About Dr.S.R.Ranganathan

Introduction 

(Father of Library & Information Science )

Dr.Ranganathan,Shiyali Ramamrita 

Ranganathan (1892-1972) was born in shiyali the Tanjavoor District of Madras State (now known as Tamil Nadu) on August 9,1892. He was the first child of his parents. His father,  Ramamritha, Ayyar, belonged to the village of Ubhayavedanthapuram in the Nannilam Taluk of Tanjavoor District. He was a landlord holding a medium sized landed property, a wet-land growing paddy for rice, the principal food crop of the fertile cauvery Delta. He was a cultured man who often gave expositions on Ramayana to small audiences. He was held in high regard by the people of neighborhood and by visiting officials.  Seethalakshmi, the mother,  was a simple and pious lady. The parents had three sons and a daughter. 

Ranganathan's Contribution to Library science 

India's contribution to Library science began blossom in 1925 when Ranganathan started pursuing research in this field. Prior to that, librarianship had been looked upon as a craft full of clerical operations and housekeeping for a collection of books and other kindred materials. Ranganathan changed the scene first by engaging himself in solo research, during the first 25 years, and then by organizing team research in the next 25 years of his life. The highlights of his contribution are indicated in the succeeding chronological summary of his work and achievements. 

Appendix 

Summary of the work and Achievements of Ranganathan.

The contents are arranged under the following 20 headings -

I Summary of chief events

II Endownments

III Honors/Awards 

IV Family 

V Education 

VI Employment 

VII Honorary work

VIII Library Development plans (unpublished)

IX Library Bill's and development plans  (unpublished)

X Committee work within India 

XI Committee work outside of India 

XII Conferences within India 

XIII Conferences outside of India 

XIV Association work

XV Library tours

XVI Periodicals edited 

XVII Books published 

XVIII Indian standards 

XIX Library catalogs 

XX Articles contributed 

I. Summary of Chief Events 

1924 - Designed the Colon classification 

1928 - Formulated the five Laws of Library Science 

1934 - Designed the Classified Catalog Code

1938 - Designed Chain Indexing 

1950 - Designed Facet Analysis 

1957 - Founded the Sarada Ranganathan Chair of Library Science,  University of Madras

1961 - Founded the Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science 

1963 - Developed the Dynamic Theory of Library Classification 

1964 - Editor of Library Science with a Slant to Documentation ; author of 53 books and about 1200 articles on library science 

II. Endownments 

1934 - Edward B.Ross studentship, Madras Christian College 

1956 - Sarada Ranganathan Chair of Library Science, University of Madras 

1958 - Sarada Ranganathan Prize for Mathematics, Government College,  Mangalore 

1958 - Sarada Ranganathan Merit Prize, Sanskrit college, Sriperumbudur 

1959 - Sarada Ranganathan Merit Prize,  Ujjain 

1961 - Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science, incorporated with the treasure for Charitable Endowments in India 

III. Honors/ Awards 

1935 - Rao Sahib, Government of India 

1948 - D.Litt ( Honoris Causa) Delhi University 

1951 - Honorary Fellow, Virginia Bibliographic Society 

1954 - Patron, Delhi Library Association 

1956 - Honorary member, Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centers 

1957 - Padamshree, Government of India 

           Honorary Vice-President, Library association ( London)

            Honorary Fellow, International Federation for Documentation 

1962 - Founder Patron, Mysore Library Association, Bangalore 

Two volume Ranganathan Festschrift 

Volume 1 - Kaula , P.N , Library Science Today, 1965 ( Asia Publishing House, Bombay)

Volume 2 - Das, Gupta, A.K., Essay in Personal Bibliography, 1967 ( Asia Publishing House  , Bombay)

1964 - D.Litt ( Honoris Causa), University of Pittsburgh,  USA

1965 - National Research Professor for Library Science ( Government of India)

1967 - Honorary Fellow , Indian Standards Institutions 

1970 - Margarett Mann Award ( American Library Association)

1971 - Grand Knight of Peace ( Mark Twain Society,USA)

IV. Family 

1892 - Born August 9 at Shiyali, Tanjavoor District, Madras State

Family Home : Ubhayavedanthapuram, Tanjavoor District 

Father : N.Ramamrita Ayyar,Landlord (1866-1898)

Mother : Seethalakshmi (1872-1953)

1907 - Married Rukmini ( 1896- 1928)

1929 - Married Sarada ( 1908-)

1932 - Son, Yogeshwar, born april 12

V. Education 

1897 - 1908 Sabhanayaka Mudliar's Hindu High School,  Shiyali 

1909 - Matriculation 

1909 - 1916 Madras Christian College 

1913 - B.A. Degree 

1916 - M.A Degree

1916- 1917 Teacher's College, Saidapet, Madras

1917 - L.T Degree

1924- 1925 School of Librarianship, University College of London 

Honors Certificate 

Practical work experience in the Croydon Public Library under W.C.Berwick Sayers

VI. Employment 

1919 - 1920 Assistant lecturer in Mathematics, Government College, Mangalore 

1920 - Assistant lecturer in Mathematics,  Government College,  Coimbatore 

1921 - Assistant lecturer in Mathematics, Government college, Mangalore 

Assistant Professor in Mathematics, Presidency College, Madras 

1924- 1944 University Librarian, Madras

1945- 1947 University Librarian, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 

VII. Honorary Work 

1928 - Vacation lecturer in laws of library science, University of Madras (at Chidambaram)

1928 - 1933 Lecturer on School Library work, Teachers College, Saidapet,Madras 

1929 - 1944 Professor in Library Science,  University of Madras 

1933 - 1937 Vacation lecturer on school library work, University of Madras 

1944 Visiting lecturer in library classification ,University of Bombay 

1945 - 1947 Professor in Library Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 

