About the AuthorS. R. Ranganathan and the Method of Science. By M. P. Satija. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1992. 181 p. ISBN 81‑85689‑07‑5. 200 rials.
Librarians in the West know Ranganathan best for the development of the colon classification system and for his five laws (“Books are for use; Every book its use; Every book, its reader; Save the time of reader; and A library is a growing organism”). S. R. Ranganathan and the Method of Science is a good correction for this too narrow appreciation of the depth and breadth of Ranganathan’s contributions. Although the author, a member of the teaching faculty on the Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, India, focuses primarily on Ranganathan’s research methodology, this work does also serve as an informative overview of his career as well.
Ranganathan was born in a village near Madras in 1892 and died in 1992. His career in librarianship spanned nearly half a century. Initially trained as a mathematician, he reluctantly accepted the position of Chief Librarian at Madras University at the age of 31. At that time, libraries and the library profession of India were at a low level of development. Soon thereafter, he went to Britain to study librarianship. While impressed with the system of British libraries and their services, his scientific mind deplored the lack of organization and absence of scientific methodology in the field. Returning to India, his goals were “to create library consciousness and make India a nation of readers” (p. 25) and “to make library science true to the name of science by writing it anew by applying the scientific methods.” (p. 24).
Satija notes that much of the writing on Ranganathan, especially in India, has been eulogistic. While praising Ranganathan for his creative vision, his unique intelligence and his unflagging commitment to a library science based on scientific principles, the author also addressed some of the criticism that have been leveled at his work. For instance, Ranganathan has been criticized for being obscure, or even mystical. The difficulty that some Westerners have in reading him is no doubt due to cultural differences in world view, language patterns, and style. Satija is helpful in providing the reader unfamiliar with Indian traditions an understanding of Ranganathan as an individual in the context of Indian culture. Ranganathan was an orthodox Hindu Brahmin, and his references to Indian classics, his use of Indian idioms and his penchant for inventing technical terminology (which some have called “Ranganathanese”) are sometimes viewed as impediments.
Quite often, it has been complained that his writings do not make an easy reading. To many admirers the excellence of contents in Ranganathan does not have a matching elegance in style. (p. 137)
Vedic concepts such as Ekavakyatic—the principle of integrative interpretation—contributed significantly to Ranganathan’s thinking and his philosophy that all aspects of librarianship (classification, reference, collection development and administration) are interrelated. In addition to promoting greater cross‑cultural understanding in general, Satija’s treatment of such concepts and their relation to Ranganathan’s work is a valuable aid to readers who have found Ranganathan’s writing difficult, obscure or “unscientific.”
The chapter, “Sources of Research on Ranganathan,” is an excellent bibliographic essay of the major sources on Ranganathan’s life and work. This chapter is supplemented by a selective bibliography and a chronicle of many of Ranganathan’s writings. While the text would have benefitted from more careful editing, it is recommended as an accessible work on one of the most significant thinkers and prolific writers in the library profession.
Faye Powell is Social Science Librarian, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon. Previously she was Head of Reference, Washington County (Oregon) Cooperative Library Services. She has an M.L.S. from the University of British Columbia and a second master’s degree, in anthropology, from San Francisco State University. Ms. Powell served as an American Library Association Library Fellow at the American Studies Research Centre, Hyderabad, India, in 1989‑1990. Her publications have appeared in the Indian Journal of American Studies, Indian Library Association Bulletin, College and Research Library News, and Information Technology and Libraries.
© 1993 Dominican University
Citation
Powell, Faye, “Book Review: S. R. Ranganathan and the Method of Science” Third World Libraries, Volume 3, Number 2 (Fall 1993).