Oberlin College Library Records, Files of Ray English | Oberlin College Archives

The records of the Oberlin College Library, the files of Ray English, Director of Libraries, predominantly cover the years of 1990-2015.  (Ray English was also the Head of Reference from 1979-89, and the Associate Director of the Library from 1986-1990.  Papers relating to this time period are found within the ‘Oberlin College Library’ collection).  These records provide documentation of the directional leadership provided to the Oberlin College Library by Ray English, over a span of twenty-five years.  Several important technological advances and structural changes to both the library and the campus occurred during this period, which are evidenced by the record.  Important changes from traditional cataloging to an online catalog (OBIS), the design and building of the Academic Commons at the Mudd Center, the continued development of the Friends of the Library group and other donor relations, as well as the proposal and attainment of several key grant funds used for the advancement of information literacy and digitization, are represented within the record group.

The largest series of files documents 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.  Another highlight of the collection is Mr. 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.  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.

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 & 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 – 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.

SUBGROUP AND SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Subgroup I.  Records of the Office of Director of Libraries, 1990-2015  (5.8 l.f.)

Subgroup I contains records pertaining to the daily operations, budgetary considerations, management planning and interdepartmental communications, all of which document activities and the chain of command at various levels.  Records are divided into nine series:  1. Administrative Files of the Director (incls.: minutes of meetings, etc.); 2. Appointment Calendars; 3. Committee Records; 4. Correspondence of the Director; 5. Financial Records; 6. Interviews & Talks by Ray English; 7. Personnel Records; 8. Subject Files; and 9. Writings by Ray English.

            Series 1.  Administrative Files of the Director, 1990-2015  (1.4 l.f.)

            The Director’s Administrative files contain the correspondence, emails and minutes pertaining to the Director’s Advisory Group (DAG), covering the entire period of the directorship.  The files also contain correspondence and emails documenting the interaction between the Director of Libraries and executive offices of Oberlin College such as the President, Dean and Provost during the director’s tenure.  Additionally within these files, are documents pertaining to the Admissions, Development and Security Offices.  Faculty, Strategic Plans and Board of Trustees communications can also be found within this series.

            Series 2.  Appointment Calendars, 1980-86  (0.2 l.f.)

            Series consists of six Appointment Calendar Books (4 -7.5 x 9, 1 -5.5 x 8, 1 -4 x 6) documenting daily appointments from 1980 – 1986.

            Series 3.  Committee Records, 1985, 1988, 1990-2014  (0.8 l.f.)

            This series contains minutes and reports of committees, subcommittees and special work groups which deal with library business and the operational functions of the library.  The Library Director both chaired and served on some of these committees.  The committee records series contains two subseries:  1. Oberlin College Library and Campus Committees; and 2. External Committees.  The files are arranged alphabetically within the subseries.

            Series 4.  Correspondence of the Director, 1990-2014  (1.0 l.f.)

            The correspondence series is organized around three subseries: 1. General Correspondence; and 2. Email Correspondence; and 3. Chronological Correspondence.  Subseries one and two document a wide variety of topics relating to library administration, including the creation of and continuation of online cataloging, collection development, building construction and renovations, grant writing and proposals, staff development, donor affiliations and capital contributions, library programming and lectures, and documentation regarding special events, projects and publications.  The email correspondence series covers a shorter length of time than the General Correspondence, due to its’ advent being post-2000.  (The Chronological Correspondence files are stored in the Administrative Office of the Library, awaiting disposition).

            Series 5.  Financial Records, 1990-2014  (0.2 l.f.)

            Documents within this series relate to budget development and monitoring, interactions between the Director of Libraries and the Vice President of Finance and the Controller’s Office, as well as several spreadsheets detailing operating budgets and the reworking of budgets to accommodate fluctuating economic times.  Two grant proposals, Booth Ferris Foundation and Charles E. Culpeper, are also within the financial records.  (NOTE: All other grant proposal files and related materials are within Subgroup V; Series 2; Subseries 2-Ohio Five Mellon Grants & Programs.)

            Series 6.  Interviews and Talks (Ray English), 1992-94, 2000-14  (0.4 l.f.)

