Bancroftiana, Number 119 Fall 2001: Rare Book Cataloguer Retires

Rare Book Cataloguer Retires

Patrick J. Russell, Jr., began his Berkeley career at The Bancroft Library in June 1974.

Patrick J. Russell

Prior to his arrival at The Bancroft Library, Patrick had worked as a rare-book cataloguer at Washington University Libraries in St. Louis. There, for a time, he worked under the direction of Bill Matheson, who soon left Washington University to head Rare Books at the Library of Congress. Matheson gave a glowing recommendation of Patrick, and Bancroft was able to hire him as our rare-book cataloguer.

Patrick provided a far broader professional contribution to Bancroft than simply that of rare-book cataloguer. He helped analyze the special bibliographical side-files that the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections had developed, and he proposed more uniform methods of handling the resulting records. He worked on special projects, such as the cataloguing of the rare books acquired from the Library at San Simeon of William Randolph Hearst, and many years later the records of the Tebtunis papyrus manuscripts.

Despite his training in the classics and the highest level of bibliographical cataloguing, Patrick assessed the general operational needs of The Bancroft Library, and was an early advocate of our use of records derived from cataloguing created by the Library of Congress. To make such records more appropriate for Bancroft (which until then had handled all records as original cataloguing), he pointed out that a principal editor could adapt such records by adding appropriate bibliographical details of the sort needed at Bancroft.

With Patrick designated the quality-control cataloguer, a new team of "Copy Cataloguers" commenced adapting LC cataloguing for modern trade books. This approach resulted in far higher volume of cataloguing at considerably less cost, and all the special access points Bancroft wished to provide were incorporated into the process. By the early 1980s, when the University Library began to explore use of computer-based cataloguing, Bancroft was positioned to take advantage of the new technology. Patrick retained the role of principal Bancroft cataloguer to assure an appropriate level of control and consistency in the records as they were converted to machine readable form.

Patrick, by this time active in the Standards Committee of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, spoke widely on the mechanisms we used to assure a reasonable level of detail and quality control throughout the project.

In the last several years, Patrick once again had opportunity to go back to his earliest professional roots by assisting with the NEH-funded project to process and conserve portions of our major papyrus manuscript collection. To use his knowledge of classical Greek and Latin and to be working once again with early manuscripts proved far more satisfying than Patrick anticipated. In this specialized area we hope to continue taking advantage of Patrick's knowledge and abilities even beyond his retirement.

—Peter E. Hanff
Deputy Director