Ira Doley Raymond (1917-2004)
Papers 1949-2006

MSS 0097

Biographical Note

Ira Raymond was born on July 6 1917 in O'Halloran Hill, South Australia. His mother died in 1930 and in 1932 his father, a leading Churches of Christ minister, moved with his three sons and a new wife to West Australia. Ira was educated at Adelaide High School, Fremantle Boys' School, Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia. He graduated with a BA in English and French in 1941 and a MA in 1951.

From 1937 to 1941 Ira taught at schools in Western Australia. This was followed by War service in the RAAF from 1941 to 1945, when he was posted to New Guinea. In 1946 he entered the Library School of the Public Library of New South Wales.

After gaining professional qualifications he held a number of library positions in West Australia before appointment to the staff of the National Library of Australia in 1949. Here he moved through a number of positions with distinction, and in 1954 was appointed Liaison Officer in New York. He was accompanied by his wife Patricia, whom he had married in 1951. They remained in New York until 1957 and Ira took the opportunity to gain the degree of Master of Library Science from Columbia University.

On return to the National Library he held several senior positions in succession. This was a time of unprecedented growth and development at the National Library and Ira made a major contribution to the planning and establishment of national bibliographical services.

Raymond was appointed University of Adelaide Librarian in 1964 and served in the position for 18 years until his retirement in 1982, steering the Library through a stage of rapid growth. During his service the size of the collection passed the half-million and million volume mark and the Barr Smith Library building doubled in size.

While he was an outstanding bookman, Ira was also ahead of his time in the development of library systems. Operations were steadily computerised from the 1960s onwards and cataloguing went online in 1980. His meticulous planning and execution helped to ensure success of these developments. His great contribution to the university was recognised in 1989 when the title of Librarian Emeritus was conferred on him.

He continued his involvement in national initiatives throughout his career. He served on a number of Committees of the Australian Advisory Council for Bibliographical Services; sat on the National Library Advisory Committee on the Humanities 1973-1978, and was also Chair of the Committee of Australian University Librarians 1973-1978. He also took a lifelong interest in education for librarianship, serving in a number of advisory roles with the then Library Association of Australia, and establishing the short-lived Library School at the University of Adelaide between 1975-1979. He received the highest accolade of his profession, the H.C.L. Anderson Award from ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association) in 1982 for his outstanding contribution to librarianship.

Contents Listing

Series 1: Biographical  17 cm.

1.1 Interview with Ira Raymond by Peter Biskup (1994).
13 CDs copied from the originals in the National Library of Australia in 2006.
Also transcript: recorded interview with Ira Raymond by Peter Biskup 22/11/94 & 25/11/94 for the NLA Oral History Section (2 v.) and associated correspondence.

1.2 Autobiography of Ira’s father, Roy Raymond A Preacher’s Progress (Perth, 2006) 114 p.
Self-published copy, plus print of the electronic edition.

1.3 Certificates, academic results, etc.
Alliance Francaise , Perth & Kalgoorlie, 1933 & 1935; University of WA/Public Examinations Board 1933-36; University of WA 1940 (B.A.), M.A. 1951; Public Library of NSW Library School 1947; Australian Institute of Librarians 1947 & 1949; University of WA 1954-1956; Columbia University, NY, Master of Science (Library Science) 1956; Beta Phi Mu (National Library Science Honorary Fraternity) 1957; Library Association of Australia 1964; Barr Smith Library personnel data form ca. 1977; University of Adelaide M.A. 1964, Bachelor of Arts 1987-1992, and personal anecdote from Raymond’s Chinese lecturer; also academic gown in oversize envelope

1.4 Columbia University memorabilia
Includes Taunton, Roy. A History of the School of Library Service Columbia University. NY: Columbia UP, 1954; 1985 alumni letter; 1987 invitation to Founders Day celebrations; copies of Library Service News 1987-1991; invitation to 250th celebrations 2003

1.5 H.C.L. Anderson Award awarded to Ira Raymond 1983
Statuette by Alan Ingham 18x14x26 cm
Also citation from the Library Association of Australia, and associated correspondence re the presentation; printout of webpage re the award; letter to Patricia Raymond; letter of congratulation from the University of Adelaide Council.
STATUETTE ON DISPLAY IN FRONT OF THE IRA RAYMOND EXHIBITION ROOM

