Dr. Richard Offor retires in 1947 from the librarianship of the University of Leeds, to which he was appointed in 1919. In these twenty‐eight years the Library has grown from…
Abstract
Dr. Richard Offor retires in 1947 from the librarianship of the University of Leeds, to which he was appointed in 1919. In these twenty‐eight years the Library has grown from insignificance to splendour; and in its growth, besides the munificence of benefactors and the steady support of the University, not the least factors have been his skill, his insight, his enthusiasm, and his energy.
In February of this year Dr R. Offor retired from his post of Library Adviser to the Inter‐University Council for Higher Education Overseas, and there are many reasons why his…
Abstract
In February of this year Dr R. Offor retired from his post of Library Adviser to the Inter‐University Council for Higher Education Overseas, and there are many reasons why his retirement calls for special notice. In the first place it closes an unbroken period of library service of some sixty years. This record may have been exceeded in the past—possibly, for example, by Henry Guppy and by B.M. Headicar—but few are likely to surpass it in the future. And Dr Offor's long career has been of great distinction. As a young man he joined the staff of the Library of University College, London in 1901 and remained in that Library, serving under R.W.Chambers, until 1919. Dr Offor was then appointed University Librarian at Leeds, a post which he held until his retirement in 1947 when he was made Emeritus Librarian; and in that same year he was appointed by the Colonial Office as Library Adviser to the Inter‐University Council for Higher Education Overseas.
[Preface to] Redeeming the time. A sermon preached at the service for members of the University of London in Westminster Abbey on May 10th, 1916, by His Grace the Lord Archbishop…
Abstract
[Preface to] Redeeming the time. A sermon preached at the service for members of the University of London in Westminster Abbey on May 10th, 1916, by His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury [Randall Thomas Davidson]. London, Faith Press, 1916. pp. 3–4.
The death has been announced, on 7th January, of Dr Richard Offor, O.B.E. Dr Offor, who was eighty‐one, was Librarian of the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, from 1919 to…
Abstract
The death has been announced, on 7th January, of Dr Richard Offor, O.B.E. Dr Offor, who was eighty‐one, was Librarian of the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, from 1919 to 1947. There he was responsible for organizing and widening the collections, planning the new building, and for training staff. Shortly after his retirement he became, and remained for thirteen years, library adviser to the Inter‐University Council for Higher Education Overseas. In this work he was a deeply valued friend and counsellor to many engaged in the building up of new university and college libraries throughout the Commonwealth.
THE activity of librarianship during September was almost breathless. Visitors to Chaucer House in the third week of the month had possibly the most cosmopolitan experience of…
Abstract
THE activity of librarianship during September was almost breathless. Visitors to Chaucer House in the third week of the month had possibly the most cosmopolitan experience of their lives. It was, as our readers know, the assembly time of the International Federation of Librarians, which divided its London meetings between Chaucer House and the equally hospitable University College. The members, coming from a score or more of countries east and west, had, many of them, been present at the successful and crowded conference of Aslib at Ashorne, and were now conferring further, and being entertained by the Library Association, together with members of the Unesco Library School. That school spent its first week in Manchester, with a tour of Derby County libraries; its second week was in London. Amongst the guests at the reception given by the British Council at Portland Place, and at the L.A's own reception at Chaucer House three days later, many distinguished librarians were met, including Dr. Munthe, Dr. Sevensma, Dr. Ranganathan, the state librarian of Ankara, the University Librarians of Istanbul, Copenhagen, Trondhjem, of Alexandria; and many others, including those of England and Scotland, the Chief Keeper of the Printed Books, Bodley's Librarian, and the Librarian of the National Central Library. Moreover, as these gatherings coincided with the meeting of the Library Association Council, the official leaders of the profession were present, including the President (Mr. Nowell).
