Oberlin College Library Records, Files of Ray English

Collection

Identifier: RG 16-002

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The records of the Oberlin College Library, the files of Ray English, Director of Libraries, predominantly cover the years of 1990-2015. They relate to the leadership of Ray English over a span of twenty-five years. Several technological advances and structural changes to both the library and the campus occurred during this period, which are evidenced by the record.This record group details the change to an online catalog (OBIS), the design and building of the Academic Commons at the Mudd Center, the development of the Friends of the Library, and details of grant funds used for the advancement of information literacy and digitization.

(Ray English was also the Head of Reference from 1979-1989 and the Associate Director of the Library from 1986-1990. Papers relating to this time period are found within the "Oberlin College Library" collection).

The largest series of files relates to the extensive relationship between the Oberlin College Library and the Ohio Five Colleges’ Mellon Foundation grants, which awarded several grants to the library to support various information literacy programs and conferences, yearly sponsorship of library associates and interns, and most recently the creation and enhancement of digital collections to support student learning and scholarly research. English’s contributions, writings, and participation in the protection of open access and scholarly communications, in conjunction with the Academic College and Research Libraries (ACRL) group, are also represented in this record group. There are many committee meeting minutes and notes, correspondences and articles authored/co-authored with regard to scholarly communications and open access within the record.

Several key topics represented and referenced throughout the record are: donor relations and development, the Friends of the Oberlin College Library, facilities and space considerations, OBIS, OhioLINK, the Five Colleges of Ohio consortium, open access and Special Collections. Also included are Ray English’s writings, awards, talks and documentation of his professional work beyond the college environment.

Dates

Creation: 1914 - 2022
Creation: Majority of material found in 1990-2014
Other: Date acquired: 10/15/2015

Creator

English, Raymond (Ray) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Unrestricted, except where noted on the inventory.

Extent

38.07 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement Note

The records are arranged in six subgroups: I. Records of the Office of Director of Libraries; II. Library Departments, Programs, Projects and Related Groups; III. Building Files; IV. Library Publications; V. External Organization Files; and VI. Non-Textual Media.

Subgroup I, Records of the Office of Director of Libraries, is of an administrative nature and consists of records such as Director’s Advisory Group committee meeting minutes, internal and external committee files, director’s correspondence, financial, personnel and subject files. These files trace the day-to-day operations of the library and document major initiatives in budget and staff development, collection development and management, long-range planning, and library policies and procedures in a number of areas.

The files relating to library departments, and other important groups and projects such as the Friends of the Oberlin College Library, various exhibits and the Oberlin Public Library, are found in Subgroup II. There is also a subseries within this subgroup, documenting Mr. English’s teaching at the Oberlin College. (NOTE: The Archives Department reported to the Provost/Dean of Arts and Sciences until 2008. Therefore, the Archives Department papers are minimal in this collection.)

Subgroup III, Building Files, documents the major building initiatives, plans and correspondence relating to the Academic Commons/Azariah’s Cafe, the Goodrich Room renovation and the branch libraries.

Subgroups IV through VI contain the library publications, external organization affiliation files and non-textual media referencing several programs and lectures, related organizations, the library and personal files.

Note: Users should see Subgroup VI (Non-Textual Media) for materials such as photographs, negatives, slides, CDs, DVDs, cassette tapes, etc., that may relate to important records (e.g., Jantz Lectureship, Ohio Five Mellon Grants, Friends of the Oberlin College Library, open access and the Patriot Act) within the collection.

Method of Acquisition

The records were received from Ray English in 2015, and from Alexia Hudson-Ward in 2016. A small amount of photographic material was transferred from the Audio-Visual Department in accession 2019/012.