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The Master Author Catalog of the Alcohol Literature

| By | Alcohol History,Resources

An unparalleled resource for alcohol historians, the Master Author Catalog used to be housed in the card catalog files near the reference desk in the Center of Alcohol Studies (CAS) Library.

The catalog contains references to all materials acquired by the library (books, book chapters, journal articles, book reviews, reports, dissertations, etc.) and more, such as the content of the Classified Abstract Archives of Alcohol Literature (CAAAL), the Raymond G. McCarthy Memorial Collection, nearly all the scholarly and professional publications reviewed in the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol and its successors, in addition to the CAS Library’s holdings.

Each card contains typical bibliographic data: author(s), title, publication name, date, and cross-references, as well as, if applicable, the CAAAL number, which makes it easy to retrieve the (print) full text from the McCarthy Collection.

Currently, the Master Author Catalog can be found in the Rutgers University Libraries Annex, unfortunately still unavailable for public research. Contact us for information on how to verify the accuracy of historical bibliographic records.

How to find a record in the catalog?

Originally, the Master Author Catalog was arranged by date, then by first authors: the first section covers 1901-1950; thereafter the sections are arranged by decades.

To locate a title in the catalog, first go to the appropriate decade, i.e., section of the catalog drawers, then use the following order:

  1. Alphabetical by first author
  2. When by same author(s), by year
  3. When by same author(s) in same year:
    • By title for books, chapters of books, pamphlets and dissertations
    • By title of journal in which the article appears

TIP: The following are filed as indicated: A as “aa”, o and o as “oe,” and Mc as “Mac.”

Note: Beginning in 2001, the above rules were changed, and items now filed alphabetically by author(s), regardless of year. Items without authors are filed alphabetically by title in the “Anonymous” section at the end of the alphabet.

A great alternative resource to look up bibliographic is the author index to the McCarthy Collection in three volumes entitled: The Raymond G. McCarthy Memorial Collection of the Alcohol Literature – inventory /contents:

  1. Section A: ca. 1935-1950 
  2. Section B: 1951-1965 
  3. Section C: 1966-1976.

The Center of Alcohol Studies Library in 2007