F Derek O Fielding

MA ALA FLAA

Conferred 1970

Fred Derek Osmond Fielding was educated in Ireland, securing his Master of Arts degree from Trinity College, Dublin. He was elected to the register of the Library Association in 1951 and held a series of positions in the Sheffield City Libraries prior to taking up appointment as deputy librarian, University of Auckland in 1958.

In 1960 Mr Fielding re-emigrated to Western Australia, again to the position of deputy university librarian and, in 1965, moved to his present position of librarian, University of Queensland.

Australian librarianship owes much to Britain and a suprising amount to Britain by way of New Zealand. Mr Fielding exemplifies the good sense and the capacity for hard work that Australia has learned to expect of those who come to it after this two-stage peregrination.

Since going to Queensland Mr Fielding's energy and persuasiveness have lifted his library to second place by size among the Australian University libraries, a remarkable feat in view of the somewhat discouraging record of the University concerned, in earlier days, in relation to its library.

The Board would not regard a good, or even perhaps an outstanding, performance by a librarian of his duties as by itself grounds for recommending the Association's highest distinction. It has been impressed, however, in Mr Fielding's case, by the additional evidence that can be adduced of his quality as a librarian.

Firstly, in relation to developments in his particular speciality, Mr Fielding has displayed a flexibility of mind and a determination not to be hampered either by tradition or by the apparent size of problems. As an example, he has developed a most interesting program for computer involvement in the re-classification of his library's half a million volumes from Dewey to Library of Congress.

Mr Fielding has shown a keen interest in library administration and his Administrative Organisations of Australian University Libraries, while largely a compilation of material supplied by others, nevertheless occupies a unique place in the continuing record of Australian libraries in action.

In articles in the Australian Library Journal, in a range of reviews, and in papers published in the records of the Association's conferences, Mr Fielding's breadth of interests as well as his knowledge and vigour of expression are well demonstrated.

Second, in the affairs of the Association itself, Mr Fielding has come increasingly to the fore. he has been president of the Queensland Branch on two occasions and has represented the Branch on General Council since 1968. He is currently a member of the Standing Committee on Freedom to Read. He was a member of the Association's Committee on the Teaching of Librarianship and was chairman of the committee which organised the highly-successful Brisbane Conference in 1967.

Mr Fielding is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Australian Advisory Council on Biliographical Services and has been chairman of the Automation Committee set up by that body.

Third, with reference to the development of libraries and librarianship in Queensland, the Board has been made award that Mr Fielding's contribution has been highly significant. In this State where, for a variety of reasons, there has been a continuing, urgent need for promotion work in the broadest sense, Mr Fielding has demonstrated determined leadership in an area only marginally related to his speciality. In public testimony, in direct negotiation with Government, and in the unremitting exercise of pressure on the responsible authorities, Mr Fielding has carried out a difficult and at time invidious task with determination and skill.

The Board of Examiners commends Fred Derek Osmond Fielding, Master of Arts, Association of the Library Association, Associate of the Library Assocaition of Australia, to Council as an outstanding university librarian whose work in a variety of fields for the Association, for its objects, and for the improvement of his specialism constitutes a distinguished contribution to the practice of librarianship in Australia.

The Board recommends that Council invite Mr Fielding to accept the distinction of Fellow of the Library Association of Australia.