[WEB4LIB] Ranganathan - off-topic digression

Dennis Moser dennism at library.tmc.edu
Thu Aug 10 10:15:29 EDT 2000


Yeah, well...guess what? I don't remember EVER hearing his name in Library
School, either, I'm sorry to say. Fortunately for me, I already knew who he
was BEFORE I went there.

One of the problems that the schools seem to be facing is deciding WHAT will
the most relevant to graduates when they get out: the "market" would appear
to be hyping them into believing that the "digiti mundi" doesn't require an
understanding of things like preservation/conservation, cataloging, or
archives...and if you should decide to focus on Special Libraries, it's even
worse: apparently, the SLA would have us believe that "Special Libraries"
are ONLY Corporate Knowledge Centers and Keepers of the Portals. Need
anymore buzzwords? GRrrr.

(Okay. Someone sent a posting, with an attachment, to one of the other lists
I'm on AND IT HAD THE LOVE BUG VIRUS! Our SysAdmin caught it before it came
through, changed MY password to get my attention that something
was amiss...the morning could certainly started out better! I'll just wait
'til my meds kick in before reading anymore email...8-)...)

Dennis Moser, MILS, Web Librarian
John P. McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center
Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library
1133 M. D. Anderson Blvd, Houston, TX 77030-2809
dennism at library.tmc.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: Julia Schult <jschult at elmira.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at webjunction.org>
Date: Thursday, August 10, 2000 7:38 AM
Subject: [WEB4LIB] Ranganathan - off-topic digression


>
>I asked our newest librarian, fresh out of SUNY Albany, if
>she'd ever heard of Ranganathan, and her first thought was
>that I was approaching her about a new religion.  ;-)  No,
>they didn't cover him or as far as she remembers even
>mention him in library school.
>
>For anyone who is curious, see
>
>http://www.uniroma1.it/Mathematics/I-Ranganathan.html
>
>He was a great librarian, and influenced the history of the
>profession.  I think it is a shame if library schools are no
>longer touching on his Five Laws of Library Science, which
>can be found at:
>
>http://www.ala.org/editions/openstacks/insidethecovers/insideexcerpts1A.htm
l
>
>---Julia E. Schult
>Access/Electronic Services Librarian
>Elmira College
>Jschult at elmira.edu
>
>
>



More information about the Web4lib mailing list