Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan

IF HE WERE ALIVE TODAY

The School of Library, Archival and Information Science at the University of British Columbia in beautiful Vancouver , Canada is pleased to welcome our newest faculty member, Dr. Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan from Madras , India.

Joining us from the University of Delhi and the Documentation Research and Training Centre in Bangalore , Dr. Ranganathan is an expert in a variety of library science fields, including classification, cataloguing, library administration, library design and planning, and collection management. Dr. Ranganathan will be teaching two 3-credit courses this term, will be working on a new series of research studies and writings, and will also be sharing his vast knowledge with students and faculty in a series of weekly lunch-hour lectures on a wide array of topics.

Dr. Ranganathan will have regular daily office hour sessions open to all students and faculty (his office is located in Room 335 in the TEF building).

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Summaries of the two courses to be taught by Dr. Ranganathan this term follows below:

LIBR 518: Advanced Bibliographic Control: Faceted & Colon Classification

TIME AND PLACE: Mondays 9am-12pm ; FNS 40

PREREQUISITES: LIBR 500, 510, 540, 560

GOAL: The purpose of LIBR 518 is to continue your acquaintance with the theories, operations and techniques introduced in LIBR 510, and, especially, to help students master the classification and subject heading methods of faceted classification, Colon classification, and the techniques of chain indexing for subject-index entries.

OBJECTIVES:

To prepare you to apply the notational techniques in the Colon Classification System and other faceted classification systems, and in the context of computer-based storage and retrieval systems.

To provide opportunities for you to examine and evaluate existing tools and techniques for subject analysis and to recommend their adoption and/or adaptation for a given situation.

To enable you to fit classification and subject heading work into perspective, not only as part of subject analysis but also as part of the whole of bibliographic control.

To reinforce good reference practice and attention to detail.

CONTENT: A continuation of LIBR 510, subjecting to closer scrutiny the conventions governing the content and structure of bibliographic citations/records and the techniques for recording, storing, arranging, and retrieving them; and specifically including:

The study and application of Colon Classification System, Faceted Classification formats, and the role of the classifier.

An overview of subject cataloguing: history, theories, resources, authority control, and the role of the list maker.

The study and application of techniques of chain indexing for subject-index entries.

FORMAT: Class meets on Monday mornings. Class sessions will be a combination of lectures, discussions and in-class exercises. Grades will be assessed through a series of research papers, class presentations, team exercises, and class participation.

LIBR 561: The Five Laws of Library Science -- COURSE DESCRIPTION

TIME AND PLACE: Wednesdays 9am-12pm ; Koerner Library 216

PREREQUISITES: LIBR 500, 510, 540, 560

GOAL: The purpose of LIBR 561 is to introduce students to the Five Laws of Library Science, to provide a foundation to their study, and to see their relation to the field of librarianship today.

OBJECTIVES: To prepare you for careers in the library and information science world by introducing them to the importance of the application of the Five Laws of Library Science.

To provide you with a historical background and underpinning to the creation of the Five Laws.

To teach you how to incorporate the spirit, action, and practice of the Five Laws in the library world.

To attempt to provide a new focus to each of the Five Laws, and to see how this can meet the challenges of fast-paced social and cultural changes affecting library users and the rapid proliferation of technology in the operation of libraries.

To see if there are any new supplementary laws which can be added to the original Five Laws to be able to cope with the growth in library user demand today.ÝÝ

CONTENT: A close and in-depth study of the each of the Five Laws of Library Science, from both a historical standpoint and from a new, future-looking view.

The actual application of the Five Laws in the traditional library environment, and in the new electronic virtual library atmosphere.

An exploration of any future additions or changes to the Five Laws, taking into account wider world growth in the information profession, and the creeping in of technology into the libraries of today.

FORMAT: Class meets on Wednesday mornings. Class sessions will be a combination of lectures, discussions and in-class exercises. Grades will be assessed through a series of research papers, class presentations, team exercises, and class participation.

LUNCH BAG LECTURES

As well, Dr. Ranganathan will be presenting a series of free weekly Lunch Bag Lectures to be held from 12:15pm to 1:15pm in TEF Room 320. Beginning on Tuesday, January 6, Dr. Ranganathan will share his considerable knowledge with the members of the SLAIS community, through a 30-45 minute lecture, followed by a group discussion period. The schedule of Lunch Bag Lectures for the first half of the term is as follows:

January 6: Colon Classification: An Introduction for Newbies

January 13: The New Laws of Library Science: And Then There Were Seven

January 20: How Yahoo! Stole Colon Classification

January 27: Headings And Canons: AACR2R Revisited

February 3: Analytico-Synthetic Method: A New Way of Thinking

February 10: Library Book Selection: How To Save Money

Rest of term schedule: TBA