JOHN DEAN: PROF JOHN Dean, who has died aged 87, was foundation professor of library and information studies at University College Dublin. He made significant contributions to the school's development, curriculum and departmental activity as well as to the professional education of Irish librarians. He also was a key member of the department of computer science, the international office and computer services board.
He arrived at UCD in 1977, to head up the newly established library and information studies department, having pursued an academic career that had taken him to many countries, including Ghana, Nigeria and Australia.
Born in Dorchester, Dorset, in 1924, he was the only son of a first World War veteran and a mother of Irish origin. At school he acquired a lifelong love of literature, especially poetry. In 1943 he joined the RAF, and served in Iceland.
On leaving the RAF, as a scholarship student he read politics, philosophy and economics at St John’s College, Oxford. From there he went to the University of Southampton as assistant librarian. He took the professional qualifications of the Library Association at Southampton and gained his associateship in 1953.
Serving as deputy librarian at the University of Khartoum from 1953 to 1956, he learned to speak Arabic. He then worked for five years at the London Library, the world’s largest independent lending library. Members included EM Forster, TS Eliot and the Queen Mother.
Returning to Africa, he spent four years as librarian at the University of Ghana, Accra. He remembered his then neighbour Conor Cruise O’Brien as an “excellent” vice-chancellor. Later, in Nigeria, he was closely involved with the Institute of Library Studies in the introduction of a new syllabus designed to meet Nigerian needs.
A visit to the US sparked his interest in computer applications, and he introduced information technology into the Nigerian curriculum. Towards the end of his stay in Nigeria he witnessed the impact of the Biafran war on many of his friends. In 1971 he moved to Australia to become the first head of the department of library studies at what is now Curtin University, Perth.
While based in Australia he was external examiner to a number of universities and carried out consultancy work in Singapore, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. He also was commissioned to prepare a preliminary report on setting up a library school serving English-speaking East African countries.
He resigned as head of library and information studies at UCD in 1989, but continued to teach and mentor students until 2005.
He passionately believed the worldwide web and e-learning represented the way forward for library education. He considered the development of quality e-learning to be a necessity.
He wrote several books, and contributed articles to many professional and academic journals. In 2008 he was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Library Association of Ireland. He regularly visited Spain with his wife Miriam, who predeceased him in 1993. His daughter Susannah and stepson Geoffrey survive him.
John Dean: born July 5th, 1924; died June 18th, 2012