S. R. Ranganathan

SR Ranganathan ( Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan, born August 9, 1892 in Shiyali, Tamil Nadu, † September 27, 1972 in Bangalore ) was an Indian mathematician and librarian. He developed the " Five Laws of Library Science ", which did not spread very far, but influential classification.html">Colon classification and coined the concept of information logistics. He is considered the father of library science in India.

His five-year career as a professor of mathematics at the Universities of Mangalore, Coimbatore and Madras was complicated by his stammer ( a handicap that he could overcome in the course of his life ).

Not originally planned Ranganathan to be a librarian. But in 1923 the University of Madras a librarian for the University Library sought to organize the disorganized collection, he was chosen from 900 applicants.

His knowledge in the field of librarianship were limited at this time on an article from the Encyclopedia Britannica, so he first went to London to study librarianship. During this stay, be became interested in the problems of classification, and in 1933 he designed the Broad Colon Classification ( a faceted classification ).

As Ranganathan returned to India, he had become a passionate librarian, convinced of the importance of a functioning library system for the Indian nation. For the next twenty years he was the director of the University Library Madras. During this time he founded the Madras Library Association and was involved in the establishment of public libraries, and an Indian National Library.

In 1932 he created the " Five Laws of Library Science ":

• Books are for use as ( " Books are for use" )
• Every book its reader ( "Every book its reader" )
• Every reader his book ( "Every reader his book" )
• Save the time of the reader ( "Save the time of the reader" )
• A library is a growing organism ("A library is a growing organism " )

After conflicts with the university management Ranganathan gave up the position at the University of Madras Library after 20 years and was appointed professor of Library Science at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi.

From 1955 to 1957 Ranganathan lived in Zurich, because his son had married a European woman. This unorthodox relationship did not like him, and he soon returned to India, although he was able to build and maintain numerous contacts within the European library community at this time. During this time he founded a professorship at the University of Madras.

In 1957 he was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian medal of India awarded.

In 1962 Ranganathan the Documentation Research and Training Centre in Bangalore. In 1965 he was named in honor of his contributions to library science from the Indian government to the National Research Professor ( " National Research Professor ").

On September 27, 1972, he died after a long illness from the effects of bronchitis.

His grandson Ranga Yogeshwar works as an editor and presenter at the West German Radio.