College and Research Libraries W A L T E R R U N D E L L , J R . Relations between Historical Researchers and Custodians of Source Materials This article reports a survey dealing with various problems encoun- tered by graduate students in history while doing dissertation research with original sources. Among them are the willingness of professors to work with librarians in building collections, accommodations for visiting researchers, use of microforms, intramural friction between librarians and history professors, and admission policies of private libraries. The survey found that researchers generally enjoy good re- lations with librarians. By identifying areas where friction remains and where relations can be improved, the article aims at constructive criticism. I N HIS T R A V E L S connected with this survey, the author visited 112 institutions, seventy of which grant graduate degrees in American history. The remaining for- ty-two are libraries, historical societies, archives, museums, federal records cen- ters, manuscript collections, and other such repositories. It rapidly became clear from the survey's 557 interviews with professors directing research, graduate students, and custodians of primary sources that the effectiveness of research depends in no small measure on rela- tionships between the researcher and the repository. These relationships have many dimensions. Generally, the relationships between historical researchers and the librarians Dr. Rundell is Professor of History in the University of Oklahoma. He was Director of the Survey here reported during its two- year existence, September 1965 through August 1967. It was sponsored by the Na- tional Historical Publications Commission and funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation. and archivists charged with the custody of research materials are excellent. Any researcher naturally encounters difficul- ties and frustrations, and a historian would be naive to expect this phase of his work to be without hindrance. Per- haps the reason scholars express annoy- ance with obstacles to research is that they have usually chosen and pursued their profession because of deep com- mitments that transform their labor into intellectual pleasure and excitement. When this activity is beset with prob- lems, scholars realize—as do their labor- ing brothers daily—that work is not play. If scholars were not following or preparing for an idealized vocation, they probably would take ordinary aggrava- tions with less fret. Since scholarly re- search does intersect the workaday world, historians should be prepared for their relations with curators and clerical assistants to be something less than per- fect. The encouraging fact is that these relations are strikingly cordial. This dis- cussion of existing problems attempts to 4 6 6 / Researchers and Custodians of Source Materials / 467 identify areas where custodians and his- torians can work together to facilitate scholarly research. An indication of the close cooperation between historians and university li- brary staffs is that the latter frequently comment that professors and students from the history department are the li- brary's most active users. The reference department of the Rutgers University li- brary "sometimes feels that it's working for the department of history" since it has more requests from that department than any other. "There are more his- torians in the library than scholars from any other discipline."1 At Louisiana State University the library's relations with the history department are "the best we have on campus."2 The social science librarian at Florida State University thinks ex- cellent relations with historians result from the "library-minded people in the history department." He comments fur- ther on a condition the survey frequent- ly encountered: the history department's spending "its share of the budget and more."3 Library staffs at the Universities of Minnesota and Nebraska and at Washington University say that histo- rians are among their heaviest users. At the University of Utah and Emory Uni- versity, only the English departments are as interested as historians in build- ing the library collections.4 Both university libraries and non-aca- demic repositories often insure good working relations by having historians on their governing boards and as directors. At Washington University the chairman of the faculty library council is a his- torian;5 and in Philadelphia, Roy Nichols and Thomas C. Cochran are on the 1 Interview with H. Gilbert Kelley, reference librar- ian, September 2 8 , 1 9 6 6 . 2 Interview with T . N. McMullan, director, March 1 6 , 1 9 6 6 . 3 Interview with Reno W . Bupp, July 2 9 , 1 9 6 6 . 4 Interviews with Richard W . Boss, assistant di- rector libraries, University of U t a h , June 2 1 , 1 9 6 6 ; Guy R. Lyle, director of libraries, E m o r y University, December 8 , 1 9 6 5 . 5 Interview with Andrew J . E a t o n , librarian, W a s h - ington University, April 1 9 , 1 9 6 6 . board of the Historical Society of Penn- sylvania, and Anthony N. B. Garvan is on the board of the Library Company of Philadelphia.6 In some institutions, such as the Universities of Oklahoma and North Carolina, historians hold joint ap- pointments in the library. At the former, Arrell M. Gibson and Duane H. D. Rol- ler are both professors and curators of the Western History and DeGolyer Col- lections, respectively.7 At the latter, James W. Patton was professor and di- rector of the Southern Historical Collec- tion until his retirement in 1967. His successor, J. Isaac Copeland, is also a PhD in history. Similarly, at the Uni- versity of Wyoming, Gene M. Gressley teaches and is director of the Western History Research Center. Some libraries cement their relations with historians by having PhD's in history as directors, such as Stuart Forth of the University of Ken- tucky, Lawrence W. Towner of the New- berry Library, and Dorman H. Winfrey of the Texas state library. Boston Uni- versity has assured "intimate" relations with the Boston Athenaeum by owning two shares of its stock. This provides professors and graduate students free ac- cess to the Athenaeum's library.8 Historians' infiltration of the director- ships and governing boards of reposi- tories may establish the principle of close liaison, but graduate students em- barking on a research trip need some- thing more practical. Fortunately, they frequently find that their professors have prepared the way for them. This prepa- ration has not been individual and spe- cific, but has resulted from professors having used repositories for years and having established amicable working re- lations with the curators. Their students, in turn, profit from the cumulate good will. Doctoral candidates at several uni- 6 Interview with Cochran, August 2 5 , 1 9 6 6 . 7 Interview with Arthur M. McAnally, director, University of Oklahoma Library, March 9 , 1 9 6 6 . * Interview with Robert E . Moody, October 2 8 , 1 9 6 5 . 468 / College