Davis, Donald G., Jr. 1939–

views updated

Davis, Donald G., Jr. 1939–

(Donald Gordon Davis, Jr.)

PERSONAL: Born August 15, 1939, in San Marcos, TX; married Avis Jane Higdon; children: Lucinda Ellen, Samuel Higdon, Caroline Louise. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., 1961; University of California, Berkeley, M.A., 1963, M.L.S., 1964; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ph.D., 1972; Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, M.A. T.S., 1996.

ADDRESSES: Home—Austin, TX. Office—c/o School of Information, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, D 7000, Austin, TX 78712-6390. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Fresno State College, Fresno, CA, senior reference librarian, 1964–68, head of special collections department, 1966–68, instructor in library resources, 1967–68; University of Texas at Austin, Austin, assistant professor, 1971–77, associate professor, 1977–86, professor of library and information science, history, and library history, 1986–2005, professor emeritus, 2005–, associate dean, 2000–02. City of Birmingham Polytechnic, Birmingham, England, principal lecturer, 1980–81; speaker at many other institutions, including Colorado State University, South China Normal University, Rosary College, University of Hong Kong, and Thames Valley University; conference participant; seminar coordinator; consultant to publishers, libraries, educational institutions, and others. Austin Metropolitan Ministries, personal member, 1982–88; Austin Area Conference of Churches, vice president for development, 1987, 1988; Christian Leadership Ministries, member of volunteer staff, 2005–. Member of Austin History Center Guild, Friends of the Austin Public Library. Texas Center for the Book, member of advisory council, 1987–; Kluwer Academic Publications, member of editorial board and U.S. editorial team for Annual Bibliography of the History of the Printed Book and Libraries, 1994–; Maney Publishing, member of editorial board for Library History, 1998–; member of advisory board for other reference books and periodicals and for Internet discussion groups. Bread for the World, member, 1973–; Austin International Partners, member of steering committee, 1986–88; Austin Foundation for the Homeless, volunteer.

MEMBER: International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (member of executive committee, Round Table on Library History, 1978–, chair of committee, 1999–2003; member of executive committee, Round Table of Editors of Library Journals, 1987–, chair of committee, 1987–91), World History Association, American Historical Association, American Library Association (chair, Library History Round Table, 1978–79; member of executive committee, International Relations Round Table, 1990–92), Association of College and Research Libraries, American Printing History Association, Association for the Bibliography of History (member of executive committee, 1982–85), Association for Library and Information Science Education, National Association of Scholars, Organization of American Historians, Conference on Faith and History, Fellowship of Christian Librarians and Information Specialists (president, 1984–86, 1998–2001), Hymn Society of the United States and Canada, Presbyterian Historical Society, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (member of faculty ministries volunteer staff, 2005–), Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (U.S. board member, 1999–), Librarians' Christian Fellowship (England; vice president, 1990–), Library Association (England), Presbyterian Historical Society of the Southwest, Texas Library Association, Texas State Historical Association, Texas Association of Scholars, Texas Group for the Study of Books and Print Culture (coordinator, 1994–), Heritage Society of Austin (member of board of directors, 1989–92), Phi Kappa Phi Beta Phi Mu (chapter president, 1973–75; member of board of directors, 1998–2001).

AWARDS, HONORS: Fellow of Newberry Library, 1974, and American Institute of Indian Studies, 1988; Golden Anniversary Distinguished Award, Beta Phi Mu, 1999; American Library Association, Donald G. Davis Article Award established by Library History Round Table, 2000, Editorial Achievement Award, Library History Round Table, 2003.

WRITINGS:

The Association of American Library Schools, 1915–1968: An Analytical History, Scarecrow Press (Metuchen, NJ), 1974.

(With Rolland E. Stevens) Reference Books in the Social Sciences and Humanities, 4th edition, Stipes Publishing (Champaign, IL), 1977.

(With Michael H. Harris) American Library History: A Bibliography, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1978.

(Editor) Libraries and Culture: Proceedings of Library History Seminar VI, University of Texas Press (Austin, TX), 1981.

(Editor) Libraries, Books, and Culture: Proceedings of Library History Seminary VII, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX), 1986.

