Robert Wedgeworth
At the Heart of the University: The Making of a Global Library
September 30, 1993
About the Lecture: In the 1993 Mortenson Distinguished Lecture “At the Heart of the University: The Making of a Global Library,” Mr. Wedgeworth discussed the evolution of our own great library and considers its future in an environment in which computer and telecommunication links to information technologies play nearly as important a role as a library’s on-site collections.
Robert Wedgeworth ‘s long and distinguished career began in the 1960s as a pioneer in the then-new field of library automation and quickly progressed to expertise in the area of the international book trade. In 1972, he was appointed executive director of the American Library Association, a post he held for 13 years. From 1985 to 1992, he was dean of the School of Library Services at Columbia University, and in 1992 was appointed interim university librarian at the University of Illinois. He is also president of the International Federation of Library Associations, which represents over 1,300 library associations and institutions in more than 135 countries.
Mr. Wedgeworth’s many honors and awards include five honorary doctorates, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the prestigious Joseph Lippincott Award from the American Library Association. In 1993, he was appointed to the Library of Congress’s Copyright Advisory Group.
In the 1993 Mortenson Distinguished Lecture “At the Heart of the University: The Making of a Global Library,” Mr. Wedgeworth discussed the evolution of our own great library and considers its future in an environment in which computer and telecommunication links to information technologies play nearly as important a role as a library’s on-site collections.