            This series contains several talks given by Ray English on subjects ranging from friends groups in libraries to open access.  There are eleven Scholarly Communications talks covering the development and implementation of open access, spanning the years from 2004 to 2012.  Three interviews of Ray English are also within this series.

            Series 7.  Personnel Records, 1990-2014  (0.4 l.f.)

            Material related to personnel matters such as professional development, faculty status, salaries, and the minutes of meetings of various staff committees are found in Series 7.  The series is arranged alphabetically by file, chronologically within the file.

            Series 8.  Subject Files, 1989-2014  (1.2 l.f.)

            This series contains fourteen miscellaneous single files containing information on a variety of important subjects such as library self-studies, open access, library statistics, library reviews both internal and external, the Oberlin College alumni and the cooperative work between the Oberlin College Library and the Allen Memorial Art Museum.

            Series 9.  Writings by Ray English, 1990-92, 2000-10  (0.2 l.f.)

            Six individual articles authored by Ray English and several article reviews are found in the series.  Four of the authored articles pertain to open access, while the article reviews were written for ‘Portal: Libraries and the Academy’, over the course of ten years (2000-10).

Subgroup II:  Library Departments, Programs, Projects and Related Groups, 1973, 1988-2003, 2004-15  (7.87 l.f.)

Subgroup II, which largely encompasses the administrative files of library departments and their interactions with the library director, as well as the Friends of the Oberlin College Library, is divided into three series, with four subseries:  Series 1. Library Departments; Series 2. Other Library Programs or Affiliations, Subseries 1. Exhibits; Subseries 2. Oberlin Public Library; Subseries 3. Projects; Subseries 4. Teaching (Ray English courses at Oberlin College); and Series 3. Friends of the Oberlin College Library (FOL).  These records report on the activities and interactions pertaining to eleven departments, three branch libraries, several exhibits and library projects, and the library’s relationship to the FOL and the Oberlin Public Library.

            Series 1.  Library Departments, 1990-2014  (5.27 l.f.)

            As the largest series of the collection, this documentation reports on the daily activities, operations and management of the various departments within the main college library and the three campus branch libraries (Art, Conservatory & Science).  Included are the departmental records for Archives (the Archives reporting line changed to the Director of Libraries from the OC Provost/Dean of Arts & Science in 2008), Audio Visual, Cataloging, Center for Information Technology, Circulation (including Carnegie Off-site Storage facility), Collection Development, East Asian Studies, Preservation, Reference, Serials and Special Collections.  Files typically include budgets and allocations information, internal correspondence, records of gift funds and letters of appreciation, work groups meeting minutes and space consideration/renovation discussions. Also included are departmental annual reports.

            Series 2.  Other Library Programs or Affiliations, 1990-97, 2000-15  (1.0 l.f.)

            This series, consisting of four subseries, mainly covers library sponsored activities such as exhibits and procuring collections (projects), as well as one external special relationship with the Oberlin Public Library.  There are nine individual exhibit files and sixteen project files, alphabetically arranged within two subseries.  Budgets, Board Meeting Minutes, Director’s Reports and other various correspondences help to describe the close relationship between the OCL and the OPL.  The subseries contained within this series are:  Subseries 1. Exhibits; Subseries 2. Oberlin Public Library; Subseries 3. Projects; and Subseries 4. Teaching (Ray English courses at Oberlin College).

            Series 3.  Friends of the Oberlin College Library, 1973, 1988-2015  (1.6 l.f.)

            This is a large series containing the correspondence and meeting minutes of five different Friends Committees (Acquisitions, Council, Jantz Lectureship, Membership and Program) that directed and supported the Friends of the OC Library group over the span of thirty years.  Also within the series are individual files alphabetically arranged, for twenty-one different Jantz Lectures, as well as thirteen Friends of the Library Talks.  Other Friends’ represented subjects documented in the series are Oberlin Author’s receptions, Research Awards & Scholarships, Special Collections Grant, and the Student Friends of the Library group.

Subgroup III.  Building Files (Architecture and Construction), 1990-2001, 2005-13 (0.6 lin. ft.)

Subgroup III focuses on the correspondence, reports, statistics, drawings, proposals and general information centering on the building, decorating and maintenance of the Academic Commons and AZ Café, built within the Mudd Center in 2007.  There are also records pertaining to the Goodrich Room, Art Library, Conservatory Library and Science Center building and renovations.  Two subseries of the Subgroup are:  1. Main Library / Mudd Center; and 2. Branch Libraries.