The creation of university institutions in the overseas territories connected with Great Britain has taken place very largely since the conclusion of the last war: already…
Abstract
The creation of university institutions in the overseas territories connected with Great Britain has taken place very largely since the conclusion of the last war: already noteworthy achievement is an effective antidote to the depression that has overtaken us in more general matters. The need for such an impressive and timely step need scarcely be stated. With a new width of vision the rigidity of the colour bar in the countries involved has disappeared. Economically, the countries left in the relaxed ‘colonial’ system have gained in relative importance. Africa, the West Indies and South‐Eastern Asia must take the place of the great Asiatic countries which have so largely cut adrift. Yet Great Britain is hard put to it to find manpower sufficient to supply her own needs, although she must seek earnestly, even in her own interest, for the development of the immense but largely untapped resources of the overseas territories. Thus Africans, West Indians, Malayans and Chinese must find and train their own medical men and women, engineers, lawyers, school teachers, legislators, clergy, all hitherto sadly deficient in number. On a higher plane, our country has been a pioneer in the trustee policy that has taken so firm a hold on the imagination since the institution of the League of Nations in 1919: not only from relentless local pressure but as a result of real conviction we and our ‘Colonies’ are moving in nearly every case towards more and more complete self‐determination. We may be legitimately proud that in this matter and in the concurrent need for expansion in higher education we have gone far ahead of the other remaining ‘colonial’ powers.
Thirty‐seven years as a member of the Editorial Board of a learned journal is a remarkable record in any circumstances. To have served in that capacity in a field which has…
Abstract
Thirty‐seven years as a member of the Editorial Board of a learned journal is a remarkable record in any circumstances. To have served in that capacity in a field which has undergone such rapid and spectacular development as library and information management, and to have exerted upon it a consistently constructive influence for so long, is cause for celebration beyond the normal. It is fitting, therefore, that his colleagues should offer this Festschrift issue of the Journal of Documentation to Geoffrey Woledge as a tribute not only to his part in maintaining the high academic standards which Aslib has always prescribed for its premier journal, but also to his distinguished career in librarianship which has had a lasting effect upon many aspects of our professional scene. Having worked harmoniously with him as my principal guide and mentor for some fifteen of the twenty‐eight years of my directorship of Aslib, I am delighted to be associated with this acknowledgement of his work.
JUNE, the month of blue skies and roses, is for librarians who teach the end of the teaching year and for younger ones the month of examinations. It is for these and others the…
Abstract
JUNE, the month of blue skies and roses, is for librarians who teach the end of the teaching year and for younger ones the month of examinations. It is for these and others the real beginning of outdoor library work where it may exist. Unfortunately a few days of beautiful weather early in May were the only adequate evidences of summer warmth to come, and the north‐east winds persist as we write in Southern England. Those who contemplate the open air roof‐top libraries, library gardens with tables and chairs for reading, Story‐hours in the public parks and so many more hopeful activities find this handicap a persistent one. There are, in the average year, very few days that may be given wholly to sedentary outdoor activities and some librarians, we learn, have abandoned official provision for outdoor reading. Private and personal outdoor reading will always continue; there is nothing more delightful. We doubt, however, if nowadays much serious use is made of books outdoors, although we should welcome evidence to the contrary. We are thinking of the general reader. The light romance, the romantic approach to the outdoor world in the modern equivalents of Richard Jefferies and W. H. Hudson seem more to tune with this part of the year. This, like every general Statement, is subject to many exceptions and the good librarian is alert to every reading possibility of the months. This month sees the annual holidays really begin and with plans for their conclusion in the Annual Meeting of the Library Association in late September at Hastings which we hope will be free from the unpleasant features of the Business Meeting at Llandudno.
The facilities of a library are, I presume, the collections themselves and the services offered by the library administration in the use of those collections by readers. The most…
Abstract
The facilities of a library are, I presume, the collections themselves and the services offered by the library administration in the use of those collections by readers. The most satisfactory way of assessing the value of a library collection is to use it for the purpose for which it is intended, though an expert librarian or an expert reader can form an approximate judgment if he knows the size, scope and highlights of the collection. I do not know whether I can bring you even to an approximate judgment, since the field I shall have to cover is wide and I must not burden you with long lists of materials in subjects in which not all of you will be equally interested; I am also aware that, while you are specialists in one or more of the subjects to which I shall refer, I am merely a general librarian and only too liable to fail from lack of knowledge. As for the services, they, in a general university library, are roughly the same for the technological student as for all other students, and, therefore, it is these services which I must endeavour to describe to you as briefly as I can. I will do this first, and reverse the genetic order.
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.