Dr. Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan was born on August 9, 1892
Shiyali, Madras and died on September 27, 1972 in Bangalore. He earned an MA in
Mathematics, and taught at Madras University. In 1924 he was appointed as the
librarian of Madras University, a post he held for twenty years. As a newly
appointed librarian he travelled to London's School of Librarianship and toured
over one hundred libraries in the U.K.
While in England, Dr. SR Ranganathan saw that the Dewey Decimal
Classification (DDC) was the most popular system in use. His analytical mind
quickly discovered its fundamental deficiency and its inability to express all
the aspects of a specific subject of a document. He also thought that a
classification system should allow for future subjects to be combined in
unexpected or unplanned ways. In his mind DDC was neither prepared
nor adequate to provide for the future situations.
Whether people are looking for resource books to help them with
literature courses, electronic courses on Mobile Phones, interior decoration or
language study they should be able to find a wide variety of appropriate
reading material quickly and easily.
The DDC is not necessarily the quickest or easiest; to keep in mind he
decided to devise a system of his own. Shortly afterward he began work on his
classification scheme which he called the Colon Classification
(CC).Ranaganathan started a Library Science School in Madras in 1929 where he
taught both DDC and CC. Over his lifetime, he wrote over 2000 research papers,
60 books and founded and edited five periodical publications.
Ranganathan's chief technical contributions to library science were
in classification and indexing theory. His Colon
Classification (1933) introduced a system that iswidely used in
research libraries around theworld and that has affected the evolution of such
older systems as the Dewey Decimal Classification. Later he devised the
technique of chain indexing for deriving subject-index
entries.
His Five Laws of Library Science (1931) was
widely accepted as a definitive statement of the ideal of library service. He
also drafted plans for a national and several state library systems, founded and
edited several journals, and was active in numerous professional associations.
Colon Classification is the system of library organization
developed by Ranganathan in 1933. It is general rather than specific in nature,
and it can create complex or new categories through the use of facets,
or colons. In it, there are 108 main classes and 10 generalized
classes (broadly divided between the humanities and sciences), which are
represented by a mixed notation of Arabic numerals and Roman and Greek letters.
Each main class comprises five fundamental facets, or groups: personality,
Ranganathan's main contribution to classification was the notion of
these fundamental facets, or categories. Instead of schedules of
numbers for each topic, Colon Classification uses series of short
tables from which component numbers are chosen and linked by colons to
form a whole. The book number is an integral part of the call number, a
departure from Dewey or Library of Congress systems.
Each main class has its appropriate facets and focuses; e.g., literature
has language and form. In addition, there are four floating tables that
correspond to subdivisions -- e.g., form, geography, time,
and language. Further expansion of the tables is allowed through
colon addition or omission (if the subject cannot be expanded).
The collection of the University of Madras, India, was utilized in the
creation of Colon Classification.
Digitised E-Books of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan by DLIST, The University of
Arizona Campus Repository (University
Libraries)
- Classification and Communication(1951)
- Documentation and its Facets: Being a
symposium of seventy papers by thirty-two authors
- -(1963)
- Documentation Genesis and Development(1951)
- The Five Laws of Library Science (1931)
-
- Library Book Selection(1966)
-
- New education and school library: Experience of half a
century(1973).
- Philosophy of Library Classification(1989)
-
- Prolegomena to Library Classification(1967)
-
- Reference Service(1961)
-
Books on Dr. S.R. Ranganathan:
- Ranganathan's philosophy : assessment,
impact, and relevance : proceedings of the international conference by
T.S. Rajagopalan
- Indian academic libraries and Dr. S.R.
Ranganathan : a critical study by Ravindra N Sharma
- Ranganathan, a pattern maker : a
syndetic study of his contributions by Anand P Srivastava
- Relevance of Ranganathan's
contributions to library science by T S Rajagopalan
- S.R. Ranganathan, 1892-1972 : papers
given at a memorial meeting on Thursday 25th January 1973 by Edward Dudley
- An essay in personal bibliography : Ranganathan
Festschrift. 2. A bibliography of the writings on and by S.R. Ranganathan
and A.K. Das Gupta
- S.R. Ranganathan, Pragmatic Philosopher of Information
Science: A Personal Biography by Ranganathan
Yogeshwar
- Ranganathanism and Knowledge Society: Relevance of Dr.