1.6 Retirement 1982

• Copy of Innovation No Stranger … presented to Ira Raymond 20/12/1982 by the editors and contributors
• Articles published in Library News and Lumen; invitation to, and Lumen photograph of, official naming of the Ira Raymond Room July 1982
• Menus from retirement dinners at the University of Adelaide Staff Club and the Library Association of Australia (SA Branch)
• Cards, letters received on his retirement [large card from staff 51x32 cm in oversize envelope]

1.7 Invitation to re-opening of Ira Raymond Exhibition Room; invitation to the inaugural exhibition 23/5/1989 “People, Print & paper” at which the title of Librarian Emeritus was conferred; notes for Raymond’s response; letter of congratulation from Patrick Condon, Acting Librarian; account of the event published in Interface 1/6/1989.

1.8 Eulogy Ira Doley Raymond by Gerald Laurence; obituary Adelaidean 10/11/2004; funeral service booklet; card from Patricia Raymond

1.9 Photographs: Ira Raymond 1963 (2 items)

1.10 Photocopies of Ira Raymond's personal collection of books on librarianship

See also Series 2.1 and Library Archives Series 117

Series 2: Correspondence  6 cm.

2.1 Correspondence, general 1949-1963
Includes letter re qualifying for Australian Institute of Librarians 1949; rough copy of letter to Harold White, ANL 7/6/1954; applications for position of Chief Librarian Canberra University College (1958) and Deputy Librarian (1959), Librarian University of Western Australia (1958) with photograph, Senior Assistant Librarian Australian National University (1959), Assistant National Librarian at National Library of Australia (1961); also correspondence with George Schwegmann of the Library of Congress concerning national union catalogues; Raymond’s application for reclassification to the Public Service Board 1963; application for Librarian at Bedford Park [now Flinders University] (1963).

2.2 Correspondence, general 1964-1982 (Barr Smith Library period)
Includes application for Librarian at the University of Adelaide (1963); correspondence with Maurice Tauber of New York, Bill Cowan and Noel Stockdale; letters of congratulation on Raymond’s appointment; some letters regarding Library Association of Australia matters; letter from C.E. Dornbusch of New York (1966); letter to Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide with extension proposal for Library building; advertisement for Barr Smith Library University Librarian position (1980); consultation to Queen Victoria Hospital re library building; letter from Walter Crocker on Raymond’s retirement.

2.3   Correspondence, general 1983-2004
Includes letters re the remodelling of the Ira Raymond Room in 1984; the Early Imprints Project of SA (EIPSA) final report from Dr Alan Brissenden; invitations to submit publications; letter from the Vice Chancellor conveying Librarian Emeritus in 1989; donations to the Barr Smith and other libraries; correspondence with Vic Edgeloe re errors in his account of the Dept of History; invitation to tour China 1994; letter to Maureen Keane re her article on librarianship education in SA, with a copy of “To everything there is a season …: a life-cycle analysis of education for librarianship in South Australia, 1944-1994” presented at Australian Library History Forum 1995; letter to Ray Choate 1999 re the donation of Clement Semmler’s James Joyce collection and a copy of Semmler’s 1982 letter; correspondence re the Barr Smith Library’s 2 millionth volume celebrations; and other Library matters.

2.4   Correspondence with Tony Anthony 1976-1908
Tony Anthony was a South Australian painter who regularly corresponded with Ira Raymond re donations of books and a watercolour painting “September Morn” to the Library. Anthony was a recovering alcoholic who spent some time at the Kuitpo Colony rehabilitation centre.

2.5   Dornbusch correspondence 1966-1987
C.E. Dornbusch was proprietor of the Hope Farm Press and Bookshop in Cornwallville, N.Y., and compiler of Military Bibliography of the Civil War and Australian Military Bibliography. He had previously worked at the New York Public Library when Raymond was in NY as the NLA Liaison Officer 1954-57 and had facilitated book acquisition for the National Library. Although largely personal, the letters also deal with library and bibliographical concerns. Also biographical material on Dornbusch; letter from Raymond to Susan Woodburn 21/4/1999; photocopy from K.D. Metcalf’s autobiography Random Recollections of an Anachronism (1980) and interview published in The Bookdealer’s Profile (1985); issues of Staff News of the NYPL re early library automation; Hope Farm Bookshop catalogue 1984.

