ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


5 0 2  /  C&RL N e w s

Books are for use: Ranganathan centennial year

R an g a n a th a n

D uring the 19th an d  20th centuries, tw o 
great librarians— Melvil D ew ey (1851-1931) 
o f the U nited States an d  S. R. Ranganathan 
(1892-1972) o f India— w ere responsible for 
th e developm ent o f library an d  inform ation 
science. In this centennial year of 
R anganathan’s birth it is im por­
tan t to  recall his m any contribu­
tions.

B o r n  o n  A u g u s t 9, 1892, 
R a n g a n a th a n  m ay  m o s t c o m ­
m only be rem em bered for his for­
m ulation of laws. In 1929 he felt 
that librarianship lacked a set of 
unifying, guiding principles and 
set do w n  the following: books are 
for use; every reader has his book, 
every b o o k  its reader; save the
time of the reader, save the time o f library 
staff; an d  the library is a grow ing organism.

In 1925 he introduced the C olon Classifi­
cation, a radical departure from the D ew ey
D ecimal an d  Library o f Congress Classifica­
tion systems. In 1934 he published the Clas­
sified Catalogue code w hich sh o w ed  that an 
analytico-synthetic approach is useful irrespec­
tive o f w h at schem e for classification is u sed
for developing a structured subject index.

 

 

D ew ey w o u ld  subscribe by sending the follow ­
ing m e ssa g e : SUBSCRIBE ALA-WO M elvil 
D ewey. N ewsline is available through Internet, 
CompuServe, MCI Mail, an d  any o th er e-mail 
service that can receive Internet messages. Note 
that this is a new sletter and not a discussion 
group. Q uestions or com m ents should b e sent 
to  NU_ALAWASH@CUA o r NU_ALAWASH@ 
CUAVAX.DNET.CUA.EDU.

Proposals in BI and preservation sought
Proposals are n e e d e d  for the p o ste r  s e s s io n s  
at ACRL’s  B ib lio g ra p h ic In stru ctio n  S ectio n  
C o n fe r e n c e  P rogram , o n  Sunday, Ju n e 27, 
1993, in New O rleans. The program , entitled 
“C oping w ith  C haos, T hriving o n  C hange," 
n e e d s p o ste r sessions dealing w ith practical 
suggestions for successful an d  innovative re­
sponses to change. For exam ple, h o w  has the 
BI p ro g ra m  a d a p te d  to  n e w  te c h n o lo g ie s , 
ch an g in g  stu d e n t p o p u la tio n s , b u d g e t con-

After spreading his reforms th roughout In­
dia, R anganathan w as active in international 
librarianship from 1948 until his death o n  Sep­
tem ber 27, 1972. A visionary, h e predicted in 
the 1950s that com puters w ould play an im­

portant p art in libraries an d  that 
online catalogs w ould replace the 
card catalog in all types o f librar­
ies. H e c o in e d  s u c h  te rm s as 
“f a c e t , ” “p h a s e , ” “i s o l a t e , ” 
“libram etrics,” an d  “chain pro ce­
d u r e ” a n d  his id eas o n  b ib lio ­
graphic instruction, faculty status, 
an d  internships for librarians have 
becom e popular in W estern coun­
tries. D uring his lifetime he wrote 
62 books an d  over 2,000 articles 
o n  all aspects o f library science.

At its 1992 M idwinter Meeting, the Coun­
cil of the American Library Association passed 
tw o resolutions in ho n o r of Ranganathan. O ne 
said “that the ALA o n  the birth centennial of 
an international giant, S. R. R anganathan, ex­
presses the gratitude o f its m em bers to him 
for his contributions, m any years o f dedica­
tion an d  outstanding services to the prom o­
tio n  o f in tern atio n al lib rarian sh ip .”— R. N. 
Sharm a, University o f  Evansville ■

straints, staffing changes, new  teaching m eth­
ods, n ew  instructional media. Proposals co n ­
sisting o f a 250-word abstract describing your 
project o r research an d  h o w  you will com m u­
nicate your ideas should b e  subm itted by Jan u ­
ary 8, 1993, to: Susan Miller, C oordinator of 
Library Instruction, Milner Library, Illinois State 
University, Normal, IL 61761.

Proposals for contributions to volum e 2 of 
A d v a n c e s  in P r e s e r v a t i o n  a n d  A c c e s s , a 
M eck ler p u b lic a tio n , are  b e in g  s o u g h t by 
editor B arbra B uckner H igginbotham. Papers 
are w an ted  o n  current topics in library preser­
vation, conservation, a n d  related access issues, 
particularly in the areas o f special m aterials 
and disciplines (music, theatre, dance, film, re­
co rd ed  sound), cu rato r/co n serv ato r relation­
ships, education and training, preventive m ea­
sures, surveys an d  collection assessm ent, mass 
deacidification, international efforts, an d  auto­
m ation applications for program  m anagem ent.

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