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Sanford Berman Papers, 1912, 1927-29, 1932-33, 1938, 1941-47, 1950-1953, 1955-2022

By Unknown; Denise Rayman; Salvatore V. De Sando; Faith McConnon

Collection Overview

Title: Sanford Berman Papers, 1912, 1927-29, 1932-33, 1938, 1941-47, 1950-1953, 1955-2022

ID: 97/1/40

Creator: Berman, Sanford (1933-)

Extent: 45.0 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: Arranged by accession date, then by subject title and chronologically by date thereunder

Date Acquired: 09/01/1994

Languages: English [eng]

Scope and Contents of the Materials

Papers of Sanford Berman (1933-), SRRT clearinghouse coordinator (1973-75), Minnesota affiliate member (1991-) and head cataloger at Hennepin County, Minnesota Library (1973-99), contains correspondence, publications, photographs, presentations, books, journals, and articles written by Berman, and publications from other authors that use his indexes or that cite his work, includes improved subject access to library materials, archaic and prejudicial LC subject headings, African-American, women's, gay, and alternative library materials, experiences as a librarian in Uganda, Hennepin County Library, SRRT, African libraries, Jewish and African-American librarians, public libraries, international librarianship, censorship, indexing, and his employment dispute with Hennepin County Library (1999-2000), and Berman's publications "Prejudices and Antipathies" (1971), "Joy of Cataloging", "Cataloging Special Materials", "Alternative Library Literature" (1982/83-), "Unreal! Hennepin County Library Subject Heading for Fictional Characters and Places", "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sandy Berman. . ." (1996), and "Worth Noting" (1998).

See Record Series 97/1/70 for an oral history interview.

Biographical Note

Sanford "Sandy" Berman was born in 1933 in Chicago, Illinois. In 1955 Berman received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles, and in 1961 received his M.S. in Library Science from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Berman began his professional career at the District of Columbia Public Library as Assistant Chief of the Acquisitions Department, and went on to work at the U.S. Army Special Forces Library in West Germany, Schiller College Library in West Germany, UCLA Research Library, University of Zambia Library, Makerere University Library in Uganda, and finally the Hennepin County Library (HCL) in Minnesota as Head Cataloger, where he worked for over twenty-five years. While with the HCL system and throughout his career, Berman advocated for free speech and access to information, and was also a vocal advocate for subject heading reforms, especially with regards to pejorative language in subject headings. In 1999 Berman retired from the Hennepin County Library.

Administrative Information

Accruals: 8/31/2000 (First Accession Dates), 2/27/2006, 7/2006, 2/6/2007, 2/8/2007, 2/9/2007, 5/29/2007, 6/6/2007, 6/8/2007, 8/6/2007, 12/28/2007, 1/4/2008, 1/29/2008, 6/17/2008, 7/2/2008, 11/25/2008, 5/10/2011, 11/1/2011, 9/20/2012, 2013; 8/8/2013, 11/18/2013, 12/2/2013, 12/5/2013, 4/21/2014, 9/26/2014, 1/21/2015, 1/28/2015, 8/17/2015, 11/5/2015, 5/16/2016, 5/25/2016, 8/19/2016, 10/24/2016, 3/7/2017, 3/29/2017, 7/2/2017, 9/29/2017, 12/22/2017, 12/10/2018, 7/29/2019, 1/27/2020, 2/10/2020, 3/27/2020, 4/15/2020, 6/29/2020, 12/10/2020, 6/10/2021, 1/11/2022, 3/25/2022, 5/25/2022, 6/24/2022, 8/25/2022

Finding Aid Revision History: 9/28/2022; 12/2/2022 - updated folder titles and dates

Other Note: 31 Pages

Other URL: https://files.archon.library.illinois.edu/alasfa/9701040a.pdf