Scholars Revolt, Oppose Metcalf's Merger of Two Widener Catalogues

To merge or not to merge, that is the issue, and there can be no compromise. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is badly split today over whether Widener Library should have one or two book catalogues. Other important questions have been forgotten in the heat of the battle.

More than 50 professors signed a petition rejecting University Iabrarian Keyes D. Metealf's plan to combine the two present catalogues. Two lengthy faculty meetings debated the topic without healing the split.

Provost Buck is the one who must decide whether or not to recommend the merger to the Corporation, and he is holding a compromise meeting between the warring parties next month, searching for an answer to the problem.

Library Staff Split

Even the library staff is divided on the issue; William A. Jackson, director of Houghton, spoke against the merger at the faculty meetings. Others leaders of the opposition include Harry T. Levin '32, Professor of English, and Sterling Dow '26, Hudson Professor of Archeology.

It is the "revolt of scholars' against the technicians, as one member of the opposition termed it. Several professors who usually are uninterested by administrative affairs have taken the matter up as a cause.

Metcalf suggests that the University combine the two catalogues on the first floor, thus permitting 2,000,000 duplicate cards to be thrown away. The Library would build a new charging desk and stack entrance there--"in the middle of the ten stack levels, replacing the present main entrance which is on the eighth level out of ten."

Reasons for backing the merger include the following: the new charging desk would save steps for people taking out books, the space now occupied by the public catalogue could be used for other purposes, and the annual saving with consolidation would be $12,000 annually.

Reason for the Saving

According to Metcalf, the leading reason for the saving will be the elimination of the yearly duplication of over 80,000 cards.

Opponents of Metcalf dispute him at every point. They say that he has overestimated the annual savings from a merger and underestimated the cost of the consolidation.

The professors like the insurance of two catalogues; "With one catalogue, a book may be lost permanently if a single card disappears." They add that almost all the giant libraries have two files.

The critics of the merger are worried about the mechanics of the consolidation. "The operation will take years and will be so complicated that mistakes will be easy to make."

A central entrance to the stacks is not necessary, they say, because the lower levels have mostly unused books and only a few offices. The upper floors are widely used so that the entrance is in the right place now.

In conclusion, Metcalf's critics note that Widener is more a research library than a circulation one. "A few extra steps to withdraw books is not serious. Living up to the spirit of Dr. Metcalf's revisions, it might be best to put the charging desk just inside the basement door, a few feet from Massachusetts Avenue."

"From a technician's point of view, Dr. Metcalf's revisions may be excellent, but scholars will find research easier if the changes are not made."

At present Widener has two catalogues; on the second floor is the public file--listing by author, subject, and title all books in Widener, Houghton, and Lamont, and on the first floor is the Union Catalogue listing by authors almost all books in the possession of the University.

The Union file was especially created to serve the catalogue room which is also located on the first floor. Widener was built without allowing space on the second floor for the catalogues, and it is too time-consuming for those technicians to go up and down stairs everytime they want to check the catalogue.