            Series 1.  Main Library / Mudd Center, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997-99, 2001, 2005-13  (0.4 l.f.)

            Series 1 consists of correspondence, building plans and drawings, general information and discussions regarding the development and execution of the Academic Commons and Goodrich Room renovation plans.  This is an important part of the documented tenure of Ray English, as he was instrumental in both the initial idea of and the endowment for the design of the Academic Commons.

            Series 2.  Branch Libraries, 1990-2001, 2006, 2008-10, 2012  (0.2 l.f.)

            The series contains correspondence, building plans and drawings, general information and discussions regarding the renovations and building of the three branch libraries.

Subgroup IV.  Library Publications, 1991-2015  (0.2 l.f.)

The library publications subgroup consists of one newsletter of information on people and activities occurring in the college libraries.  The newsletter appeared twice yearly, at the beginning of both the Fall and Spring semesters, and was consecutively numbered from Issue No. 1 – 52.

            Series 1.  Oberlin College Library newsletter, 1991-2015  (0.2 l.f.)

            This series is solely representative of the ‘Library Perspectives’; a newsletter of the Oberlin College Library.  The newsletter, which was edited and contributed to by Ray English, published fifty-two issues during his tenure.  There is also one special summer issue titled, ‘Library Disrespectives’; a spoof of the regular publication in honor of Ray English’s retirement.

Subgroup V.  External Organization Files, 1990-2014  (3.65 l.f.)

Materials documenting the College Library’s relationship to external groups or professional organizations are held within this subgroup.  The group is arranged under two series that document an extensive relationship between the college library and external groups such as the Ohio Five Consortium, OhioLINK and NEOMARL.  The series contained within the subgroup are:  Series 1. National Library Organizations; and Series 2. State / Regional Library Organizations.

            Series 1.  National Library Organizations, 1988-2014  (1.2 l.f.)

            The series documents Oberlin College Library and the director’s relationship to national library organizations such as the American Library Association (ALA), and the Association of College Research Libraries (ACRL).  There is a heavy emphasis of documents relating to scholarly communications within ACRL; including the ‘Anti-Merger White Paper’ and records pertaining to the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) group.  Also included are files related to the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant for the College Library’s Diversity Intern Program.

            Series 2.  State / Regional Library Organizations, 1990-2014  (2.45 l.f.)

            Series contains correspondence, emails, meeting minutes and supportive documents for several task force committees relating to the subject of Open Access at the state level, through collaboration with OhioLINK.  Two subseries record the extensive relationship of the Oberlin College Library and the Five Colleges of Ohio Consortium, particularly describing the Mellon Grants and Programs pursued and obtained by the cooperative of the Ohio Five Consortium.  Annual reports, budgets, meeting minutes, proposals, courses and curriculum, assessments and staffing related documents for the programs are contained within the subseries.  There are also many documents relating to the largely funded area of Information Literacy, within this subseries.

Subgroup VI.  Non-Textual Media, 1956, ca. 1960s-2008, 2010-15  (19.95 l.f.)

Subgroup VI contains all non-textual media (Photographs, Ephemera and Posters, Cassette Tape, CD-R, DVD, Floppy Disc Drive 3.5” and 5.25”, Microcassette Tape, Sound Recording Tape, VHS and Zip Disc Drive) pertaining to the twenty-five year span of time covering Ray English’s tenure as the Director of Libraries, with some material dating from William Moffett's directorship.  They are arranged into three series: 1. Photographic Materials (includes prints, negatives, contact sheets, and slides), 2. Ephemera and Posters, and, 3. Audiovisual and Electronic Media.  The latter are arranged in six subseries by topics covered, media format and then alphabetically within.  The subseries are:  1. External Organizations; 2. Friends of the Oberlin College Library; 3. Oberlin College Library; 4. Five Colleges of Ohio Mellon Grants & Awards; 5. Ray English Personal Files; and 6. Unmarked Media.

            Series 1. Photographic Materials, ca. 1970s-2007, 2015, n.d.  (11.54 l.f.)

