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:
- Alphabetical by first author
- When by same author(s), by year
- 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:
- Section A: ca. 1935-1950
- Section B: 1951-1965
- Section C: 1966-1976.
The Center of Alcohol Studies Library in 2007
According to the history of the CAS Library, written by former librarian Catherine Weglarz, it was librarian Adeline Tallau who set up a system of shelving for the books arriving from Yale in 1962 to the Center’s location on Easton Avenue in New Brunswick. When CAS moved to Smithers Hall in 1964 and all divisions were reunited, she supervised the new setup for the library, including furniture and permanent shelving, as well as the transfer of the collection that she started to reorganize.
As the library became a research area for faculty and visitors, it was considered as a major resource in the field with its books and journals related to alcohol studies. To organize the collection better and to provide access, Tallau began a Master Catalog of all items collected for the various divisions and project at CAS: the Journal’s abstracting service, the various bibliographies, and CAAAL.
At that time, the catalog catalog was designed to have a single first author entry for each item stored in the Library, as well as alcohol-related citations identified but not held at Smithers Hall. Including monographs cataloged in the Rutgers University Libraries Catalog and non-monograph materials listed in the Master Catalog, there was finally a systematic methodology for locating all Library resources.