Series 3: Barr Smith Library  4 cm.

3.1 Study leave reports 1969-70, 1979

Study leave 1/6-9/9/1979: object to study problems of growth, how to serve as a joint library, computer-based bibliographical systems, and to investigate the Washington Library Network system; visits to libraries in USA, Great Britain and Europe; includes supplementary reports and supporting documentation. Folder includes report on study leave 24/11-15/5/1969 to observe trends in computing science applications and to advance the BSL acquisition programme, with associated correspondence.

3.2 Personal folder 1969-1979
Containing: desiderata list (Dec. 1969); books reserved and set aside at New York bookshops during study leave visit 1969-70; Canadian official publications needed in Adelaide; list of U.K. booksellers 1969; notes on visits to American, Canadian and British libraries and library schools; notes on HMSO Books Disposal Section 1969-70; draft talk “Problems in the Department of National Book resources” given at the College of Librarianship in Wales (21/4/1970).
Also notes for the University of Adelaide Library Studies Unit course 1972-75; notes for Academic and Research Library Management, 2nd and 3rd meetings (June 1975); notes on legal aspects, copyright, legislation, revision and updating of information, use of statistics, choice and evaluation of equipment, and cooperation (1975-79).

3.3 List of graduates of Diploma in Library Studies 1977-1980

3.4 R.J.M. Clucas (Barr Smith Librarian 1900-1930)
Includes: correspondence with Brian Ward 2004; copies of photographs of Clucas and Library staff 1925; typescript and copy of article “R.J.M. Clucas and the Quest for Professionalism” in AARL v. 26 (March 1995); source materials re Clucas and William Herbert Ifould, former Librarian of the Public Library of SA and Public Library of NSW; ADB entry on Clucas by Raymond and related correspondence 1977-80, drafts and source material, correspondence with H. Muir re Clucas’ first use of Greek text in an Australian publication.

Series 4: Professional activities  5 cm.

4.1 Library Association of Australia (LAA) correspondence and papers 1958-1989
Includes correspondence re Raymond as examiner for the Registration Certificate courses; report by representatives of the LAA on the IFLA working Group on Cataloguing Principles Conference Meeting (July 1959) and letters re Raymond’s appointment to the Committee on Cataloguing Code Revision; draft article “The National Union Catalogue of Monographs” (1962); correspondence re conference papers, publications; typescript of talk “Conditions for cooperation” to LAA Universities and Colleges Division (1979); text of talk to LAA Jubilee Dinner “The Library Association of Australia, South Australian Branch, in the 1960s and 1970s”(August 1987).

4.2 LAA 22nd Biennial Conference, Adelaide, August 1982 “Challenge and Response”
Includes programme; Raymond’s notes for introductory talk to Plenary Session; register of delegates; Conference Circular; copies of two talks by Susan K. Martin: “Networking: who benefits?” and “Impact of new technologies on library networking”.

4.3   “South East Asia” 1965-1973

• Paper delivered at LAA Conference 1965 by Enid Bishop “Oriental collections: some questions for Australian libraries”
• Text of talk by Enid Bishop to ACT Branch of LAA (5/3/1962) on “Oriental librarianship”
• Paper “Some Japanese problems in education for Oriental librarianship” / Takahisa Sawamoto, presented to28th International Congress of Orientalists (Canberra, January 1971)
• Correspondence re Raymond chairing a session of the Symposium of Southeast Asian Library Resources (Canberra February 1973) and programme

4.5 AACOBS: correspondence and notes re contributions an editing work on AACOBS annual reviews 1984-1985. Also handouts (typescripts- Roneo copies) “Australian Advisory Council on Bibliographical Services and Australian Bibliographical Centre” (June 1958); “Bibliographical Services in Australia” (1954-55, 1956, July 1957-June 1958); “Report of the Committee on Union Cataloguing” 3rd meeting, Canberra (15 August 1958)

Series 5: Publications/writings  8 cm.

