Dr. S. R. Ranganathan: A Chronological Biography





‘God has chosen me as an Instrument, the honor done to me should act as an incentive to the younger generation to devote their lives wholeheartedly to library science and service’ – Dr. S. R. Ranganathan
‘That one cannot properly judge the work of S. R. Ranganathan without reference to the totality of Librarianship’ – Jesse H. Shera
‘If there is any single individual who merits being called a ‘one-man library movement’, certainly he [Ranganathan] has earned that distinction through his accomplishments in India’ - Jesse H. Shera
‘One of the immortals of Library Science’ – K.G.B. Bakewell
Dr. S. R. Ranganathan is ‘without question, one of the luminaries of library science’ and has had a ‘revolutionary impact on international classification theory’ – Eugene Garfield
‘Prince among Librarians’ – Sir Maurice Gwyer
‘Father of Library Science in India’ – Sir Maurice Gwyer
American Library Association called him ‘World Librarian’

Year

Summary of Events

BIRTH & FAMILY LIFE
1892
Born 9 August at Shiyali (now, Sirkazhi) Tanjavoor District, Madras State (now, TamilNadu).
  • Father: N. Ramamrita Ayyar, landlord (1866-1898)
  • Mother: Seethalakshmi Ammal (1872-1953)

Note: He was the first child of his parents and the first grandchild of the grandparents both paternal and maternal.
1907
Married to Rukmini (1896-1928)
1929
Married to Sarada (1908-1985)
1932
Blessed with a son born on April 12, R. Yogeshwar (Engineer by Profession)
EDUCATION
1897-1908
Schooling from S. M. Hindu High School, Shiyali
1909
Matriculation
1913
B. A. (Mathematics) Madras Christian College
1916
M. A. (Mathematics) Madras Christian College
1917
Professional Teaching Certificate from Teachers' College, Saidapet, Madras
1924-1925
  • Went to England in September 1924 for a study cum observation tour from School of Librarianship, University College of London
  • Got practical work experience in the Croydon Public Library under W. C. Berwick Sayers and returned India in July 1925.

EMPLOYMENT CAREER
1917-1921
Worked as an Assistant Lecturer in Government College, Mangalore and Coimbatore
1921
Joined the Presidency College, Madras as Assistant professor in Mathematics
1924-1944
Appointed as the first University Librarian of University of Madras on 4th January 1924
1945-1947
University Librarian and Professor of Library Science, BHU, Varanasi
HONORARY WORK
1928-1933
Lecturer on school library work, Teachers' College, Saidapet, Madras
1929-1944
Professor in Library Science, University of Madras, Madras
1944
Visiting faculty on Library Classification, University of Bombay
1945-1947
Professor in Library Science, BHU, Varanasi
1947-1954
Professor in library science, University of Delhi, Delhi
1956
Visiting lecturer of library schools, United Kingdom
1957-1959
Visiting professor in library science, Vikram University, Ujjain
1962
Honorary Professor, DRTC, Bangalore
1963
Visiting lecturer of library schools, University of Pittsburgh
SUMMARY OF EVENTS/WRITINGS
1924
Designed the Colon Classification
1927
Local Secretary, All-India Public Library Conference, Madras
1928
  • Formulated the Five Laws of Library Science at Meenakshi College, Annamalai Nagar.
  • Founded Madras Library Association on 31st January 1928 and remained its founder Secretary until he left Madras in 1945
  • Delegate, South India Educational Conference

1929
Started School of Librarianship at Madras Library Association which was taken over by University of Madras in 1931
1930
  • Secretary, Library Service Section of All-Asia Educational Conference, Banaras
  • Prepared ‘Model Library Act’ and presented it at the All Asia Educational Conference held at Banaras in 1930.

1931
  • Five Laws of Library Science was first published as a book by Madras Library Association with a Foreword by P. S. Sivaswami Aiyer and an introduction by W. C. Berwick Sayers
Started the School of Library Science at University of Madras

  1. Duration as Certification Course 1931-1937
  2. Duration as Post-Graduate Diploma Course 1937-1960 (First Diploma Course in the country)
  3. Duration as Degree Course 1961-

  • Inaugurated the first Mobile library at Melavasal Village, Mannargudi Taluk, Tiruvarur district, TamilNadu started by S. V. Kanagasabai Pillai on 21st October 1931

1933
Colon Classification (CC) first published by Madras Library Association
1st ed. 1933
2nd ed. 1939
3rd ed. 1950
4th ed. 1952
5th ed. 1957
6th ed. 1960
6th rev. ed. 1963
7th ed. 1987 edited by M. A. Gopinath, published by Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science (SRELS)
Translated into Marathi (Dwibindu Vargikarana Paddati) by R. S. Parkhi, 1957
  • Delegate, First All-India Library Conference, Calcutta

1934
Classified Catalogue Code (CCC) first published by Madras Library Association
1st ed. 1934
2nd ed. 1945
3rd ed. 1951
4th ed. 1958
5th ed. 1964 (Assisted by A. Neelameghan)
Translated into Hindi (Anuvarga suchi kalpa) by M. L. Nagar, 1953
1935
  • Published Library Administration, 1st ed.
  • Given the title ‘Rao Saheb’ from the Government of India under British rule

1937
Published Prolegomena to Library Classification
1st ed. 1937
2nd ed. 1957
3rd ed. 1967
1938
Designed Chain Indexing that was first mentioned in his book “Theory of Library Catalogue” in 1938.
1940
Published Reference Service and Bibliography, 1st ed.
1945
  • Published Elements of Library Classification, 1st ed.
  • Published Dictionary Catalogue Code, 1st ed.

