Yesterday I was saddened by the news that Ross Atkinson, Associate University Librarian at Cornell, had died. I never met him but I’ve read many of his writings, so my view of him is definitely second hand at best. My opinion is that Ross was one of the most important thinkers regarding libraries, collections, and acquisitions of the past several decades. I thoroughly enjoyed his writing style, his deep and sometimes provocative thoughts, and his perspectives on important issues. One of his articles (Toward a Redefinition of Library Services” (In Virtually Yours. Chicago, ALA, 1999; p. 3-21)) is a required introductory reading to the course I teach and it invariably sparks a lot of discussion. Other articles or writings of his are also part of the course. If you don’t know much about him or are interested in his writings, I highly recommend that you find a copy of Community, Collaboration, and Collections: the Writings of Ross Atkinson published in 2005 by the American Library Association. Here is the complete citation in Chicago Manual of Style format:

Atkinson, Ross, Robert Alan, and Bonnie MacEwan. Community, Collaboration, and Collections : The Writings of Ross Atkinson. Chicago: Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, 2005.