| Creator: | Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory |
| Title: | Careers in Librarianship |
| Collection No.: | ohrc032 |
| Dates: | 1992 |
| Quantity: |
Quantity: 10 Interviews (Audio files, transcripts, and collateral materials ) |
| Abstract: | The Career in Librarianship project includes interviews with ten people employed in libraries or library education. Three of the interviewees were Deans of Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science, or SLIS. Others include a SLIS lecturer, a high school librarian, a college archivist, 2 public library directors, and a public library branch head. All of the interviewees worked in Indiana (except for one of the public library directors, who worked in Michigan). Collectively, the interviews consider the training that librarians receive, librarianship as a career, as well as changes in, and the future of, the profession. The interviews were conducted by students of the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science as a project for a class on the history of American libraries. |
| Location: | Interviews are housed in Franklin Hall, Room 0030A. Contact ohrc@indiana.edu for more information. Copies of interview transcripts are also held by the IU Libraries University Archives. For other locations housing the interviews from this project, please contact the Center for Documentary Research and Practice office. |
| Language: | Materials are in English |
| Repository: | Center for Documentary Research and Practice Franklin Hall 0030B 601 E. Kirkwood Avenue Bloomington, Indiana 47405 Business Number: 812-855-2856 ohrc@indiana.edu URL: https://cdrp.mediaschool.indiana.edu/ |
This collection contains ten interviews over the course of two years. Interviews range from 41 to 270 minutes. Most of the interviews consist of typed transcripts and audio cassettes.
The archive of the Center for Documentary Research and Practice at Indiana University is open to the use of researchers. Copies of transcript pages are available only when such copies are permitted by the deed of gift. Scholars must honor any restrictions the interviewee placed on the use of the interview. Since some of our earlier (pre-computer) transcripts do not exist in final form, any editing marks in a transcript (deletions, additions, corrections) are to be quoted as marked. Audio files may not be copied for patrons unless the deed of gift permits it, and a transcript is unavailable for that interview. The same rules of use that apply to a transcript apply to the audio interview. Interviews may not be reproduced in full for any public use, but excerpted quotes may be used as long as researchers fully cite the data in their research, including accession number, interview date, interviewee's and interviewer's name, and page(s).
[interviewee first name last name] interview, by [interviewer first name last name], [interview date(s)], [call number], [project name], Center for Documentary Research and Practice, Indiana University, Bloomington, [page number(s) or tape number and side if no transcript; if digital audio and no transcript, cite time when quote occurs].
Oral history interviews conducted by the Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory from 1968 to the present, with particular focus on the history of twentieth-century America and the Midwest.
No(s): 92-040
Physical Description: Not transcribed; 3 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 270 minutes; index; photocopy of newspaper obituary
Scope and Content Note: Fry discusses his various occupations and education. He also talks about where the field of library science is going and what still needs to be done.
Biographical / Historical: Bernard M. Fry (born in 1915, died in 1994) was Dean of the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science from 1967 to 1980 and a member of the faculty until 1984. He served in World War II on the Manhattan Project and served in several capacities in librarianship and information science for the federal government from 1946 to 1967. He edited two journals and was active in library and information science organizations.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 92-037
Physical Description: 24 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 144 minutes; no index
Scope and Content Note: Father Dominic Gerlach, born in 1921, describes his life as a professor of German and history, and archivist at St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Indiana, where he began working in 1952.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 92-041
Physical Description: 21 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 50 minutes; black and white photograph, biographical fact sheet
Scope and Content Note: Nancy Lair, born in 1926, was a lecturer on the faculty of Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science from 1974 to 1993. She describes her childhood, college and library school education, and jobs she has held in and outside of librarianship. She also talks at length about her experience teaching workshops in Malawi in 1988.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 92-042
Physical Description: 34 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 90 minutes; essay; word list
Scope and Content Note: Helen Martin held various positions at the Vanderburgh County Public Library, later the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library, from 1945 to 1992. She describes the changes in her work and the library's services over those years.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 92-044
Physical Description: 51 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 41 minutes; outline, word list, glossary
Scope and Content Note: Carolyn Outlaw, née Carolyn Elaine Howard, born in 1937, describes her youth and education in Evansville, Indiana, before beginning work at the Evanville-Vanderburgh County Public Library in 1970. She describes changes in the library and her work there.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 92-043
Physical Description: not transcribed; 3 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 202 minutes; keyword lists, curriculum vita
Scope and Content Note: Margaret I. Rufsvold, born 1907, speaks about her ancestors, her parent's education, and her personal education. She discusses her early professional career, the development of the library school, the curriculum, and the accreditation of the department. She also discusses being selected to develop a research library for the university in Bangkok, Thailand, and her experience there in the nineteen sixties. She finishes off the interview by discussing some of her academic interests and research areas during her career.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Restricted: Contact center staff for more information
No(s): 92-039
Physical Description: 19 pages; 2 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 1 hour, 20 minutes
Scope and Content Note: Harold J. Sander, born 1913, describes his education at Evansville College and Columbia University, which led to his career as librarian. In that career, Sander worked at the Indiana State Library, the Roanoke Public Library, and was head of the business branch and ultimately director of the Indianapolis Public Library from 1956 to 1971. During his tenure as director, the library merged with most other public libraries in Marion County. Finally, Sander imparts his philosophy of librarianship.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 92-036
Physical Description: 16 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 82 minutes; biographical sheet
Scope and Content Note: Robert J. Weick, born in 1925, describes his career as a teacher and school librarian, primarily his time in the Fort Wayne, Indiana Community Schools. He observes how schools and their libraries have changed over time.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 92-045
Physical Description: 92 pages; 3 cassettes, 1 7/8 ips, 210 minutes; keyword index; 2 VHS videocasettes
Scope and Content Note: This interview with Herbert White, one-time Dean of Indiana University's School of Library and Information Science, covers his family background, education, employment history, library education, and professional issues.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open
No(s): 92-038
Physical Description: 15 pages; 1 cassette, 1 7/8 ips, 63 minutes; photocopies of 13 newspaper clippings
Scope and Content Note: Eleanor Whitney was interviewed as a part of an Indiana University School of Library and Information Science course on library history. She was born in Lansing, Michigan, in 1908, and adopted at age 8. Whitney was a graduate of Benton Harbor, Michigan High School and Ward-Belmont School for Girls in Nashville, Tennessee., and attended the University of Chicago for a semester. She received an A.B. in library science from Western Michigan University in 1952. Whitney worked at the Benton Harbor Public Library from 1943 until her retirement in 1969, serving as children's librarian from 1950 to 1951 and as director from 1951 to 1959. She describes library staff, its board of trustees, services, and the building of a new library late in her tenure.
Indexed Terms:
Access Status: Open