(With Charles D. Patterson) ARBA Guide to Library Science Literature, 1970–1983, Libraries Unlimited (Littleton, CO), 1987.

(With John Mark Tucker) American Library History: A Comprehensive Guide to the Literature, American Bibliographical Center-Clio Press (Santa Barbara, CA), 1989.

(Editor) Reading and Libraries: Proceedings of Library History Seminar VIII, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX), 1991.

(Editor, with Wayne A. Wiegand, and contributor) Encyclopedia of Library History, Garland Publishing (New York, NY), 1994.

(With Mohamed Taher) Librarianship and Library Science in India: An Outline of Historical Perspectives, Concept Publishing (New Delhi, India), 1994.

(Editor) Libraries and Philanthropy: Proceedings of Library History Seminary IX, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX), 1996.

(Editor, with Andrew B. Wertheimer, and contributor) Library History Research in America: Essays Commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Library History Round Table, American Library Association, Center for the Book, Library of Congress (Washington, DC), 2000.

(Project coordinator and author of foreword) Handbooks of Texas Libraries: 1904–1908, 1915, 1935, Texas Library Association (Austin, TX), 2000.

(With Deon Dempsey) A Bibliography of Texas Library History, 1685–2000, Eakin Press (Austin, TX), 2002.

(With Jon Arvid Aho) A Chronology of Texas Library History, 1685–2000, Eakin Press (Austin, TX), 2002.

(Editor and contributor) Dictionary of American Library Biography: Second Supplement, Libraries Unlimited (Westport, CT), 2003.

Contributor to books, including Administration and Curriculum, edited by John F. Harvey and Frances Laverne Carroll, Greenwood Press (New York, NY), 1987; Carnegie Denied: Communities Rejecting Carnegie Library Construction Grants, 1898–1925, edited by Robert S. Martin, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 1993; For the Good of the Order: Essays in Honor of Edward G. Holley, edited by Delmus E. Williams and others, Jai Press (Greenwich, CT), 1994; Untold Stories: Civil Rights, Libraries, and Black Librarianship, edited by John Mark Tucker, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, IL), 1998; and Library and Information Studies Education in the United States, edited by Loriene Roy and Brooke E. Sheldon, Mansell (London, England), 1998. Contributor of hundreds of articles and reviews to scholarly journals and other periodicals, including Journal of Academic Librarianship, Third World Libraries, Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, Journal of Library History, Reference Quarterly, College and Research Libraries, Texas Library Journal, Southwestern Archivist, American Libraries, and Christian Librarian. Editor, Libraries and Culture, 1977–2005; editor of special issue, Library Trends, 1986.

SIDELIGHTS: Donald G. DavisJr., told CA: "My first inspiration was watching my father research and write his doctoral dissertation when I was eight years old. The teacher in an advanced composition class in high school convinced me that I could write. Two semesters of (non-remedial) freshman English at UCLA, taught by doctoral students, gave me some basic skills and experience that prepared me well. When I was stuttering more as a young adult, I thought also that writing would be a better way to communicate, especially with permanence. Now that I speak pretty well, this is not so much of a motivation.

"My writing processes usually involve a loose outline of basic ideas and (now) composing on a computer, then going back to provide supporting documentation and to edit thoroughly. Editing is critical. Other folk need to read your work for clarity and felicity of expression. I have been blessed by having some critical and thoughtful readers of my work before it went to press. My favorite work is American Library History: A Comprehensive Guide to the Literature (1989) because it is the definitive bibliography of its field and provides excellent introductions and reviews for scholars, experienced and beginners. Besides as an old reference librarian, I like the idea of producing reference books that meet a need and will be used and consulted.

"My first love is reference books, so I want them to be useful, to be used, and when possible, to be cited. I also want to bring clarity to events and phenomena that are not understood well. My favorites here are two chapters and an article that deal with (1) the rejection of Carnegie library grants in Southern communities in the early 1900s, (2) the destruction of the Hanlin Library during the Siege of Peking in 1900, and (3) the role of library promotion in the Mississippi Freedom Summer project of 1964."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Malone, Cheryl Knott, editor, Libraries & Culture: Historical Essays Honoring the Legacy of Donald G. Davis, Jr., Center for the Book at the Library of Congress (Washington, DC), 2006.