1948
  • D. Litt. (Honoris causa), Delhi University
  • Published Classification and International Documentation, 1st ed.
  • President, All India Adult Educational Conference, Mysore
  • Drafted the Model Union Public Library Act

1949
President, Eighth All-India Library Conference, Nagpur
1950
  • Library Development Plan for India
  • Published Library Catalogue: Fundamentals and Procedure, 1st ed.
  • Published Library Manual, 1st ed.

1951
  • Published Classification and Communication, 1st ed.
  • Published Philosophy of Library Classification, 1st ed.
  • Started the Doctoral Degree programme in India at Delhi University
  • Honorary fellow, Virginia Bibliographic Society, 1951

1952
  • Published Library Book Selection, Ist ed.
  • Founding members of National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC)

1954-1957
  • Moved and stayed in Zurich
  • Honorary member, Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centres (IASLIC), 1956

1955
Published Headings and Canons: Comparative Study of Five Catalogue Codes
1957
  • Founded the Sarada Ranganathan Chair of Library Science, University of Madras
  • Awarded Padmashree by the Government of India
  • Honorary vice-president, Library Association (London)
  • Honorary fellow, International Federation for Documentation (FID)
  • President, International Study Conference on Classification Research, Dorking
  • President, Documentation Section, First Indian Standards Convention, Madras

1959
Chairman, Documentation Section, Second Indian Standards Convention, Hyderabad
1961
  • Founded the Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science (SRELS). The endowment was registered as a Charitable Endowment with the Government of India in 1963 and with Government of Karnataka in 2006. The Endowment holds the copyright for all books of Dr. S. R. Ranganathan. Started Ranganathan Memorial Lectures since 1972.
  • Chairman, Preservation of Documents Section, Indian Standards Convention, Kanpur
  • Special Invitee, International Conference on Cataloging Principles, Paris

1962
  • Established Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC) at Bangalore with the help of UNESCO
  • Director, Government of India Seminar on School Libraries, Bangalore

1963
  • President, Fourth IASLIC Conference, Poona
  • Edited Documentation and its Facets, 1st ed.

1964
  • Founded Library Science with a Slant to Documentation, published by SRELS
  • Received honorary D. Litt (Honoris causa) from University of Pittsburg, USA.
  • President, International Study Conference on Classification Research, Eisinore

1965
Declared national research professor by the Government of India
1967
Honorary fellow, Indian Standards Institution
1970
Recipient of Margaret Mann citation from American Library Association (ALA)
1971
Grand knight of peace award, Mark Twain Society, USA.
1972
Died on 27th September at the age of 81
COMMITTEE WORK IN INDIA
1933-1935
Member, Imperial Library Committee
1947-1966
Chairman, Documentation (Sectional) Committee, Indian Standards Institution, New Delhi
1948
Member, Committee on National Central Library
1948-1951
Member, National Library Committee
1958-1960
Chairman, Library Buildings, Fittings, and Furniture Committee, Indian Standards Institution, New Delhi
1958-1959
Chairman, Library Committee, University Grants Commission
1960
Chairman, Review Committee on Library Science, University Grants Commission
1961-1963
Chairman, Committee to Draft the Library Bill for Mysore State
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE WORK
1948
Member, International Committee of Library Experts
1949
Coordinated with UNESCO for the establishment of the Delhi Public Library
1950
Coordinated with UNESCO for the establishment of INSDOC
1951-1961
Rapporteur-general, FID/CA (Committee on General Theory of Classification of the International Federation for Documentation)
1951-1953
Member, International Advisory Committee on Bibliography of UNESCO
1963
Honorary Chairman, FID/CR (Committee on Classification Research of the International Federation for Documentation)
WORKED WITH ASSOCIATIONS
1916-1972
Member, Indian Mathematical Society
1928-1953
Founder-Secretary, Madras Library Association
1930-1933
Member, International Library Committee of the World Association for Adult Education
1933-1972
Member, Indian Library Association (ILA)
1937-1944
Vice-President, Indian Library Association
1944-1953
President, Indian Library Association
1949-1953
Secretary, Indian Adult Education Association
1953-1957
Vice-President, Madras Library Association
1958-1967
President, Madras Library Association
1958
  • President, Madhya Pradesh Library Conference, Bhopal
  • Founded the Madhya Pradesh Library Association

1965-1972
Vice-President, Governing Council, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore
EDITOR OF PERIODICALS
1937-1947
Editorial Board, Modern Librarian
1949-1953
Editor, ABGILA, Indian Library Association. The confluence of three journals (i.e. Annals, Bulletin and Granthalaya) took place at the time of Dr. Ranganathan tenure as President of ILA (1944-1953) and given a new acronym ABGILA, first published in 1949 and continued until 1953. In 1965, it was revived with a new title ‘Journal of Indian Library Association (JILA)’, published Quarterly.
1951
Associate Editor, Libri
1954-1963
Editor, Annals of Library Science. INSDOC launched ‘Annals of Library Science’ in 1954 and Dr. Ranganathan was its founder editor. In 1964, the journal title was expanded to ‘Annals of Library Science and Documentation’. The Journal title was renamed again  as ‘Annals of Library and Information Studies’ in 2001 and continues till today.
1964-1972
Editor, Library Science with a Slant to Documentation. The Journal was founded by Dr. Ranganathan in 1964 and he was the editor of this journal till his death in 1972. The Journal title was changed to ‘Library Science with a Slant to Documentation and Information Studies’ in 1988 and again to ‘SRELS Journal of Information Management’ in 2000.


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