Cianciolo and IMC Collections

About the Cianciolo Collection

In 2003, Dr. Patricia J. Cianciolo, '49 gifted her collection of nearly 35,000 pieces of literature, illustrations, articles and artworks to Cardinal Stritch University. This expansive collection includes every recipient of two prestigious accolades - the Newbery Medal Award and the Caldecott Award, which honor, respectively, excellence in children’s literature and illustrations for children’s literature. The collection, which is vital to educators, scholars and children alike, is housed on the second floor of the Library.

Dr. Patricia J. Cianciolo

Dr. Patricia J. Cianciolo was an internationally recognized expert in children’s and adolescent literature who read, reviewed, collected and championed thousands of books in her lifetime through both her personal and professional pursuits.

After earning her bachelor of philosophy degree in biology and elementary education from Stritch in 1949, Pat went on to pursue her master’s degree in childhood development and education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and her Ph.D. in curriculum and K-12 education from Ohio State University. She worked in elementary and higher education for 47 years, traveled to 17 nations, and served on numerous professional committees.

Pat’s books include multiple editions of - “Picture Books for Children” and “Illustrations in Children’s Books” . These are standards in the field, according to a citation of the International Reading Association in honoring her in 1995 with the Arbuthnot Award, which recognizes outstanding higher education instructors of children’s and young adult literature. In addition, Pat also has published more than 60 book chapters and journal articles as well as several studies on the use of children’s literature in elementary schools.

Aside from her work in education and literature, Pat served as a consultant for PBS television and as a volunteer reader for a Michigan public radio sub-station for blind and homebound children and adults. Pat passed away on January 18, 2012.

 

Dr. Patricia J. Cianciolo

Instructional Materials Center (IMC)

IMC (Instructional Materials Center) books generally fall into one of these types:

  • A children’s book of some kind
  • Curriculum material (teacher or student text, supplementary materials for classroom teaching.

The entire IMC collection is housed on the second floor of the Library and is subdivided into six locations. The LOCATION field within the TOPCAT library catalog will indicate where an item is shelved (Figure 1).  Signs on the ends of the shelves identify the various locations and call number ranges (Figure 2).

TOPCAT Field IMC Location
CSU Cianciolo Research Room Cianciolo Research Room
CSU Curriculum Curriculum materials
CSU IMC Stacks IMC Fiction
CSU IMC Stacks IMC Non-fiction
CSU IMC Reference Reference
CSU IMC Special Groups & Board Books Special Groups & Board Books
Figure 1. IMC Locations

The Special Groups & Board Books collection is designed to assist with finding specific materials based on some Language & Literacy assignments. This collection consists of alphabet books, board books, Caldecott Medal winners and Newbery Medal winners. The honor books for these two awards are shelved with the main IMC collection.

Call number range
Figure 2. Stack sign in the IMC collection.

IMC Classification

The Cardinal Stritch University Library uses Library of Congress Classification (LCC) and Library of Congress Subject Headings to organize and catalog it’s collections. The LCC divides subjects into broad areas identified with letters. These areas are then further subdivided with combinations of letters and numbers. These combinations form an item’s call number. Items are stored on the shelves in call number order, alphabetically and numerically.

Call numbers can be used interchangeably between the Main and IMC collections. A call number range in the Main Collection can be referenced to find similar items in the IMC Collection.

Subject headings can be used in a similar manner to aid in searching. Children’s books will have the word “juvenile” in one or more of the subject headings:

  • Juvenile fiction - fiction books
  • Juvenile literature - informational or non-fiction books
  • Juvenile poetry - poetry books

Fiction books are stored alphabetically by the author’s last name. For example, all of the Harry Potter books are shelved together because they are all by the same author, J.K. Rowling. These books will have a call number starting with PZ 7.R.

Non-fiction books will be classed first by “topic” (or “subject heading”) and then by author. Here, works by a particular author will be shelved together only if they fall within the same subject.

Note that not all of the libraries in the SWITCH consortium use the Library of Congress Classification, some use the Dewey Decimal Classification. Each system will classify differently.

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