Annals of Library science and Documentation 1992, 39(2), 38-45

WITH Dr. S.R. RANGANATHAN ON STANDARDSFOR DOCUMENTATION

Writing about Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, Dr. Lal C.Yerman, who is variously regarded as the GreatMoghulof the standardization movement in Indiahad once remarked, "Every Indian who has an~interest in libraries, library science, documenta-tion or any allied field has a justifiable pride inbeing the fellow countryman of Dr. Ranganathanwhose talents and genius have contrtbuted somuch to the advancement of knowledge in theworld". Dr. Ranganathan's notable contributionto upgrade the status of library and documenta-tion technologies to the level where they havebecome accepted as -distinct disciplines ofstudies in their own right has been under limelightall along. But what might not be equally in thecommon knowledge is the pioneering lead hegave to the activity of developing and applyingstandards in the realm of documentation, triter-mation retrieval and library fittings and furniture torealize various economies including economy ofintellectual effort,

It was a matter of good chance that Dr. Ranga-nathan came in contact with the Indian Stan-dards Institution (ISI - the predecessor body ofthe Bureau of Indian Standards) right at the time ofits creation in 1947. Dr. Ranganathan was at thattime busy in establishing a School of LibraryScience in the University of Delhi. The IndianStandards Institution was under the stewardshipof Dr. Lal C. Yerman who had also a colossal taskat his hands to establish the national standardiza-tion movement on a firm footing. It will stand to thecredit of these two titans of modern India that theycould foresee and appreciate the important rolewhich standardization could play in the realm ofdocumentation and the strength it could lendto various programmes of economic reconstruc-tion which came to be unleashed subsequently.

INFRASTRUCTURE FOR STANDARDS

For delivering its mandate in a systematic way,the then ISI constituted apex bodies calledDivision Councils for guiding development andpromotion of standards in specific sectors ofindustry and trade. To begin with, there were onlythree Division Councils dealing with Engineering,

Gurcharan singhBureau of Indian StandardsNew Delhi

Chemicals and Textiles. Subsequently, as thework expanded additional Division Councils werecreated to man activities in the areas of Foodand Agriculture, Electrical Engineering, Electron-ics, Metallurgy, Civil Engineering, etc.

For actual development of standards, theseDivision Councils constituted specialist sectionalcommittees. Each sectional committee carriedresponsibility to formulate and promote stan-dards in its assigned sector. For example, underthe Chemical Division Council, there are differentsectional committees for development of stan-'dards for acids and alkalies, industrial gases,paper and its products, paints, soaps, explosives,etc. The Division Councils monitored and con-trolled the activities of sectional committees in thesense that they approved the themes for stan-dardization and ultimately accorded approval tothe standards as formulated.

DOCU~ENTATION SECTIONAL COMMITTEE

The Documentation Sectional Committee of theBureau came to be established on 15 October1947 under the Chairmanship of Dr. S. R. Ranga-nathan. Chronologically, it was the third Sec-tional Committee to be set up. As at the time, therewas no Division Council specializing in this field,the activities of the Documentation Committeewere placed under the overall supervisory controlof the Executive Committee (EC) which was theapex advisory body of the Bureau exercising con-trol on its day-to day administration.

Both Dr. Ranganathan and Dr. Yerman wereconscious that the Independence was bound tostimulate far-reaching developments in the fieldof education, science, technology and industrialproduction and distribution systems. The pace ofgeneration of new information in academic institu-tions, research laboratories and R & 0 establish-ments was bound to multiply manifold.

Information feeds on itself. As SUCh, to lend theneeded strength to programmes of research anddevelopment, it was essential that the new infor-mation was properly documented, coded in an

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STANDARDS FOR DOCUMENTATION

easily retrievable manner and made available ondemand expeditiously.

On the other front, there were programmes of vastexpansion in a number of libraries includingthose in schools, colleges and technical institu-tions. The existing libraries were also bound togrow and expand phenomenally to facilitateeasier access to information. All these factorsindicated strongly the need for standardization toget the maximum mileage out of the availablefunds for library buildings and library furniture andfittings.

EVOLUTE OF STANDARIZATION

The first task before Dr. Ranganathan was toanalyse the documentation activity and examineits individual spectral zones for determining theiramenability to standardization. He presentedthe result of his analysis in the form of the nowfamous diagram 'Evolute of Documentation' (seeFig 1).The activity of documentation had its origin in thestimulation of thought process. The end results ofthe thought process were embodied into publi-cations like thesis, research papers, technicalreports, technical books, monographs, etc.These publications eventually found their wayinto libraries and information centres where theywere classified, catalogued, indexed and placedon display shelves. Side by side, activities went onfor their abstracting, reviewing, etc. for bringingthem to the active notice of their interested users.The process of documentation was thus involvedwith the creation of original writings, publicationsof these writings in the form of documents byprinters and publishers, acquisition and properhousing of these documents in libraries andfinally dissemination of information in their re-gard.

Dr. Ranganathan's analysis brought out that therewere certain areas like creation of writings, visuali-zation of graphics, cover designs, documentationservice, etc, which were not amenable to stan-dardization. But then there were other areas likestylizing of texts, certain minimum elements ofinformation to be given on preliminary pages of abook, symbols for proof corrections, glossariesof terms, library procedures, preparation ofabstracts, layout of catalogues, library buildingsand furniture, etc., where recourse to standardiza-tion could bring in sizeable economies includingeconomy of intellectual effort.

It was fortunate that the Documentation SectionalCommittee as constituted at the time had on its

Vol 39 No 2June 1992

rolls a number of stalwarts which subsequentlyacquired the mantle of the leading lights of theprofession in their own right. The list includednames like Shri B. S. Kesavan (National Library),Shri S. Das Gupta (Delhi University), Shri R. C.Gupta (National Archives), Shri U. S. Mohan Rao(Information and Broadcasting-Publication Divi-sion), Shri P. N. Kaula (Banaras Hindu University),Shri S. Parthsarathy (INSDOC), Shri Jainath Kaul(ISI), etc. All these luminaries commanded uniquevision and the combined efforts of all of them gavea brillant start to the standardization activity in thedocumentation field which won acclaim even atthe international level.

DOCUMENTATION STANDARDS

It would bear mentioning that the very fourthstandard brought out by ISI pertained to theDocumentation Committee, i.e. IS:4-1949: Prac-tjce for make up of periodicals. The first standardi.e. IS:1 naturally dealt with the National Flag of thecountry. IS:2 and IS:3 dealt with two basic themes,namely, rules for rounding of values and conver-sion of inch dimensions into millimeteres. Thesestandards were developed by the ISI Director-ate's own technical committee which functionedunder the Chairmanship of Dr. Verman.

Close on the heels of IS:4 came standards likeabbreviations for titles of periodicals (IS: 18),practice for alphabetical arrangements (IS:382),preliminary pages of a book (IS:790-IS:794),canons for making abstracts (IS:795), glossaryof cataloguing terms (IS: 796), proof correctionsymbols (IS:1250), indexing practice (IS: 1275)library catalogue codes (IS:1358), and biblio-graphical references (ls:2381).

Among these, particular mention may be made ofstandards for the author statement on the back ofthe title page of a book (IS:793) and the standardfor proof corrections (IS: 1250). The increase in thevolume of publication activity was bound to com-plicate the problem of identification of authorshaving common names. To overcome the prob-lem, Dr. Ranganathan suggested that the namesof the author(s) followed by the year of his (their)birth in brackets (or full span i.e. year of birth andyear of demise where the author is alreadydeceased) may be given on the back of the titlepage of a book. This device called author state-ment has become accepted universally and isplaying a useful role in individualizing the identityof authors having common names.

Because of the historical reasons, the printingindustry in India was using proof correction

39

GURCHARAN SINGH

(.·1 Subje ct s for which Indian Standards h o v e e i t h e r b e e n

Publis h e d or or e in th e Pr o c e s s of Pr ep o r o t io n

f</@J Ar e o s not Arnencbl e to Standardization

EVOLUTE OF DOCUMENTATION

40 Ann Lib Sci Doc

STANDARDS FOR DOCUMENTATION

symbols promulgated by the British StandardsInstitution (UK). These S)'mboIs also ilduded certainlingual expressions like 'see copy', 'trs' (for trans-pose), etc., Dr. Ranganathan, therefore, gave alead in developing a set of symbols based ongraphics only which can be used for markingproof corrections in texts in any language (assymbols avoid use of any linguistic expression).This was particularly an asset to India where thereare so many regional languages with their owndistinctive scripts.

BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS

Around the later half of the eighties, the status ofthe Indian Standards Institution was upgraded tothat of a statutory body and it was redesignatedas the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). In thereorganization of work, the activities of theDocumentation Sectional Committee were placedunder the charge of the newly created Manage-ment and Systems Division Council (MSD). Ear-lier, as the work of the Documentation Committeehad expanded, a separate Sectional Committeehad been created to guide development ofstandards in the field of publications and graphictechnology. Standards concerning library furni-ture and fittings are developed separately by theFurniture Sectional Committee (CEO 35) workingunder. the Civil Engineering Division Council.Uptodate position about the standards formu-lated by these committees is given in AppendicesA,B&C.

INTERNATIONAL INTERACTION

The International Organization for Standardiza-tion (ISO) which has a mandate to develop andmake available standards for use internationallytoo came to be established around 1947 afterWorld War II. ISO too had constituted a TechnicalCommittee for Documentation (ISOrrC 46). Dur-ing its formative years, this ISO Committee alsodrew considerably upon the personal genius andinsight of Dr. Ranganathan. On behalf of India, Dr.Ranganathan participated in the meetings of ISO/TC 46. All the documents emanating from theISO Documentation Committee were studiedminutely, commented upon in detail and in somecases even revised proposals were submittedwhich were accepted as substitute forthe originalproposals. The ISO standards at the time followedthe development of Indian Standards and invari-ably drew upon their contents. Particular mentioncan be made of the following standards whichprovided the blue prints for the correspondingISO standards:

Vol 39 No 2 June 1992

IS:4-1949 Practice for Make Up of Periodicals, andIS:18-1949 Abbreviations for Titles of PeriodicalsSimilarly, the series of Indian Standards on the titlepages of a book had provided the basic referencedocuments for developing the corresponsing ISOstandards. Presently, with the advent of theautomated systems of information retrieval, ISOwork has stolen a march on India in the postRanganathan era. It is, therefore, a challangefor the current generation of documentalists totake note and wrest the lead once again.

PROMOTION OF STANDARDS

Apart from formulation of standards, Dr. Ranga-nathan was also working en~rgetically to ensureproper enforcement of the standards. Becauseunless the standards formulated are imple-mented, the effort spent in their developmenthas no meaning. Dr. Ranganathan, therefore,made it a point to draw attention to the standardsthrough press, publications and platform. Assoon as a topic was taken up for standardization,Dr. Ranganathan would write about it in profes-sional journals to invite views and comments. Assoon as a standard was published, he wouldrepeat the exercise to stress the need for adoptingthe standards for the sake of adopting uniformityof practice and deriving inherent advantages ofeconomy and efficiency.

The topics connected with standardization indocumentation were featured at his instance atvarious meetings of the professional bodies likethe Indian Library Association, Indian Associationof Special Libraries, etc. The Indian StandardsInstitution itself at the time was organizing AnnualConventions. These were big affairs spanning 4-5 days of intensive deliberations and receivingparticipation from over 5 hundred top profession-als drawn from all parts of the country. Dr. Ranga-nathan saw to it that these conventions alsofeatured themes having relevance to the work ofdocumentation and information retrieval. Theprogrammes for such theme sessions were me-ticulously planned with authors assigned the re-sponsibilities for submitting papers in advancewhich were whetted by Dr. Ranganathan himself.The deliberations were sifted minutely to bring outa set of action points which were adopted aspolicy guidelines till their revision at the nextConvention Session.

IN RETROSPECT

I had the good fortune to come in close contactwith Dr. Ranganathan for a decade spanning thesixties. I had just joined the Indian Standards

41

GURCHARAN SINGH

Institutuion and was assigned to the Publica-tions Department then under the charge of ShriJainath Kaul, an acknowledged stalwart of theprofession at the time. Dr. Ranqanathan, ShriJainath Kaul, Dr. Lal C. Verman all shared acommon trait of giving their best to the assignmentat hand and never became satisfied with thesecond best. Iwas just a fresher and a green horn.But it testifies to the greatness of these souls thatno one was conscious ot age factor or rank factorat any time. We worked as a team and everyproposal, suggestion or viewpoint was consid-ered at its own merit.

Working with them has been one of my mostvalued experience. in life. They did not sparethemselves and as such gave no quarters toothers. If a job had to be done, it had to be doneunmindful of lateness of hours and strain of com-fort.

I recall an incident in which Shri Jainath Kaul andmyself had to beat a deadline to finalize and makeavailable certain documents. We had been work-ing without let up and did not know how the timeflew. Suddenly, it was 8 p.m. Shri Kaul noticed itand enquired if Iwas hungry. Iwas not particularlyhungry but was feeling a bit tired. I knew that anhour's work still needed to be done on the docu-ments. But sensing an opportunity to escape, I toldShri Kaul that I was indeed feeling hungry. Mycalculations were that we would can it a day andsubsequently at home I could complete the workand bring it to the office the next morning. But Iwasin for a surprise as Shri Kaul opened a box contain-ing roasted grams and said we could share it and

42

have a glass of water as we could not afford toslacken our effort. Perhaps that is what they call'Strike the iron when it is hot'.

I have seen both Dr. Ranganathan and Dr. Lal C.Verman working late into nights. Dr. Ranganathanwas of a frail build but would still work till 11 p.m.sitting in chair. Then he would be too exhaustedto sit. He would, therefore, recline on a bed butwould continue till well past mid night. He will be upbefore dawn, out for a morning walk with a band ofhis associates discussing only the intricacies ofdocumentation theory arid practice.

Dr. Ranganathan combined in his person all thatis regarded as best by way of human qualities,frugality, self-denial, generosity, affability andtotal dedication to his mission. He was extremelymodest in his dress mode and simple in his diet.All he needed was a few spoons of rice and aglass of butter milk. He had donated his life'ssavings to create a chair of Library Science inMadras University. The royality from his books alsowent to a library asociation as donations. For hisupkeep, he made to do with a pension of only Rs.200-300' he was receiving from the Govt of Indiaas part of the Padma Shri Award conferred up onhim. In his life time itself, honours and recognitionhad started pouring thick upon Dr. Ranganathanfor his work and c•.>ntribc:ion. But he remainedunspoilt to the last - a gentle, cheerful, unassumingsoul wishing well to one and all. His gloriousexample of dedication and selfless service is boundto be a source of constant inspiration to thegenerations of librarians, documentationists andinformation scientists in all times to come.

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STANDARDS FOR DOCUMENTATION

APPENDIX ASTANDARDS FORMULATED BY THE DOCUMENTATION SECTIONAL COMMITTEE

1. IS 18: 1988

2. IS 382: 19523. IS 795: 19764. IS 796: 19665. IS 1275: 19766. IS 1358: 19677. IS 2381: 1978

8. IS 2550: 19639. IS 3083: 1985

10. IS 3130: 1985

11. IS 4731: 1968

12. IS 6299: 1971

13. IS 6666: 1972

14. IS 7150: 197415. IS 7900: 197616. IS 8310: 197717. IS 9400: 1980

18. IS 9450: 198019. IS 10101: 198220. IS 10200: 198221. IS 10454: 198322. IS 10455: 1983

23. IS 10456: 198324. IS 11370: 1985

25. IS 12879 (PT 1): 1990

26. IS 12879 (PT 2): 1990

27. IS 12879 (PT 3): 1990

28. IS 12940: 1990

THEMES IN PIPELINE

Documentation - Rules for the abbreviation of title wordsand titles of publications (second revision)

Practice for alphabetical arrangementGuide for preparation of abstracts (first revision)Glossary of cataloguing terms (first revision)Rules for making alphabetical indexes (first revision)Practice for layout of library catalogue code (first revision)Recommendations for bibliographical references: Essential

and supplementary elements (first revision)Glossary of classification termsCode of practice for the processing of microtransparencies

(microfilms and microfiche) (silver halide) (first revision)Code of practice for handling and storage ofmicro trans

parencies (microfilm and microfiche) (silver halide)(second revision)

Guide for preparation of manuscript of an article in a learnedperiodical

Guide for handling, testing and storage of monochromephotographic prints

Recommendations tor frequency notation for periodicalpublications

Specification for library catalogue and abstract cardMethod for writing calendar dates in all numeric formsGuide for standard book numberingGuide for the preparation of bibliographic description sheet

for technical reportsGuidelines for placement of images in roll microfilmGuide for International Standard Serial Numbering (ISSN)Specification for A6 size microficheGuidelines for presentation of translationsGuidelines for presentation of abstract sheets

in serial publicationsSpecification for density of silver-gelatin type microformsGuide for data elements and record format for computer based

bibliographical data bases for bibliographic description ofdifferent kinds of documents

Microfilming of technical drawings and other drawing officedocument Part 1. Operating procedures

Microfilming of technical drawings and other drawing officedocuments. Part 2. Quality criteria and control

Microfilming of technical drawings and other drawing officedocuments. Part 3. Unitized 35 mm microfilm carrier

Documentation - Library statistics - Guide

1. Transliteration of Indian languages into Roman script2. Guidelines for preparation of a thesaurus (based on ISO 2788)3. Recommendations for entries in a directory of periodicals4. Library forms and records5. Items of information and layout of an entry in a union catalogue of periodical publications6. Proforma for recording information on ongoing reseach projects at the institutional level

and at the national level7. Directories of libraries, information and documentation centres (based on ISO 2146)8. Recommendations for numbering system of reports9. Data elements and data structure for computer readable data

Vol 39 No 2 June 1992 43

GURCHARAN SINGH

APPENDIXB

STANDARDS FORMULATED BY THE PUBLICATIONSAND GRAPHIC TECHNOLOGY SECTIONAL COMMITTEE

1. 154: 19632. IS 12: 1988

3. IS 790: 1987

4. I":) 1250: 19585. IS 3050: 1965

6. IS 6298: 19717. IS 6660: 19728. IS 7140: 1971

9. IS 7160 (PT 1): 1974

10. IS 7160 (PT 2): 1974

11. IS 7160 (PT 3): 1974

12. IS 7160 (PT 4): 19n

13. IS 7160 (PT 5): 1977

14. IS 7160 (PT 6): 1977

15. IS 7160 (PT 7): 1980

16. IS 7400-197417. IS 8010 (PT 1): 1976

18. IS 8010 (PT 2): 1982

19. IS 8010 (PT 3): 1987

20 IS 9637: 198021. IS 11956: 198722. IS 11957: 198723. IS 12000 (PT 1): 1987

THEMES IN THE PIPELINE

Guide for layout of learned periodicals (ReVised)Guide for drafting and presentation of Indian Standards

(third revision)Guidelines for preliminary pages of a book (first revision)

incorporting IS 791: 1956, IS 792: 1964and IS 794: 1956)Proof corrections for printers and authorsCode of practice for reinforced binding of library books

and periodicalsGuide for selection of type and page layout in textbooksGuide for illustrations in booksSymbols and notations for correction of illustrations

and illustration proofsGuide for print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks.

Part 1. Textbooks in EnglishGuide for print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks.

Part 2. Textbooks in HindiGuide for print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks.

Part 3. Textbooks in MalayalamGuide for Print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks.

Part 4. Textbooks in TeluguGuide for Print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks.

Part 5. Textbooks in KannadaGuide for print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks.

Part 6. Textbooks in TamilGuide for print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks.

Part 7. Textbooks in BengaliGuide for preparation and production of textbooksGuidelines for preparation of technical reports.

Part 1. Research and development reportsGuidelines for preparation of technical reports.

Part 2. Feasibility reportsGuidelines for preparation of technical reports.

Part 3. Industrial potential survey reportsGuidelines for presentation of information in technical manualsGuidelines for the preparation of trade cataloguesGuidelines for contents list of periodicalsGuide for paper spoilage and wastage for printing industry.

Part 1. Sheetfed, letterpress and offset processes.

1. Glossary of terms relating to printing and publishing. Part 1. Printing technology2. Glossary of terms relating to printing and publishing. Part 2. Relief printing3. Glossary of terms relating to printing and publishing. Part 3. Planorgraphic printing4. Guide for print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks. Part 8. Textbooks in Assamese5. Guide for print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks. Part 9. Textbooks in Oriya6. Guide for print area, margins and type sizes for textbooks. Part 10. Textbooks in Punjabi.

44 Ann Lib Sci Doc

STANDARDS FOR DOCUMENTATION

APPENDIXC

INDIAN STANDARDS FOR LIBRARY FITTINGS AND FURNITURE

1. IS 1829 (Pt I): 1976

2. IS 1883: 1983

3. IS 1829 (Pt 2): 19774. IS: 2695: 19745. IS: 3312: 1984

6. IS: 4116: 1988

7. IS: 7076-19838. IS: 7761: 19839. IS: 8467: 197710. IS: 9715: 1981

Specification for library furniture and fittings.Part 1. Timber.

Specification for metal shelving racks, adjustable type(Third Revision)

Specification for library furniture and fittings. Part 2. SteelSpecification for drawing filing equipment (First Revision)Specification for steel shelving cabinets (adjustable type)

(Second Revision)Specification for wooden shelving cabinets

(adjustable type) (First Revision).Specification for metal book ends (First Revision).Specification for steel book cases (First Revision)Specification for steel card-index cabinetsSpecification for steel visible indexing system cabinets

THEMES IN PIPELINE

1. Specification for wooden card index cabinets2. Data Processing card cabinets (for computer)3. Specification for library furniture and fittings. Part 3. Non book material.

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