Harold Billings
Encyclopedia
Harold Wayne Billings is a retired American librarian, editor and author best known for his role in developing national and state library networking and resource sharing among libraries.
from University of Texas in 1957. He taught high school English, physics, and chemistry in Pharr, Texas 1953-54 before beginning work at the University of Texas Library, Austin. Billings progressed from cataloguer, 1954–57, to assistant chief catalogue librarian, 1957–64, acquisitions librarian, 1965–67, assistant university librarian, 1967–72, associate director of General Libraries, 1972–1977 and finally director of General Libraries, 1978–2003, when he retired.
Commenting on one of his articles, Pam North wrote “I believe he has captured what should be at the heart of every librarian. I know it is at the center of mine.” A number of his best professional articles were collected in Magic and Hypersystems: Constructing the Information Sharing Library (2002). As one review concluded, Billings “has been instrumental in guiding the library into the digital future over the past 25 years. His essays challenge librarians to accept needed change and allow it to form the library of the future.” In 2003 the American Library Association
awarded him its annual Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award for his "long commitment to innovation in automation, resource sharing, and creative management."
, in 2006 he received the Morley-Montgomery Award for his essay "The Materia Medica of Sherlock Holmes".
Billings’ most extensive literary studies have involved two disparate authors who he suggests share a fascination with the Biblical Job, American novelist and essayist Edward Dahlberg
(1900–1977) and Anglo-West Indian novelist M. P. Shiel
(1865–1947)
Billings helped gather a remarkable archive of Shiel's works and documents for the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
. Beginning in 1958 with 115 books collected by A. Reynolds Morse for his bibliography, The Works of M. P. Shiel
(1948), and eventually including hundreds of letters and manuscripts largely obtained from Shiel’s literary executor, John Gawsworth
, the Harry Ransom Center collection of Shiel material is easily the most extensive in the world.
Since his retirement Billings has returned to a biography of Shiel which he started in the 1960s, but set aside to concentrate on Dahlberg. Four chapters from his early draft were included in M. P. Shiel in Diverse Hands: a Collection of Essays on M. P. Shiel (1983). Billings extensively revised and expanded this material with much original research drawn from the Ransom Center archive and other sources. The first volume of a projected trilogy was published in 2005, M.P. Shiel : A Biography of His Early Years, of which a reviewer stated: “Billings has ferreted out much useful information concerning Shiel, whose personal life has not previously been so effectively presented, and his placement of Shiel within Nineties cultural movements is likewise judiciously done.”. A second volume, M.P. Shiel: The Middle Years 1897-1923 was released in 2010, while the concluding volume covering Shiel’s final decades remains in preparation.
Career
Billings received his BA from Pan American College (now Pan American University) in 1953 and his MLSMaster of Library and Information Science
The Master of Library and Information Science is the master's degree that is required for most professional librarian positions in the United States and Canada. The MLIS is a relatively recent degree; an older and still common degree designation for librarians to acquire is the Master of Library...
from University of Texas in 1957. He taught high school English, physics, and chemistry in Pharr, Texas 1953-54 before beginning work at the University of Texas Library, Austin. Billings progressed from cataloguer, 1954–57, to assistant chief catalogue librarian, 1957–64, acquisitions librarian, 1965–67, assistant university librarian, 1967–72, associate director of General Libraries, 1972–1977 and finally director of General Libraries, 1978–2003, when he retired.
Commenting on one of his articles, Pam North wrote “I believe he has captured what should be at the heart of every librarian. I know it is at the center of mine.” A number of his best professional articles were collected in Magic and Hypersystems: Constructing the Information Sharing Library (2002). As one review concluded, Billings “has been instrumental in guiding the library into the digital future over the past 25 years. His essays challenge librarians to accept needed change and allow it to form the library of the future.” In 2003 the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
awarded him its annual Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award for his "long commitment to innovation in automation, resource sharing, and creative management."
Literary Studies
In addition to his career as librarian, Billings has edited and written extensively about various authors. Reflecting a long-time interest in Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, in 2006 he received the Morley-Montgomery Award for his essay "The Materia Medica of Sherlock Holmes".
Billings’ most extensive literary studies have involved two disparate authors who he suggests share a fascination with the Biblical Job, American novelist and essayist Edward Dahlberg
Edward Dahlberg
Edward Dahlberg was an American novelist, essayist and autobiographer. -Background:Edward Dahlberg was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Elizabeth Dahlberg. Together mother and son led a vagabond existence, until 1905 when she operated the Star Lady Barbershop in Kansas City...
(1900–1977) and Anglo-West Indian novelist M. P. Shiel
M. P. Shiel
Matthew Phipps Shiel was a prolific British writer of West Indian descent. His legal surname remained "Shiell" though he adopted the shorter version as a de facto pen name....
(1865–1947)
Billings helped gather a remarkable archive of Shiel's works and documents for the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
The Harry Ransom Center is a library and archive at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the United States and Europe. The Ransom Center houses 36 million literary manuscripts, 1 million rare books, 5 million photographs, and more...
. Beginning in 1958 with 115 books collected by A. Reynolds Morse for his bibliography, The Works of M. P. Shiel
The Works of M. P. Shiel
The Works of M. P. Shiel is a bibliography of works by British author M. P. Shiel. The bibliography was compiled by A. Reynolds Morse. It was first published by Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc...
(1948), and eventually including hundreds of letters and manuscripts largely obtained from Shiel’s literary executor, John Gawsworth
John Gawsworth
John Gawsworth , a pseudonym of Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong , was a British writer, poet and compiler of anthologies, both of poetry and of short stories. He also used the pseudonym Orpheus Scrannel...
, the Harry Ransom Center collection of Shiel material is easily the most extensive in the world.
Since his retirement Billings has returned to a biography of Shiel which he started in the 1960s, but set aside to concentrate on Dahlberg. Four chapters from his early draft were included in M. P. Shiel in Diverse Hands: a Collection of Essays on M. P. Shiel (1983). Billings extensively revised and expanded this material with much original research drawn from the Ransom Center archive and other sources. The first volume of a projected trilogy was published in 2005, M.P. Shiel : A Biography of His Early Years, of which a reviewer stated: “Billings has ferreted out much useful information concerning Shiel, whose personal life has not previously been so effectively presented, and his placement of Shiel within Nineties cultural movements is likewise judiciously done.”. A second volume, M.P. Shiel: The Middle Years 1897-1923 was released in 2010, while the concluding volume covering Shiel’s final decades remains in preparation.
Collections edited
- (Editor and author of introduction) Edward Dahlberg, The Leafless American, ([Sausalito, CA.]: Roger Beacham, Publisher 1967.)
- (Editor and author of introduction) Edward Dahlberg, American Ishmael of Letters, (Austin: Roger Beacham, Publisher 1968.)
- (Editor and author of introduction) Edward Dahlberg, Bottom Dogs, From Flushing To Calvary, Those Who Perish And Hitherto Unpublished And Uncollected Works, (Crowell, 1976.)
- (Editor and author of introduction) Edward Dahlberg, The Leafless American and Other Writings, (New Paltz, NY: McPherson, 1986.)