S.R. Ranganathan in the Present Day Knowledge Society and Other Essays
by Satyanarayana
His Life @ a Glance
He was educated at the Hindu High School in Shiyali, at Madras Christian
College (where he took B.A. and M.A. degrees in mathematics in 1913 and 1916),
and at Teachers College, Saidapet.
In 1917 he joined the faculty of Government
College, Mangalore.
From 1920 to 1923 he subsequently taught at
Government College, Coimbatore, and at Presidency College, University of
Madras, in 1921-1923
In 1924 he was appointed first librarian of
the University of Madras, and in order to fit himself for the post he traveled
to England to study at University College, London.
From 1925 to 1944 he took up the job at
Madras in earnest in 1925 and held it until 1944.
From 1945 to 1954 he served as librarian and
as professor of library science at Hindu University in Varanasi (Banaras), and
from 1947 to 1954 he taught at the University of Delhi.
From 1954 to 1957 he was engaged in research
and writing in Zürich.
He returned to India in the latter year and
served as visiting professor at Vikram University, Ujjain, until 1959.
In 1962 he founded and became head of the
Documentation Research and Training Centre in Bangalore, with which he remained
associated for the rest of his life, and in 1965 he was honoured by the Indian
government with the title of national research professor in library science.Dr. S R Ranganathan is considered to be the father, the
doyen, messiah of library and information profession in India.
Ranganathan’s Association with ILA
Ranganathan was closely associated with ILA right from its inception
till 1954 ie, for about two decades. In fact, Mr K M Asadullah
who convened the first All India Library Conference in Calcutta in the year
1933, requested Dr Ranganathan to be its president. But Ranganathan declined
this offer as he was busy with the work of Madras University Library and Madras
Library Association. However, he agreed to be one of the Conveners of the
Conference.Ranganathan drafted the Constitution of the proposed Indian Library
Association on behalf of the Madras Library Association. There were two more
drafts-one from the Working Committee and one from the Simla Library
Association. Hence a two member committee with Mr Ranganathan and Mr Montague
of Simla was appointed to finalise the Constitution. This was adopted on 13 Sep
1933 and thus ILA was founded.Ranganathan enrolled himself as the
first life member of ILA. He was President, ILA for nearly a decade
upto 1953.When Ranganathan become the President of ILA he was not a member of
the Executive Committee of the Association. It was an embarrassment for him
when it was pointed out at the EC meeting held in Patna in 1946. Ranganathan
then realised the need for amendment to the constitution as the President had
no powers except to preside the general body meeting once in two years.
Ranganathan got the constitution of the Association revised and adopted in 1949
at the Nagpur Conference.In the revised Constitution of 1949, the functions of
the President were clearly laid-down. He was made the custodian of the
constitution with full control over the affairs of the Association.PublicationsPapers
for the Biennial Conference: A few months before the biennial
conference, Ranganathan appointed an ad hocCommittee to select two
or three subject groups in which papers should be solicited for the conference.
Facets of each subject group were spelt-out well in advance. The ad
hoc committee was also assigned the task of selection of papers,
editing, standardization, publication, etc.Publication Series in English: A
publication series in English was initiated in 1949. A sub-committee consisting
of the President, Secretary and one Assistant Secretary was appointed for this
purpose. Between 1949-53, seven titles were published under this series.Publication
Series in Hindi: A series was also initiated in Hindi. Three of
the books of Dr Ranganathan translated into Hindi by Mr M L Nagar were
published.
In 1949 itself, it was decided to publish a research periodical in
English; Another periodical giving a few papers of a slightly lower standard;
and a periodical in Hindi.Finally it was resolved to make all there quarterlies
issued simultaneously under one and the same cover under the titleAbgila.A (Annals) B (Bulletin) G (GrantJialaya) of
ILA (Indian Library Association). Union CatalogueDr Ranganathan took-up the
project of the compilation of the Union Catalogue of Learned
Periodicals in South Asia and completed it successfully on behalf of
the ILA. This has fetched a few thousand rupees to ILA.During 1992 the
Association organised functions to celebrate the Birth Centenary of Dr. S.R.
