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Title: Nasser Sharify papers
Date (inclusive): 1902-1993 (Bulk 1950-1989)
Collection Number: 86043
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
102 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 audiocassette box
(51.0 Linear Feet)
Abstract: The Nasser Sharify papers document his long career as a librarian, academic, advocate, and consultant. The papers relate in
part to the formulation of plans for the creation of a national library for Iran, and to development of library and information
science schools, especially in Iran and Morocco, as well as to the development of international library programs at schools
in the United States. The collection consists of reports, working papers for reports, correspondence, financial and legal
records, minutes, conference papers, printed matter, sound recordings, microfilm, and photographs.
Creator:
Sharify, Nasser, 1925-2013
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1986, with increments added in September 1988, June 1989, February
1998, and 2012.
[Identification of item], Nasser Sharify papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
| 1925 September 23 | Born, Tehran, Iran |
| 1949-1953 | Deputy director of Library of Parliament, Iran |
| 1953 | Came to the United States |
| 1954 | M.S., Columbia University |
| 1958 | PhD, Library Science, Columbia University |
| 1959 | Author, Cataloging Persian Works, Including Rules for Transliteration Entry Description |
| 1960 | Director of graduate training program, UNESCO Mission, National Teacher's College, Tehran |
| 1966 | Member of U.S. AID Mission to Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan |
| 1966-1968 | Director of international librarianship and documentation, International Studies and World Affairs, State University of New York (SUNY), Oyster Bay |
| 1968-1987 | Dean and professor of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York |
| 1974-1975 | Chairman of the board of consultants to the National University of Iran |
| 1975-1977 | Chairman of the board of consultants to the Pahlavi National Library of Iran |
| 1987 | Distinguished professor and dean emeritus, Pratt Institute |
| 1999 June 30 | Resolution honoring Nasser Sharify adopted by the Council of the American Library Association |
Source: Sharify, Nasser.
Who's Who in American Education, 65th edition
Scope and Content of Collection
The Nasser Sharify papers document his long career as a librarian, academic, advocate, and consultant. The papers relate in
part to the formulation of plans for the creation of a national library for Iran, and to development of library and information
science schools, especially in Iran and Morocco, as well as to the development of international library programs at schools
in the United States. The collection consists of reports, working papers for reports, correspondence, financial and legal
records, minutes, conference papers, printed matter, sound recordings, microfilm, and photographs.
The largest series of the collection contains records relating to the planning and construction of the
Pahlavi National Library in Iran from 1975 to 1977. As chairman of the board of consultants on the project, Sharify brought together librarians and
information professionals from around the world to create a plan for the operation of the library, as decreed by Mohammad
Reza Shah Pahlavi and overseen by the deputy minister of the imperial court of Iran for cultural affairs, Shojaeddin Shafa.
The resulting nine volume report is included in the collection along with supporting documents, draft reports, consultant
correspondence, contracts, minutes, and recordings of planning conferences.
As evidenced by this project, Sharify spent much of his career promoting international librarianship as a profession. The
collection includes essays, reports, research materials, and correspondence relating to library education, cataloging practices,
and book distribution in the United States, Iran, and Morocco from the 1950s to 1970s. In addition, Sharify's work with the
Pratt Institute Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences,
CENTO, and
Unesco resulted in documents relating to international librarianship.
The International Library Manpower materials in the
Conference, Institutes, and Workshops materials series include data collected from over fifty countries around the world, summarizing social, economic, and political conditions
in relation to library education and resources.
Other materials of note include research materials related to Sharify's work on developing a transliteration and cataloging
standard for Persian library materials. His work on this project, in the
Research Projects series, included surveying libraries in the U.S. with Persian materials in their holdings.
A well-known figure in the library community, Sharify was highly active in a number of library associations, including the
American Library Association (ALA), International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), and the Association for Library
and Information School Education (ALISE). Materials collected from conferences and meetings of these associations are included
in the
Professional Associations' Meetings and
Offices Held in Professional Associations files. Among these materials are Sharify's speeches and writings from the conferences.
The arrangement of the collection follows a classification scheme developed by a former student of Nasser Sharify, for the
purpose of donating the papers to the archives. In this classification scheme, each activity or project in Sharify's career
is identified by a letter. For example, the creation of the Pahlavi National Library of Iran is identified by the letter "A";
materials from Offices Held in Professional Associations by the letter "K" and so on. Groups of documents related to each
activity receive a numerical designation. There is no significance to the order which the groups are arranged or numbered.
For example, materials in series "A" Pahlavi National Library have the following numbers as subseries or file:
A. Pahlavi National Library
A-1. Press, National and International
A-1/1. Comments by other professionals
A-2. Articles, brochures, and other printed matter about the PNL
Incremental materials are described using the same classification and series titles are repeated wherever related documents
appear.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Education -- Iran
Libraries -- Iran
Library education -- Iran
Library education -- Morocco
Unesco
Kitābkhānah-i Pahlavī