1950
“The influence of the emblem literature in English verse of the seventeenth century” M.A. (University of WA)

1955
“Privacy in American publishing” [essay], LS.101, Columbia University School of Library Service
"The races of New Guinea and how they are administered" [term paper] LS 119, Columbia University School of Library Service

1958

• review of The Indian National Bibliography, Oct-Dec 1957. Typescript (carbon copy), 4 leaves.
• “The Australian Advisory Council on Bibliographical Services and the Australian Bibliographical Centre” / I.D. Raymond and Audrey M. Nolan (sent to Australian Library Journal 27/11/1958) Typescript (carbon copy), 8 leaves
• “A union catalogue for Australia? A paper prepared for the Committee on Union Cataloguing of the Australian Advisory Council on Bibliographical Services”, Australian Bibliographical Centre, Canberra. Typescript (carbon copy) 17, 2 leaves. [Not released]
• Draft copy 27/11/58 of “The Australian Advisory Council on Bibliographical Services”. Typescript (carbon copy) 9 leaves.

1961
“Chapter VI: Co-operation and present bibliographical services”. Typescript (carbon copy) 19 leaves. Draft prepared for Dr Tauber’s survey 5/8/61.

1962
“The National Union Catalogue of Monographs”, reprint from Australian Library Journal v. 11 (July) 2 copies

1963
“The National Union Catalogue of Australia”, working paper (May) 12p.

1964
review (ms draft) of Herbert Coplan’s “The communication of information” pub. In The Science of Science … / ed. Maurice Goldsmith (London, 1964) 2 leaves

1966

• “The Martin Report and Librarianship in Australia”, reprint from Australian Library Journal (April) [4]p.
• review of Readings in Library Cataloguing / ed. R.K. Olding. Pub in Australian Book Review, Typescript (carbon copy) 3 leaves

1969
“The Librarian in Education”, South Australian Education (April). With associated correspondence, typescript, typescript talk on “The Library in Education” presented to Commonwealth Conference for Secondary School Librarians, Adelaide Teachers College (January 1969) with associated correspondence and conference papers.

1970
extracts from talk “Problems in the development of national book resources” given at the College of Librarianship, Wales, 21 April 1970. Typescript (Roneo copy) 5 leaves

after 1970
“Library service for scientists”, ms draft of talk [after 1970] 5 leaves

1971
“The pattern of Australian education for librarianship: a critical comment”, reprint Australian Library Journal (April) [5] p., with associated correspondence and typescript

1979
“Costing library storage” in LaTrobe University: Storage Options for Australian University Libraries: papers from the CAUL Seminar, Canberra, April 1979, plus typescript.

1984

• review of Australian Academic Libraries in the Seventies: essays in honour of Dietrich Borchardt / ed. Harrison Bryan and John Horachek (U. Of Queensland Press). Typescript (carbon copy) 4 leaves, and associated correspondence.
•  “William Albert Cowan, 1908-1984”, tribute published in AARL. Typescript (carbon copy) 2 leaves, with associated correspondence,

1986
Review of In Establishing and Maintaining a Library: two essays on the University of Sydney Library / N.A. Radford and John Fletcher. Published Australian Library Journal vol. 35 (February). Typescript (photocopy) 2 leaves, and associated correspondence.

1987
“Eoin Howitt Wilkinson: in appreciation”, published AARL vol. 18 (June). Typescript (carbon copy) 4 leaves, with associated correspondence and notes.

1989
review of An Enthusiasm for Libraries …/ ed by Jean P. Whyte and Neil A. Radford, pub. In Library Quarterly (October). Typescript, 2 p.,  and associated correspondence

1992
Draft chapter 2 with annotations “Internal management” / Eric Wainwright and Ira Raymond, published in Aspects of Australian Libraries for Research, ed G.G. Allen (Perth: Library, Curtin U. of Technology) 2 copies

1993
“Working with HLW: looking back after thirty years” – article on Harold White, 14 leaves; also correspondence with Dr Peter Biskup

1994
review of No Gray Profession: reminiscences of a career in Australian libraries / Harrison Bryan. Typescript and associated correspondence; also copy of “Former Director-General reminiscences: an interview with Harrison Bryan´/ Peter Biskup (pub. AARL June 1990)

1995
“RJM Clucas and the quest for professionalism”, AARL v. 26 (March). Journal issue; with correspondence with Peter Biskup.

See also Series 3.4

“Working together for good: the Church of Christ, Kensington Park S.A. 1918-1995: souvenir history”

2000
“Adventures of a university librarian”, Bibliofile v. 10 (August). Journal issue with associated correspondence and photocopies of illustrations

Other articles and talks are contained in Series 4.