Herbert S. White

Herbert S. White (1927-2024) was an American librarian.

Image of Herbert S. White

Life

Herbert Spencer White was born July 5, 1927 in Vienna, Austria. He studied at the City College of New York, 1944-1946, then at Syracuse University 1947-1950 where he earned a BS in Chemistry (1949) and an MS in Library Science (1950). He served in the US Army Air Corps, 1946-1947.

In 1949 he became a trainee in the Queensborough Public Library, Jamaica, NY, then in 1950 a special recruit at the Library of Congress where was a cataloger in the Sci-Tech Division, 1950-1953.Technical librarian, Union Carbide, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 1953-1954. Chief librarian, Chance Vought Aircraft, 1954-1959. Worked for IBM as Project manager, IBM Engineering library, Kingston, NY, 1959-1962 and at the Technical Information Center, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1962-1964. Executive Director, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Scientific and Technical Information Facility, College Park, 1964-1968, then Vice President for Operations of the Institute for Scientific Information. In 1968 he became Vice president for Information Management, Leasco, then Senior Vice President for Operations at the Institute for Scientific Information, 1970-1975.

In 1975 he joined the faculty of the Indiana University, Bloomington campus School of Library and Information Science, where he was Dean and professor from 1975-1991, then Distinguished Professor Emeritus after 1991. He died on September 9, 2024.

Contributions

White believes that a special library must be efficient and its goals must support the objectives of its parent organization. He thinks that managing the boss is the most important thing a special librarian can do; therefore, the librarian must "convince the boss it is his job and in the organization's best interests to support the librarian. While President of ISI, he started new programs, including the North European Chapter, began publishing the Bulletin (ASIS Bulletin Vol. 3, Dec. 1975).

"Through writings, speeches, and contributions to library education and management, he has had a career that mirrors the life and spirit of Melvil Dewey" (American Libraries, June 1987). He wrote "Research & Reality," a column in American Libraries; "White Papers," a column in Library Journal. He is interested in Library and information management, information retrieval, library mechanization.

Publications

Herbert White authored several books and some 200 articles, primarily on library administration, supervision, and automation.

• Managing the Special Library: Strategies for Success Within the Larger Organization. White Plains NY: Knowledge Industry Publications, 1984.
• Librarians and the Awakening from Innocence: A Collection of Papers. Boston Mass: G.K. Hall, 1989.
• Ethical Dilemmas in Libraries: A Collection of Case Studies. New York Toronto New York: G.K. Hall, 1992.
• At the Crossroads : Librarians on the Information Superhighway. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1995.
• Librarianship--Quo Vadis?: Opportunities and Dangers As We Face the New Millennium. Englewood CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000.

Awards

American Society for Information Science and Technology. Watson Davis Award; Award of Merit, *1981.

• Special Libraries Association. J.C. Dana Award, 1985.
• American Library Association. Melvil Dewey Award (ALA) 1987.
• Indiana Librarian Lifetime Achievement Award (CLR). 1990.

Offices

Herbert White was active in several organizations, including:

• Special Libraries Association. President, 1969-70.
• American Federation of Information Processing Societies. Director, 1972-78.
• American Society for Information Science and Technology. President. 1973-74.
• International Federation for Documentation (FID). Board of Directors, 1976-78; Treasurer, 1978-82.
• Association for Library and Information Science Education. Chairman, Governmental Relations Committee, 1980-88.
• American Library Association. Councillor, 1988 - ?

Further reading

• "Herbert S. White." Wikipedia [1]
• Who's Who in Library Service. 4th ed. [New York]: Shoe String Press, 1966, p 742.
• Garfield, Eugene. "Introducing Herbert S. White." Current Contents 3 (January 26, 1972). Reprinted in Essays of an Information Scientist Vol 1, pp 260--261. [2]
• White, Herb. Videotaped oral history, No. 92-045. Indiana University, Bloomington. staff and is located in the Indiana University Center for the Study of History and Memory, April 1992. [3].