Rnaganathan,the doyan of library science and librarianship in India. The
Filately Division of the Department of Post, Government of India, released a
Postel Stamp in honour of Ranganathan at the Official Opening of IFLA General
Conference on August 30,1992. The stamp release function was performed by
Hon'ble Minister of Human Resource Development Shri Arjun Singh in the Siri
Fort Auditorium. The Plennary Session of IFLA was also devoted to Dr S R
Ranganathan.The XXXVIII All India Library Conference of the Indian Library
Association held at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar was dedicated to Dr S R
Ranganathan. A large number of Indian and foreign Library Science journals
released special numbers on S R Ranganathan.
Dr. S.R. Ranganathan Biography on Web
- EasyLib
on Ranganathan
- ICMR tribute to Ranganathan
- On Wikipedia
- On
Onlinelis site
- Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan
- Mishra, Anil Kumar
- The Father,
Biography on ILA sites
- Satija, M.P, Remembering the Work of S.R. Ranganathan
for Academic Libraries
- Singh,
Jagtar, Philosophy and Theory of Dr. Ranganathan
- Summary of the work and Achievements of S.R.
Ranganathan
- S.R. Ranganathan: an exemplry teacher and a guide by
Harjit Singh
- Tripod
Biography
- Ranganathan, Shiyali Ramamrita (1892-1972)
- S.R.R.Biography
- Biography on Online Britanica
- S.R.
Ranganathan
- Father of library science from Sirkazhi-II by V.
Sundaram (The writer is a retired IAS officer)
- Memorabilia Ranganathan by Gopinath, M.A.
Most widely held works by S. R Ranganathan
- Colon classification
- The five laws of library science
- Prolegomena to library classification
- Ramanujan, the man and the mathematician
- On the life and achievements of Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar,
1887-1920, Indian mathematician.
- Library book selection
- Reference service
- Classified catalogue code, with additional rules for
dictionary catalogue code
- Library manual, for library authorities, librarians,
and honorary library workers
- Library administration
- Free book service for all; an international survey
- A Librarian looks back : an autobiography of Dr. S.R. Ranganathan
by S R Ranganathan and P N Kaula
Articles on Dr. Ranganathan.
- Garfield, Eugene, A Tribute to S.R.
Ranganathan: Part 1. Life and Works,
- Garfield, Eugene, A Tribute to S.R.
Ranganathan: Part 2. Life and Works,
- Glassel, Aimee, Was Ranganathan Yahoo
?
- Kamat, Vikas, India's First IT Guru
Dr. S.R. Ranganathan
- Relevance of Ranganathan's Laws of Library Science in
Library Marketing by Dr. R.K. Bhatt
- Steckel, Mike: Ranganathan for IAs
- Efforts Of Dr. S. R. Ranganathan For Public Library
Legislation And Service- A Review
- A Tribute by a Student of LIS
- The Pioneers: S. R. Ranganathan by D. J. Foskett
- Ranganathan's Theory of facet analysis and knowledge
representation by M.A. Gopinath
- Application
of Ranganathan's Laws to the Web by Alireza Noruzi
- Father of library movement from The
Hindu, 14 Aug 2001
- Dr. S.R. Ranganathan Access Portal by
DRTC, Bangalore
- Father of Information Science, The Hindu, 07
Feb 2011
- Reflections on Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library
Science by Richard A. Leiter
- Colon classification-An outline with examples by S R
Ranganathan
- Do digital libraries violate the Third Law? By
Michale V. Cloonan & John G. Dove
- Ranganathan revisited: Facet for the future
- Ranganathan’s Colon Classification in 1500 Words or
Less: A brief history of Colon Classification by Susan
Kelsch
- Public Library Legislation And Service- A Review By Dr.
Mohammad Azeem Siddiqui
- Ranganathan and Public Library System by
R. Raman Nair
- Indira
Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS)- Librarians Day tribute
- Memories of the 1957 Dorking Conference, Dr.
Ranganathan reference by Eugene Garfield
- The Future of Libraries in the Work of S.R. Ranganathan
by Frederick J. Friend
- The Library is a Growing Organism: Ranganathan's Fifth
Law of Library Science and the Academic Library in the Digital Era by
Keren Barner
- On his birth centenary by M.P. Satija
- Dr. SRR DISCIPLES: A View Point
- Ranganathan's Monologue on Melvil Dewey
- Ranganathan's Prolegomena to Library Classification
Source: ILA
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