Eric John Wainwright, BA MA GDipAdmin FALIA

1997 HCL Anderson Award citation

Eric Wainwright is an outstanding librarian. His contribution to library and information services and to the profession in Australia has been formidable. Many practising librarians have been influenced by his thinking and personal example of professional practice performed at the highest level.

Following temporary posts after university studies, Eric was appointed Assistant Librarian (Information Services) at the University of Surrey Library in 1969. He came to Australia as Lecturer in Bibliographical Resources, Department of Library Studies, in the then Western Australian Institute of Technology in 1972, was appointed a Research Fellow in the Department in 1974, and then Reader Services Librarian at Murdoch University the following year, and Deputy University Librarian at The University of Queensland in 1978. Eric joined The University of Adelaide as University Librarian in 1981, was appointed Deputy Director-General of the National Library of Australia in 1988, and in August will be taking up the position of Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Support) at James Cook University.

He has been outstandingly successful in all his professional appointments. At The University of Queensland, for example, he developed a systematic approach to the withdrawal of lesser-used material from academic library shelves, which became a model for other university libraries. His time as University Librarian at The University of Adelaide was characterised by major achievements in strategic planning, collection development and computer policies. His achievements at the National Library of Australia include oversight of the development of the Library's last two strategic plans, the key role in the definition of the concept of the Distributed National Collection (DNC) and responsibility for the major Towards Federation 2001: Linking Australians and their Heritage planning process of the early 1990s.

Eric has also given distinguished service to the development of the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN). He was appointed a member of the interim ABN Network Committee on its establishment in 1981 and has since served on the Network Committee almost continuously. He has been heavily involved in all key policy decisions underpinning ABN's operations and a fervent advocate for its importance to the Australian library infrastructure.

Eric has been involved in a wide range of broad professional activities which have benefited the profession. In the early 1970s, when colleges of advanced education were proliferating, he and John Dean undertook on behalf of the Commission on Advanced Education a major research project to investigate the feasibility of setting up quantitative and qualitative guidelines for the development of library collections in Colleges of Advanced Education. He was, on the nomination of the Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee, a member of the Working Party which reported to the Higher Education Council on Library Provision in Higher Education Institutions (the Ross Report) in 1990, and much of the intellectual rigour and comprehensiveness of the Report is due to him.

He has in the last two years made a major contribution to the policy work of the Office of Government Information Technology (OGIT) in the Commonwealth Government. He led the taskforce responsible for the Report of the Information Management Services Committee on 'Management of Government Information'. This work is of national significance, and his expertise was reflected in his recent appointment as one of the three Commonwealth Government nominees on the new Information Policy Advisory Council, advising the Commonwealth Minister for Communications and the Arts on national policy issues concerning information and communication services.

As the library and information sector copes with the implications of the dynamic growth in information technology and electronic networking, Eric has used every opportunity, through seminars, conferences, meetings and the professional literature, to draw his colleagues' attention to the opportunities the new technologies provide both in an institutional setting and in the global network context. His efforts to clarify and communicate the intricacies of developments such as convergence in technologies, so that librarians can help shape the strategic thinking governing their application, have been of enormous benefit. He is a prolific writer and has a record of publications equalled by few others in the profession.

Few members can match the contribution Eric has made to the Association over nearly three decades. This has included his distinguished term as a member of the Board of Education for nine years from 1983, and as chair of the Board from 1988 to 1989. He has a great interest in the issue of education for librarianship, where his strong views have often challenged the profession. He has continually sought improvement to the educational framework in order that it might better cope with the increasing complexity of library and information service delivery, and was a pioneer in advocating effective and broad-ranging staff development policies in Australian libraries. He has also given much service to the Australian Council of Library and Information Services and its predecessors, including the development of the AACOBS national research agenda in the 1980s.

Eric Wainwright throughout his career has cogently and lucidly argued for change, and for a clear articulation of the principles and strategic directions necessary for the profession to thrive. He has a catholic range of professional interests, and has both challenged and led through his publications, teaching, speaking and advocacy roles in many forums. He has given distinguished service to several of our major libraries, to the Association, and to the profession in wider professional and other forums.

The HCL Anderson award is the highest honour that can be conferred by the Association on a librarian, and in the opinion of the ALIA General Council, Eric Wainwright is a most-worthy recipient of it.