University of Michigan Official Publication, 1900-1971

Summary

Creator:

University of Michigan Official Publication.

Abstract:

Official Publications, 1900-1971, of the University of Michigan. Bulk has been bound sequentially.

Extent:

211 issues (bound within 72 volumes)
1 linear foot (in 3 boxes.)

Language:

English

Call Number:

02135 Bimu C2 2

Authors:

Finding aid created by Bentley Library Staff

Background

Scope and Content:

The volumes of Official Publications contain announcements, bulletins, reports and other printed material issued by various units and officers of the University, which were designated official publications. Each titled volume corresponds to roughly one school year, as detailed in the attached list, and may span more than one physical bound volume. The individual publications were numbered sequentially, in order of publication, and are bound in numerical order. Each publication also has a distinctive title, in addition to a volume and number. Prior to about 1921 the annual bound set consisted almost exclusively of the Bulletins of various schools and colleges. After that date the bound set began to include additional publications such the President's Report, financial reports, and incidental publications such as the guide to Freshmen and reports on sponsored conferences and programs.

The following numbers are missing, and their contents have not been determined:

1. 1916-17 -- vol. 18 -- no. 6, 19, 21, 30, 41
2. 1917-18 --vol. 19 -- no. 7, 9, 11, 13, 27
3. 1963-64 -- vol. 65 -- no. 20
4. 1964-65 -- vol. 66 -- no. 20, 25, 73

Biographical / Historical:

The University of Michigan Regents authorized publication of the first Catalogue in 1843. For over six decades, this and the other principal official publications were produced through the efforts of various committees, faculty, and students without formal assignment to any specific unit or individual.

Later in the century, Professor William Henry Pettee served as editor of the official publications for a number of years until his death in 1904. The President's report to the Board of Regents in September 1904 noted that, "For years he (Pettee) has been of the greatest service to the University in fields quite apart from his teaching, namely, as auditor of the accounts of the University and as editor of its official publications, the Calendar and Departmental Announcements . . . His minute acquaintance with our statutes, usages and traditions, and his proverbial accuracy as compiler and proof-reader, made our publications models of their kind."

Thereafter, two other faculty members assumed interim editorship of the official publications, Assistant Professor Louis A. Strauss (1904-1905) and Assistant Professor Henry A. Sanders (1907-1908).

Responsibility for editing and publishing Official Publications were first assigned to the Registrar in 1908, when Arthur Graham Hall returned to the University of Michigan faculty under the title Registrar of the Department of Literature, Science and the Arts and Editor of the University Publications. In 1919, the Regents declined to appoint an independent "University editor to have charge of all catalogues and announcements and similar printed matter issued by the University." Instead, Graham continued in the position of Registrar and Editor until his death in 1925, although Professor John W. Bradshaw was assigned to edit the Catalogue in 1922, due to Hall's ongoing illnesses. Upon the appointment of Ira Melville Smith as Registrar in 1925, the Regents made supervision of the editing of "(t)he various University announcements and bulletins and the University catalogue" one of his five official duties.

The University of Michigan Official Publications have appeared under multiple, overlapping titles. In 1915, a committee on nomenclature appointed by the Regents renamed the Calendar of the University of Michigan... as the Catalogue of the University of Michigan ... At the same time, the committee on nomenclature approved Announcement as the name for the publication of each school or college, and Bulletin for that of a program or smaller group within a school or college. These names were not always used consistently, however. Other titles included University Bulletin (used roughly from 1900 to 1925), University of Michigan Bulletin (first used circa 1925), and University of Michigan Official Publication (first used circa 1926, used consistently after 1928). The changes in title did not appear at definite dates; older and newer titles frequently coincided in the same volumes. In all cases, the contents included announcements, registers, reports, and miscellaneous items considered "official," but did not generally include the scholarly publications produced by units throughout the University.

With the creation of the University Press in 1930-1931, Official Publications were brought under the same authority as scholarly publications for the first time. A Committee on Official Publications, consisting of the Registrar, the Managing Editor of the Press and a faculty representative, was created within the University Press organization. Under this arrangement, the University Press was "primarily a co-ordinating and distributing agency," while other functions remained elsewhere in the university structure. This included editorial duties for official publications, which continued to be handled by the Registrar's office through its Editorial Division.

In 1936, Walter Arthur Donnelley, who was already Editor of Museums Publications, was also named Supervising Editor of Publications in the Registrar's Office. Under his supervision, the Registrar's Office was responsible for editing the Regents' Proceedings, the various student and faculty Registers, the annual University of Michigan Directory, and several scholarly series, including Michigan Governmental Studies, School of Forestry and Conservation Bulletins and Circulars, and Ars Islamica.

The Office of Official Publications was finally removed from the Registrar's purview and added to the University Press's organizational and budgetary structure in 1945, though the Registrar remained chairman ex oficio of the University Committee on Official Publications. In 1954, the role of the Registrar in official publications was further reduced when the Regents reorganized the committee, and the Vice President for Student Affairs was named chairman.

In 1963, an Ad Hoc Committee on University Publications Problems was convened to perform a survey of publications then in existence. The Committee's 1964 final report recommended, among other things, "that the University Publications Office become the focal point for a concerted effort to establish University-wide editorial and production standards for its non-scholarly publications," which had become highly decentralized. Of the 23 Publications listed in Appendix C to the report, "University of Michigan Official Publications, 1962-1963," only three General Information Announcement, Michigan Quarterly Review, and General Register listed the Publications Office as the "Sponsoring Unit."

The Official Publications series ended in 1971. It is not entirely clear why this occurred, but it is likely that with functional autonomy of an increasing number of academic units and increasing advancements in publication and duplication technologies, the need and desire for centralized Official Publications decreased.

------------------------

Sources

The University of Michigan, an encyclopedic survey, Volume I, Part I (1942), Wilfred B. Shaw, editor. Pages 241-263.

The University of Michigan, an encyclopedic survey, Volume IV, Part VIII (1958), Wilfred B. Shaw, editor. Pages 1413-1420.

The Proceedings of the Board of Regents (1817-1920), pages 654 and 748.

"University of Michigan Official publication Variations in Title," from the Official Publication collection, folder of loose documents including title list.

Final report to Vice President Roger W. Heyns from Ad Hoc Committee on University Publication Problems, May 8, 1964.

Accruals:

No further additions to the records are expected.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Material

A complete title list, in order of publication, is available with the collection.

A card index is available for volumes 21-45, 48-65 and 67-72. The card index is arranged by publishing unit, and alphabetically by subunit or title within each section, with the exception of Summer Session material, which is all under that heading. The headings used in the card index, which may not correspond to current University organization, are:

1. Architecture
2. Business Administration
3. Dentistry
4. Education
5. Engineering
6. Extension
7. Law
8. Literature, Science and the Arts
9. Medical
10. Medical School. Dept. of Postgraduate Medicine
11. Music
12. Natural Resources
13. Nursing
14. Other Units
15. Pharmacy
16. Public Health
17. Rackham
18. Summer Session
19. Summer Session: Engineering Summer Conferences
20. Summer Session: Intensive Courses for Engineers

Official Publications have been accessioned and preserved as part of university record groups on an irregular basis. Therefore, researchers looking for official publications from a particular college, department, or unit should also consult that group's records and/or publications collections.

Finally, some Official Publications have been catalogued as individual items in the University of Michigan's library catalog system, Mirlyn, which Researchers should also consult.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Universities and colleges -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor -- Periodicals.
Education, Higher -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor -- Periodicals.

Names:

University of Michigan -- Periodicals.