[DCRM-L] Svato Schutzner

[Robert Maxwell]

I'm sorry to hear this. When I was a new rare books cataloger, probably some time around 1995, I remember writing to Svato at LC asking for advice for a particular dilemma I was having. I don't remember the details, but it was something that involved a choice, cataloger's judgment, and I couldn't decide what to do. I have always remembered his kind and practical advice-he didn't tell me what to do, he just said "Make a decision, do it, and move on." I appreciated this and it reinforced in me the fact that we as catalogers don't need to be told what to do in every case. In many cases, perhaps most, we should be making up our own minds about cataloging choices, doing it, and moving on, not waiting for someone to tell us what to do. The world won't end and nobody will die as a result of our cataloging decision :-), to cite another favorite cataloging leader, Mickey Koth, who was saying the same thing Svato was in another way.

Bob


Robert L. Maxwell
Ancient Languages and Special Collections Librarian
6728 Harold B. Lee Library
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
(801)422-5568

From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> On Behalf Of Bryan, Anna
Sent: Wednesday, February 6, 2019 4:30 AM
To: 'DCRM Users' Group' <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Subject: [DCRM-L] Svato Schutzner

Please join me in mourning the loss of Svato Schutzner, author of Medieval and renaissance manuscript books in the Library of Congress : a descriptive catalog (Washington : Library of Congress, 1989-1999) v. 1: Bibles, liturgy, books of hours; v. 2: Theology and canon law. The link below is the announcement from yesterday's Washington Post.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?n=svato-schutzner&pid=191452959

I was privileged to know Svato, who trained me on incunabula cataloging. Hardly a day passes when I do not use some of the knowledge he passed on to me.

Anna R. Bryan
Senior Cataloger
Rare Materials Section
U.S. Anglo Division
Library of Congress

I speak only for myself.

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