1948 Member of the faculty , UNESCO International School for Public Librarianship,Manchester 

1949- 1955 Professor in library science, University of Delhi 

1956 Visiting lecturer of library schools,United Kingdom

1957 - 1959 Visiting Professor in library science, Vikram University, Ujjain

1958 Visiting lecturer of library schools,  United States of America, Canada and Japan 

1962 Honorary Professor, Documentation Research and Training Centre,Bangalore 

1964 Visiting lecturer of library schools, University of Pittsburgh 

VIII. Library Development Plans 

( Unpublished)

1942 University of Delhi
1945 Library Development Plan for India
1946 University of Allahabad
          University of Nagpur
1947 Forest Research Institute,Dehradun
          Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
1948 University of Bombay
          Parliament Library, Delhi
1956 University of Mysore
1957 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi
1959 Scientific and Technical Information Centre for the Third plan period, a Draft for the Planning Commission
1964 National Aeronautical Laboratory, Bangalore
Mysore Legislature
1966 All -India Institute of Mental Health,  Bangalore
Library Building and Development Plan for the Parliament Library, Delhi
Note: For Published Library Development Plans, see Sec.XVII, Books Published

IX. Library Bill's and Development Plans  ( Unpublished)

1931 Bengal
1946 Central Provinces and Berar
1947 Cochin
          Travancore
Note : For Published library Bill's and Development plans, see Sec.XVII,Books published

X. Periodicals Edited 

1937 - 1947 Editorial Board, Modern Librarian 

1939 - 1944 Conducted  Memoirs, Madras Library Association 

1947 Editorial Board,  Indian Librarian 

1949 - 1953 Editor, ABGILA ,Indian Library Association 

1951 Associate Editor,Libri 

1954 - 1963 Editor, Annals of Library Science 

1959 American Documentation 

1964 - 1972 Editor,Library Science with a Slant to Documentation

XI. Books Published 

This is a concise list of S.R.Ranganathan books.

General-

1 Papers offered to the library service section of the first All - Asia Educational conference,1930

2 Five Laws of Library Science, ist ed.,1931; 2nd ed., 1957. Reprinted in 1963

3 Education for Leisure, ist ed.,1946; 4th ed. 1961

4 Preface to Library Science, 1948

5 Rural Adult Education, 1949

6 Library Tour 1948 ,Europe and America : Impressions and Reflections, 1950 and 1963

7 Library Week Souvenir, 1963

8 Library Service for All, 1965

Organization-

9 Model Library Act,1931

10 Model Public Library Bill,1941

11 Post-war Reconstruction of Libraries in India,1944

12 National Library System : A Plan for India, 1946

13 Library Development Plan with a draft library bill for Bombay, 1947

14 Library Development Plan with a draft library bill for United Provinces, 1949

15 Library Development Plan for India, 1950

16 Library Legislation, a handbook to Madras Library Act, 1953

17 Library Personality and Library Bill: west Bengal,1958

18 Library Development Plan with a draft library bill for Kerala State, 1960

19 Report of the Public Libraries Bill Committee, Mysore,1963

20 Free Book Service for All: An International Survey, 1968

21 Education and Library System of the Nation, 1971

22 Public Library System: India,Nepal, Srilanka, UK,USA : Comparative Library Legislation, 1972

Book Selection-

23 Library Book Selection, 1st ed.,1952; 2nd ed.,1966

Classification-

24 Colon Classification,1st ed., 1933; 6th ed.,1960

25 Prolegomena to Library Classification, 1st ed.,1937; 2nd ed.,1957; 3rd ed.,1967

26 Library Classification: Fundamental and Procedure, 1944

27 Elements of Library Classification, 1st ed.,1945

28 Classification of Marathi Literature, 1947

29 Classification of Telugu Literature, 1947

30 Classification and International Documentation, 1948

31 Classification, Coding and Machinery for Search, 1950

32 Philosophy of Library Classification, 1951

33 Classification and Communication, 1951

34 Depth Classification, 1951

35 Classification Research 1957-1963

 ( Trend Report: India), FID/CR Report series, no 1,1964

36 Colon Classification ( Rutgers series on systems for the intellectual organization of information, no.46,edited by Susan Artandi)

Cataloging-

37 Classified Catalog Code,2nd ed.,1934; 5th ed.,1964

38 Theory of Library Catalogue,1938

39 Dictionary Catalogue Code,1st ed. 1945; 2nd ed.,1952

40 Library Catalogue: Fundamental and Procedure, 1950

41 Headings and Canons, 1955

42 Cataloguing Practices, 1975

Reference Service-

43 Reference Service and Bibliography, ist ed.,1940; 2nd ed.,1961
Administration-
44 Library Administration,1st ed.,1935; 2nd ed.,1959
45 Library Manual, 1st ed.,1950; 2nd ed.,1960
Documentation-
46 Public Library Provision and Documentation problems,1961
47 Documentation and its Facets,1963
48 Documentation: Genesis and Development, 1973
Bibliography-
49 Bibliography of Reference Books and Bibliographers, 1941
50 Union Catalogue of Periodicals in South Asia,1953
Academic Libraries-
51 School and College Libraries, 1942
52 Library Development Plan for the University of Allahabad, 1947
53 Organization of Libraries in India,1946
54 Education and Library System of the Nation, 1971
55 New Education and School Library: Experience of Half a Century, 1973
Specialist Libraries-
56 Social Science Research and Libraries,1960
Book production-
57 Social Bibliography : Physical Bibliography for Librarians,1952
58 Physical Bibliography for Librarians, 1974
Adult Education-
59 Social Education Literature, 1952
60 Literature for Neo-literates,1953
University Education-
61 University Reform in Contemporary India,1952
Directory-
62 Indian Library Directory, 1951