Louise Noëlle Malclès (20 September 1899 – 29 March 1977) was a French librarian, bibliographer and teacher who was a key figure in French librarianship and the author of one of the most important bibliographical works of the mid-20th century. She was one of the first notable French female library professionals, in a field which had been traditionally dominated by men. She was awarded the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

for her immense contributions to the field of library science.

Academic work

Louise Noëlle Malclès’ association with the

Bibliothèque de la Sorbonne A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

lasted from 1928 until 1962, where she worked as a teacher and practitioner in the field of bibliography. She also worked with UNESCO to develop the International Advisory Committee of Bibliography. Among her hundreds of works about bibliography are textbooks, style guides, manuals and scholarly articles.

Salle de Bibliographie

In 1932, Malclès established a bibliography room at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

intended for students, faculty and scholars. Separate from the main reading room, it contained carefully curated bibliographic tools. This included

bibliographies Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

library catalog A library catalog (or library catalogue in British English) is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A catalog for a group of libraries is also c ...

s, literature guides and

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also examples ...

indexes Index (or its plural form indices) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index'' * The Index, an item on a Halo megastru ...

. The room, which only accommodated twenty students, focused primarily on bibliographic and documentation needs, rather than general research.

Les Sources du Travail Bibliographique

''Les Sources du travail bibliographique'' (Sources for Bibliographic Work) is considered one of the most important bibliographic texts from the twentieth century. Originally published in 1950, it was not a guide to reference materials but for sources used for bibliographic purposes. The focus was on bibliographies, catalogs, indexes and

abstracts An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, academic conference, conference proceedings, proceeding, or any in-depth analysis of a particular subject and is often used to help the reader quickly ascertain the paper's purpo ...

, historical data, library resources and

reviews A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a rating to indic ...

of primary texts. It consisted of four volumes which were divided into two sections; general bibliography and specialized bibliography. The latter was subdivided into either pure sciences, medicine and pharmacy or the humanities. Especially notable is that Malclès conceived of and wrote almost the entirety of the text herself, which increased her reputation as expert in bibliographies. Despite this, there were no supplements nor later editions issued.

Selected publications

* 1950: ''Les Sources du travail bibliographique'' * 1954: ''Cours de Bibliographie'': text for students studying

archives An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...

and

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

. * 1956: ''La Bibliographie'': history of bibliography, issued in three editions and translated into several languages. * 1963: ''Manuel de bibliographie''

References

External links

Louise Noëlle Malclès
on data.bnf.fr Writers from Istanbul 1899 births 1977 deaths French bibliographers French librarians French women librarians Recipients of the Legion of Honour Women bibliographers 20th-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French women writers {{Library-bio-stub