            The photographic series holds images of library events produced for its newsletter, Perspectives, portraits of library staff and student workers, snapshots of parties and other events, in negative, print, and electronic formats; and slides used for public presentations.  A small amount of photographs, primarily staff portraits, were removed from the general Library records and added to the Ray English records for ease of access.  English had retained a significant amount of photographs dating from William Moffett’s directorship.

                      Subseries 1. Photographic Prints, 1972, 1981-83, 1987, 1989, 1991-2007, 2015, n.d.  (10.64 l.f.)

                      The bulk of this subseries comprises photographs taken at Friends of the Library dinners and other events with featured speakers.  Other events represented are visits by donors, faculty information literacy workshops, a conference of Oberlin College alumni librarians, the Chinese American Librarians Association Awards Banquet, and documentation of various department exhibits and activities, including group staff portraits.

                      Subseries 2. Negatives and Contact Sheets, ca. 1970s-90, 1992-99, 2001-03, 2006, n.d.  (0.3 l.f.)

                      The negatives and contact sheets represent only a small number of the images that exist in the prints subseries.

                      Subseries 3. Slides, 1980-90, 1992-93, 2000, n.d.  (0.55 l.f.)

                      In addition to loose slides found in their original containers, this subseries holds the slides and texts assembled in a Kodak Carousel by Ray English for public presentations on the history of the Oberlin College Libraries.

                      Subseries 4. Born Digital Images, 2007-11, 2013-15  (0.05 l.f.)

                      This subseries is much like the photographic prints in subject matter, covering events that illustrated the pages of Perspectives.  The Friends of the Library events covered date from 2009 to 2015.  The celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the erection of the Carnegie Library in 2008 is well documented by photographer John T. Seyfried.

            Series 2. Ephemera and Posters, 1991-97, 2001-04, 2010, 2013, n.d.  (3.0 l.f.)

            Series 2 holds original and duplicate library bookplates and original library event posters.  The posters were collected by Ray English, and cover years prior to and after his appointment as Director of Libraries.

            Series 3. Audiovisual and Electronic Media, 1956, 1982-2014  (3.75 l.f.)

                      Subseries 1. External Organizations, 1985-1993, 1998-99, 2001-06, 2008  (1.25 l.f.)

                      The subseries contains a mix of media formats, with mostly VHS tapes containing a heavy emphasis on the subjects of Open Access and the Patriot Act.

                      Subseries 2. Friends of the OCL, 1956, 1986, 1990-92, 1994-98, 2000-01, 2003-08, 2010-14  (0.63 l.f.)

                      The subseries contains a mix of media formats, with mostly cassette tapes and CDs of recorded Jantz Lectureship talks.  There are also Friends of the Library dinners and discussions documented, as well as five CDs covering the ‘Future of the Book’ Symposium.

                      Subseries 3. Oberlin College Library, 1982-1997, 1999-2000, 2002-04, 2006  (0.62 l.f.)

                      Containing a mix of media formats mostly comprised of 5.25” Floppy Disc drives and VHS, the subseries has a heavy emphasis on materials relating to the Administration and various departments and their interactions.  There are also library budgets, personnel files and the correspondence of Ray English as it relates to the functioning of the college library.  A historically noteworthy item for both its’ format and content, is the sound recording on tape reel of the ‘Oberlin Conference on Theft’, held at the Oberlin College Library in 1983.

                      Subseries 4. Five Colleges of Ohio Mellon Grants & Awards, 2004-09 (0.25 l.f.)

                      The subseries contains a mix of media formats, with mostly CDs.  The subjects of Librarian Recruitment, Information Literacy and the related programs, courses and interns are documented.

                      Subseries 5. Ray English Personal Files, 1995, 1997, 1999-2000, 2002-08  (0.75 l.f.)

                      The subseries contains a mix of media formats, with DVDs being the major component.  Several of the DVDs are Backup Files for Ray’s computer, spanning the years of 1995, 2000, and 2003-2005.  There are also media containing recorded conference calls and correspondence.

                      Subseries 6.  Unmarked Media, n.d.  (0.25 l.f.)

                      Subseries contains seven media formats, mostly comprised of 3.5” Floppy Disc Drives.  The contents are unmarked, not having dates or subject information.