Prolegomena to Library Classification (Volume 1)

An outstanding teacher, a serious researcher and an eminent scholar, Prof. Malur Aji Gopinath has been serving the field of Library and Information Science for over four decades with missionary zeal. Though his teachings, nation-wide professional discourses, guidance of research dissertations, and global level involvement in the field, Prof. Gopinath has come to be regarded as the torch-bearer of Indian Librarianship for a vast majority of library professionals of this generation. bron in Tumkur, Karnataka, on 17 August 1940. Prof. Gopinath had his early education at the University of Mysore. He graduated in LIbrarianship from the Madras University in 1963 (B.Lib.Sc). In 1969, he obtained the Associateship in Documentation and Inforamtion Science from DRTC. Indian Statistical Institute. He was awarded Ph.D. fro his work on classification by the Karnatak University in 1981. Starting his professional career as Research Assistand under Dr. S.R. Ranganathan. Prof. Gopinath taught at the DRTC, Bangalore, from 1969 to 1995 during hwich time he rose to the position of Professor and Head of the Centre. HIs professional contributions have been global with national touch. Several universities in India and USA, and UNESCO have benefited by his advice on Library and Information Science Education. Currently, he is a Visiting Professor, at the School of Library and Information Science in North Carolina Central University. Durham, USA. The awards in recognition of his contributions to the profession are several including National Lecturer in Library Science, UGC (1984): Fulbright Senior Fellow (1986): Visiting Research Scholar, British Council, London (1980, 1990): Fellow of the Society for Information Science. India (1994): International Kaula Gold Medal Award (1995). Prof. Gopinath's multificeted scholarship and research interests evidenced in his many publications that are widely used. He has been Editor/Consulting Editor for the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (UK), Knowledge Organization (Germany), SRELS Journal of Information Management (India). He was mainly responsible for preparing Dr. Ranganathan's Colon Classification. edition 7 (1987).