LHRT (Library History Round Table)

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The mission of the Library History Round Table (LHRT) is to encourage research and publication on library history and promote awareness and discussion of historical issues in librarianship.

Learn more about LHRT on the ALA website.

  • 1.  Henriette Avram- (1919 –  2006) - Librarians We Have Lost-Sesquicentennial Memories -1976-2026

    Posted 28 days ago
    Henriette Avram

    Henriette D. Avram (1919-2006) 

    Henriette D. Avram (1919-2006)  at the Library of Congress replaced ink-on-paper card catalogs and revolutionized cataloging systems at libraries worldwide. AvramCamp, sponsored by CORE is an annual ALA event.  

    Henriette Avram developed the MARC format (Machine Readable Cataloging), the international data standard for bibliographic and holdings information in libraries. Avram's development of the MARC format  at the Library of Congress had a revolutionizing effect on the practice of librarianship, making possible the automation of many library functions and the sharing of bibliographic information electronically. 

    The American Library Association recognized Henriette Avram with many awards:

     

    More:



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    Kathleen de la Peña McCook
    Distinguished University Professor
    School of Information
    University of South Florida
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  • 2.  RE: Henriette Avram- (1919 –  2006) - Librarians We Have Lost-Sesquicentennial Memories -1976-2026

    Posted 26 days ago
    Thank you.  I knew Henriette Avram quite well and she was a lovely woman, clever, funny, quick as lightning to see a point, good company, and reputed to be an avid square dancer (with her husband)!

    The sad thing about her great achievement--MARC--is that she was not a librarian, still less a cataloguer.  She had the vision but, faced with what was--the LC catalogue card--she created MARC around that framework.  Hence, for example, the separation of the "main entry" headings in the 1xx fields and the "added entry"headings in the 6xx fields when they are both access points and should have been signified as such.  There are many such examples.  In my re-imagining of cataloguing history (a niche interest indeed), Henriette Avram is paired with Seymour Lubetzky and the dynamic duo recreate cataloguing and create a celestial MARC  ... 
    Best wishes, Michael


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    Michael Gorman
    Chicago, Illinois
    Editor, Caxtonian
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