Section A of the Bibliography of Agricul-

ture, has been recognized in journals at 

home and abroad as the most useful tool 

in its field. Miss Lacy's bibliographical 

work has always been on the firing line 

of research and administration in the field 

of agricultural economics. Among her 

bibliographies was Food Control during 

Forty-Six Centuries: A Contribution to 

the History of Price Fixing, which made 

a profound impression upon the agricul-

tural leaders who were gathered in Wash-

ington in 1922 to consider price fixing. 

This study has been kept up to date by 

three comprehensive bibliographies on 

price fixing. T h e range of the work done 

under her supervision ran all the way 

from a 1500-page printed Bibliography on 

Land Utilization, 1918-36 through hun-

dreds of short typewritten lists and scores 

of comprehensive mimeographed bibliog-

raphies on subjects in her field of work. 

These are contributions to research and 

administration and also provide examples 

of the development of new bibliographical 

technique. 

Working in highly specialized and fre-

quently controversial fields, Miss Lacy 

obtained the cooperation of subject spe-

cialists in laying out the field of a bibli-

ography, frequently secured their aid in 

the arrangement of the bibliography for 

maximum usefulness, and sometimes, in 

special cases, got them to write critical 

annotations when nothing short of critical 

annotations would serve the purpose. 

T h e bibliographies in these series, there-

fore, are significant not only for the 

promptness with which they are issued 

and the adequacy of their coverage but 

also for the fact that most of them repre-

sent a very high level of both biblio-

graphical and subject competence. This 

accounts for the frequency with which 

bibliographies in this series have carried 

off the Oberly award. 

In addition to her library duties Miss 

Lacy has always carried a full load of 

responsibility in related fields of work. 

She not only belonged to her professional 

associations, including the American Li-

brary Association, the Special Libraries 

Association, the D . C . Library Association, 

and the Bibliographical Society of 

America, but was also active in the 

American Academy for the Advancement 

of Science, the American Economic As-

sociation, the American Farm Economics 

Association, the International Conference 

of Agricultural Economists, the Agricul-

tural History Society, and the National 

Grange. 

Miss Lacy's infinite patience, broad 

knowledge of department programs, his-

tory, and library service development, and 

especially her familiarity with the needs 

and work methods of administrators and 

research men in the economic and social 

science fields of the department, together 

with her never ending search for better 

ways to do everything that should be done 

JUNE, 1943 
20 7 



or must be done in a great research li-

brary, have been sources of unending in-

spiration to all of us. And her assistance 

to me, as a new librarian coming into this 

great, complex institution, in helping me 

obtain the necessary background quickly 

and accurately for all the work to be done, 

is a debt that cannot readily be repaid. 

Diffusion of Knowledge 

As Dr. William S. Learned has pointed 

out: 

T h e distinction between discovery and 
spread . . . of ideas is clear, but it is o f t e n 
largely a matter of one's social philosophy 
or temperament as to which is considered 
to be of the greater importance. T h e s e t w o 
great processes of civilization are . . . 
complementary, for accurate knowledge 

thoroughly diffused is, in the long run, the 
best possible preparation for fresh dis-
covery.8 

T h e careers of Miss Atwood, Miss Col-

cord, and Miss Lacy substantiate Dr. 

Learned's thesis that discovery and dis-

semination of knowledge must proceed to-

gether. T h e usefulness of their work to 

both the advancement and diffusion of 

knowledge is attested by scientists, admin-

istrators, and librarians alike. T h e bibli-

ographical structures they have provided 

are the reference tools of today and the 

foundations upon which those whom they 

have trained may build the bibliographical 

tools of the future. 

8 L e a r n e d , W i l l i a m S. The American Public Li-
brary and the Diffusion of Knowledge. H a r c o u r t , 
B r a c e , 1924, p. 3-4. 

Activities of the Colorado Conference of Librarians 
of Institutions of Higher Learning 

(Continued from page 238) 

might take, it is inevitable that we have 

been unable to turn our attention to 

smaller and less pretentious activities that 

would yield results of a more practical and 

useful nature. As yet we haven't done 

anything that has saved a single dollar. 

But we agree that unless time can be found 

for both kinds of activities, for the time 

being at least we shall continue stirring 

up trouble and disturbing the status quo. 

T h a t kind of thing seems to suit our col-

lective predispositions very well. 

244 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES