Sanford Berman is justifiably famous for the influence he has had on cataloging procedures, particularly the use of subject headings and questioning the tyranny of LC, in public libraries. I have a slightly different spin on this influence. As someone who began her career as a "solo" librarian in special libraries, I did not have the benefits (or drawbacks) of being surrounded by other librarians, as those who work in public or academic libraries usually do. I relied heavily on library literature to keep myself informed and to maintain ties with other professionals. I began to read religiously a column that Sandy was writing in a small publication (wish I could remember its name!) and quickly became converted to his way of thinking. At that time I was running the library for the Florida Geological Survey, and one issue at hand was the fact that LC did not approve of using geologic formation names as subject headings. Well, geologists are used to using the geologic formation as their most basic unit of study and they WANTED to be able to search by formation name. So, of course, in our library and any other library that was sensitive to the real life research needs of the scientist, they COULD search by formation name, LC be damned. Those of us who worked with geoscience information also banded together and started lobbying LC to change this "rule." I feel like Sandy helped raise my consciousness for where my real priorities were (serving the library user, not mindlessly following orders from above), and helped me feel less alone. I also feel that he has ennobled the role of the cataloger (often seen as performing "drudge" work) by showing that it is not only possible but desirable to be humanistically and intellectually engaged while cataloging library materials!- Alison Lewis
To health and happiness and Sanford Berman
Way back in 1995 I somehow became exposed to Charles Willett's Librarians @ Liberty, and through subscribing and reading it learned about Sandy Berman's career and writings. This gave me the inspiration to finally choose a path in life, and soon I went off to library school, full of inspiration (which made me something of an oddity there). During my first year in the program (1996-97) Sandy was a star in the library constellation; I knew him as a crusading author of books and articles and as a newsmaker. (LC changed the "Man" subject headings that year.) The following summer I went to the ALA conference in San Francisco, and attended the Free Speech Buffet. I was talking to Noel Peattie, who was still publishing SIPAPU, I think, and I mentioned reading something of Sandy's. The next thing I knew he was taking me across the room to introduce me to a tall, bearded man with a big sweet voice, who was Sandy Berman. Sandy gave me a greeting that I will always remember for its warmth and kindness. He put his arm around me and walked me over to the table set up by the Down There Press, and showed me a book of erotic photography which had his preferred cataloging printed right alongside LC's Cataloging in Publication. The two examples of cataloging communicated two entirely different perceptions of the world as a whole, and Sandy was proud and happy to show me the difference, the difference between the world as he knows it and the world according to the Library of Congress. I want to thank you, Sandy, for welcoming me into a more colorful library world, as you have so many others, and for inspiring me to treat librarianship as a mission and to try to practice it with lots of humanity. I feel slightly rude making a personal thanks in public - because I know I wouldn't be able to say it the same, and "remembering Sandy" in the third person feels a little like talking about him as though he were dead, somewhat unnatural. So, if I am not at that dinner in New Orleans, here's a long distance toast! To health and happiness and Sanford Berman!
- Rory Litwin