Isadore Gilbert Mudge (March 14 1875 – May 16 1957) was an influential reference librarian who was instrumental in building reference and bibliographic collections.
Books by Isadore Gilbert Mudge*
- Isadore Gilbert Mudge was born in Brooklyn, NY. Her father, Alfred Mudge, was a lawyer, and her mother Mary Gilbert Ten Brook,was the daughter of Andrew Ten Brook, a former librarian of the University of Michigan.
- Ms. Mudge graduated from Brooklyn’s Adelphi Academy and enrolled in Cornell University where Charles K. Adams, her step-grandfather, was President.
- After graduating with a degree in philosophy, she was inspired to become a librarian by George Lincoln Burr.
- To pursue her new passion she enrolled in the New York State Library School and graduated from the Albany instruction with a degree of Library Sciences, with distinction, by 1900.
- Ms. Mudge took a job as the head reference librarian at the University of Illinois Library, as well as teaching in the University of Illinois Library School.
- Isadore Gilbert Mudge performed her duties for three years developing a reference collection to help students become independent learners, she accepted the position of Bryn Mawr’s head librarian for five years before pursuing published projects such as a Thakeray dictionary, articles for Library Journal, and a bibliography of Henri Bergson’s writings. She also taught at Simmons College part time.
- By 1911 Ms. Mudge was working at Columbia University. The University’s President, Nicholas Murray Butler, supported her efforts to build the University’s inadequate reference collection.
- When Columbia’s School of Library Service opened, Isadore Gilbert Mudge started teaching as an associate professor. Her class, Bibliography and Bibliographic Methods, taught “material, mind and method” meaning that reference librarians need to know books, as well as be intelligent with good memory, as well as methodical when it comes the clarification and classification by type of source.
- Guide to Reference Books, a comprehensive bibliography of reference tool compiled for the American Library Association is conspired to be her seminal work. This book was used by librarians to see what resources were available, and was an important part of their work. She edited the book’s four editions for the next two decades.
- The American Library Association established the Isadore Gilbert Mudge Citation in 1958. It is given every year to a person who made a difference in reference librarianship.
Books by Isadore Gilbert Mudge*
Zohar – Man of la Book
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
Sources:
Isadore Gilbert Mudge | Wikipedia
