Verner Warren Clapp: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:10, 13 January 2025

Verner W. Clapp (1901-1972) was a US librarians and foundation president.

Verner Warren Clapp was born June 3, 1901 in Johannesburg, South Africa and died June 15, 1972. He served for many years at the Library of Congress, as a consultant, and as the founding President of the Council on Library Resources. He was widely influential.

Contributions

Library of Congress

Clapp worked at LC for 33 years.

He argued for LC leadership in developing basic bibliography tools for scholars in all fields of learning to use.

He started the Cooperative Acquisitions program that enabled LC to acquire 2 million European publications.He developed the concept of the machine-readable unit record, which grew into the MARC project. He was responsible for Books-for-the-Blind program and Regional Lending Libraries. He laid the groundwork and established the scope of service of the Congressional Research Service. He argued for LC leadership in developing basic bibliography tools for scholars in all fields of learning to use. His projects covered every aspect of librarianship as well as archives, copyright, documentation, and publishing.

National Diet library, Japan

Clapp had a formative influence as a consultant.

Council on Library Resources

Clapp established the Ford Foundation's Council on Library Resources and served as the founding President, 1956-1967.

Other

Forest Press: Director 1954-60; President 1960-1972. He participated in the first revision of the Copyright Act. Lake Placid Club Education Foundation Trustee 1955-72.

Awards:

Melvil Dewey Award (American Library Association (ALA)); Lippincott Award (ALA); Honorary Life Membership (ALA); Librarians' Librarian (Association of Research Libraries (ARL)); Special Citation (Special Libraries Association (SLA)); 1986 Order of the Sacred Treasure (from the Japanese government for his work in designing the National Diet Library).

Selected Publications

Papers

Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, DC). 1901-1973. ca. 16,000 items. Includes: Family and general correspondence, diaries (1914-1972), subject files, speeches and writing memoranda, notes, and printed matter, chiefly 1945-1972, relating to Clapp's service at LC, his duties as chief librarian to the United Nations Conference on International Organization (1945), his work for UNESCO on various international library matters, his role in the establishment of the National Diet Library in Japan, and his work for the Council on Library Resources. Topics include matters relating to librarianship and library science, documentation, information retrieval, copyright law, ALA, ARL, SLA, and Clapp's personal and family life and his travels, especially to Japan. Unpublished finding aid. Access restricted. (Source: NUCMUC, MS 80-2037.)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Life ==
+'''Verner W. Clapp''' (1901-1972) was a US librarians and foundation president.
 [[File:Verner Clapp.jpg|alt=Vernor Clapp portrait|thumb|Verner Clapp]]
--1972
+'''Verner Warren Clapp''' was born June 3, 1901 in Johannesburg, South Africa and died June 15, 1972. He served for many years at the Library of Congress, as a consultant, and as the founding President of the Council on Library Resources. He was widely influential.
 == Contributions ==
-Worked at: Library of Congress (LC), Council on Library Resources
+=== Library of Congress ===
+Clapp worked at LC for 33 years.
-Clapp worked at LC for 33 years; Forest Press: Director 1954-60; President 1960-1972. He developed the concept of the machine-readable unit record, which grew into the MARC project. He was responsible for Books-for-the-Blind program and Regional Lending Libraries. He laid the groundwork and established the scope of service of the Congressional Research Service. His projects covered every aspect of librarianship as well as archives, copyright, documentation, and publishing.
+He argued for LC leadership in developing basic bibliography tools for scholars in all fields of learning to use.
-He started the Cooperative Acquisitions program that enabled LC to acquire 2 million European publications. He established the Ford Foundation's Council on Library Resources. In 1956, Clapp served as president of the Council of Library Resources. He continued to participate in advances in library and science-tech centers. He argued for LC leadership in developing basic bibliography tools for scholars in all fields of learning to use. He participated in the first revision of the Copyright Act.
+He started the Cooperative Acquisitions program that enabled LC to acquire 2 million European publications.He developed the concept of the machine-readable unit record, which grew into the MARC project. He was responsible for Books-for-the-Blind program and Regional Lending Libraries. He laid the groundwork and established the scope of service of the Congressional Research Service. He argued for LC leadership in developing basic bibliography tools for scholars in all fields of learning to use. His projects covered every aspect of librarianship as well as archives, copyright, documentation, and publishing.
-'''Awards:'''
+=== National Diet library, Japan ===
+Clapp had a formative influence as a consultant.
-Melvil Dewey Award (American Library Association (ALA)); Lippincott Award (ALA); Honorary Life Membership (ALA); Librarians' Librarian (Association of Research Libraries (ARL)); Special Citation ([[Special Libraries Association|'''Special Libraries Association''']] (SLA)); 1986 Order of the Sacred Treasure (from the Japanese government for his work in designing the National Diet Library).
+=== Council on Library Resources ===
+Clapp established the Ford Foundation's Council on Library Resources and served as the founding President, 1956-1967.
-'''Offices:'''
+=== Other ===
+Forest Press: Director 1954-60; President 1960-1972. He participated in the first revision of the Copyright Act.
+Lake Placid Club Education Foundation Trustee 1955-72.
-Lake Placid Club Education Foundation Trustee 1955-72; Council on Library Resources Pres. 1956-?; Trinity College Trustee 1970-72.
+== Awards: ==
+Melvil Dewey Award (American Library Association (ALA)); Lippincott Award (ALA); Honorary Life Membership (ALA); Librarians' Librarian (Association of Research Libraries (ARL)); Special Citation ([[Special Libraries Association|'''Special Libraries Association''']] (SLA)); 1986 Order of the Sacred Treasure (from the Japanese government for his work in designing the National Diet Library).
 == Selected Publications ==
-== Papers ==
+== Further reading ==
-'''LOCATION #1:''' Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, DC)
+*"Verner W. Clapp" ''Wikipedia'' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verner_W._Clapp]
-'''PAPERS DATES:''' 1901-1973
+For National Diet Library:
+*Buckland, M. K. ''Ideology and libraries: California, diplomacy, and occupied Japan, 1945-1952''. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021.
-'''SIZE:''' ca. 16,000 items
+For Council on Library Resources:
-'''INCLUDES:''' Family and general correspondence, diaries (1914-1972), subject files, speeches and writing memoranda, notes, and printed matter, chiefly 1945-1972, relating to Clapp's service at LC, his duties as chief librarian to the United Nations Conference on International Organization (1945), his work for UNESCO on various international library matters, his role in the establishment of the National Diet Library in Japan, and his work for the Council on Library Resources. Topics include matters relating to librarianship and library science, documentation, information retrieval, copyright law, ALA, ARL, SLA, and Clapp's personal and family life and his travels, especially to Japan. Correspondents include, '''[[Luther Harris Evans|Luther Evans]]'''.
-'''FINDING AID:''' Unpublished finding aid. Access restricted.
-'''SOURCE:''' ''NUCMUC'', MS 80-2037
+== Papers ==
+Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, DC). 1901-1973. ca. 16,000 items. Includes: Family and general correspondence, diaries (1914-1972), subject files, speeches and writing memoranda, notes, and printed matter, chiefly 1945-1972, relating to Clapp's service at LC, his duties as chief librarian to the United Nations Conference on International Organization (1945), his work for UNESCO on various international library matters, his role in the establishment of the National Diet Library in Japan, and his work for the Council on Library Resources. Topics include matters relating to librarianship and library science, documentation, information retrieval, copyright law, ALA, ARL, SLA, and Clapp's personal and family life and his travels, especially to Japan. Unpublished finding aid. Access restricted. (Source: ''NUCMUC'', MS 80-2037.)