Professor R.S. Hutton, D.SC. (MANC.), M.A. (CANTAB.) is honoured by Aslib as one of its founders and for outstanding service to it over more than four decades. Aslib pays tribute…
Abstract
Professor R.S. Hutton, D.SC. (MANC.), M.A. (CANTAB.) is honoured by Aslib as one of its founders and for outstanding service to it over more than four decades. Aslib pays tribute to one who has served it more than well in countless ways and, with foresight and wisdom, provided that quality of leadership which has done so much to ensure its development along sound lines.
The meeting took the form of an interview in which Professor Hutton answered questions put to him by a panel consisting of Miss M. Gosset, M.B.E., B.Sc., A.R.C.S., formerly…
Abstract
The meeting took the form of an interview in which Professor Hutton answered questions put to him by a panel consisting of Miss M. Gosset, M.B.E., B.Sc., A.R.C.S., formerly Librarian, AERE, Harwell; Mr B.Fullman, M.B.E., B.Sc., F.R.I.C., F.I.M., formerly Information Officer, BNFMRA; and Mr Leslie Wilson, M.A., Director of Aslib.
ASLIB – the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux – was founded in 1924 with the aim of co‐ordinating the activities of specialist information services in the…
Abstract
Purpose
ASLIB – the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux – was founded in 1924 with the aim of co‐ordinating the activities of specialist information services in the UK. This article seeks to present a new history of the first quarter‐century of the Association.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a historical study based substantially on two collections of primary documents: ASLIB's own records, held at Aslib Headquarters, London; and the papers of Edith Ditmas, held at the National Library of Wales.
Findings
The paper explores the origins of ASLIB, and its roots in the “science lobby” of the time; it then traces the development of ASLIB as both a “national intelligence service” for science, commerce and industry, and as a quasi‐professional association with international significance. It concludes that the first of these two functions was the Association's fundamental raison d'être.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to study of ASLIB in the period 1924‐1950 and an obvious continuation would be a history of “corporate” ASLIB (1950‐1997). More generally, the paper reveals that the history of UK documentation and information science in the twentieth century is underexplored: there is scope for future research focused on key pioneers and ideas, as well as institutions such as ASLIB.
Originality/value
As far as is known, this is the first historical study of ASLIB to be based on contemporary records: it should therefore be of value to both historians of information and library science and practitioners interested in their professional heritage.
Details
Keywords
Not many weeks back, according to newspaper reports, three members of the library staff of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London were dismissed. All had…
Abstract
Not many weeks back, according to newspaper reports, three members of the library staff of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London were dismissed. All had refused to carry out issue desk duty. All, according to the newspaper account, were members of ASTMS. None, according to the Library Association yearbook, was a member of the appropriate professional organisation for librarians in Great Britain.
Amalgamation with the British Society for International Bibliography, agreed in principle in 1947, was accomplished de facto as from 1 January, 1948. The legal side, however, has…
Abstract
Amalgamation with the British Society for International Bibliography, agreed in principle in 1947, was accomplished de facto as from 1 January, 1948. The legal side, however, has taken longer than was anticipated, though the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the new body have been accepted by the Board of Trade and it is hoped that the formalities will be completed during 1948. Until these have taken place the finances of the two organisations have had to be kept separate, although their activities have been controlled as one organization under a joint Council. It is expected that the first Annual General Meeting of the new Aslib will be held about April, 1949, when the whole present Council will resign and a new Council will be elected.
The last winter meeting for the 1960–1 season will be held at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday 9th May at the Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1. Sir Frank Francis…
Abstract
The last winter meeting for the 1960–1 season will be held at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday 9th May at the Royal Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1. Sir Frank Francis, Director of the British Museum, and Professor R. S. Hutton will speak about the proposed National Reference Library of Science and Invention as envisaged in a symposium published in the Journal of Documentation, vol. 17, no. 1, March 1961.
The stimulus given by the last war to the study of foreign industrial practice probably had much to do with laying the foundations on which, by the well‐timed action of a few…
Abstract
The stimulus given by the last war to the study of foreign industrial practice probably had much to do with laying the foundations on which, by the well‐timed action of a few enthusiasts, the first Aslib Conference was based.
It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields…
Abstract
It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.
The National Lending Library for Science and Technology was formally opened on 5th November by Lord Hailsham, Minister for Science. About two hundred people were present. They…
Abstract
The National Lending Library for Science and Technology was formally opened on 5th November by Lord Hailsham, Minister for Science. About two hundred people were present. They included Sir Harold Roxbee Cox, Chairman of the DSIR Research Council, Sir Harry Melville, Secretary of DSIR, and many of the DSIR senior staff. Several of those who have played a pioneering part in promoting the establishment and growth of national scientific libraries were present including such well‐known figures as Professor R. S. Hutton and Mr Max Nicholson. Lord Hailsham in his address called the library ‘one of the wonders of modern Europe’. After the opening ceremony the visitors toured the library which was in full operation. This at present involves the dispatch of about seven hundred loans a day. Aslib sent a congratulatory Telex message to Dr D. J. Urquhart, Director of the library, and was represented at the opening ceremony by the Director of Aslib.
LIBRARIES have come impressively into the public picture in the past year or two, and seldom with more effect than when Their Majesties the King and Queen opened the new Central…
Abstract
LIBRARIES have come impressively into the public picture in the past year or two, and seldom with more effect than when Their Majesties the King and Queen opened the new Central Reference Library at Manchester on July 17th. In a time, which is nearly the end of a great depression, that the city which probably felt the depression more than any in the Kingdom should have proceeded with the building of a vast store‐house of learning is a fact of great social significance and a happy augury for libraries as a whole. His Majesty the King has been most felicitous in providing what we may call “slogans” for libraries. It will be remembered that in connection with the opening of the National Central Library, he suggested that it was a “University which all may join and which none need ever leave” —words which should be written in imperishable letters upon that library and be printed upon its stationery for ever. As Mr. J. D. Stewart said at the annual meeting of the National Central Library, it was a slogan which every public library would like to appropriate. At Manchester, His Majesty gave us another. He said: “To our urban population open libraries are as essential to health of mind, as open spaces to health of body.” This will be at the disposal of all of us for use. It is a wonderful thing that Manchester in these times has been able to provide a building costing £450,000 embodying all that is modern and all that is attractive in the design of libraries. The architect, Mr. Vincent Harris, and the successive librarians, Mr. Jast and Mr. Nowell, are to be congratulated upon the crown of their work.