Ross W. Atkinson (1945 – March 8, 2006) was an American librarian and scholar.
Life and career
Atkinson worked at Northwestern University from 1977 until 1983 when he left to become an assistant university librarian for collection development at the University of Iowa. In 1988, he moved to Cornell University where he worked until his death, serving as associate librarian for collections and later deputy university librarian.[1] At Cornell, he was notable for developing digital online collections and advocating for new paradigms of open access scholarly publishing, helping to convene the influential 2005 Janus Conference on Research Library Collections. He was active in the American Library Association and its divisions, the Coalition for Networked Information, the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the Research Libraries Group, and the Digital Library Federation.[2][3]
Atkinson was named the 2003 Academic/Research Librarian of the Year by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).[2][4] Per Sarah Thomas, "his body of scholarly and theoretical writing on collection management and scholarly communication is among the most influential and thought-provoking appearing in this field."[2][5]
The Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2007 by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), another division of the ALA.[6]
References
- ^ "Library Leader Ross Atkinson Dies". American Library Association. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
- ^ a b c Fontana, Elizabeth (April–May 2003). "Ross Atkinson Is Academic/Research Librarian of the Year" (PDF). Kaleidoscope. Cornell University Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
- ^ Calhoun, Karen (June 1, 1999). "An Interview with Ross Atkinson, Deputy University Librarian, Cornell University Library". Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services. 23 (2): 169–178. doi:10.1016/S1464-9055(99)00006-8. ISSN 1464-9055.
- ^ Sherrod, Stephanie (2003), "ACRL honors the 2003 award winners: A recognition of professional achievement", C&RL News 64(4)
- ^ "Ross Atkinson, 1945-2006 – European Studies Section". WESS Newsletter. 29 (2). European Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Spring 2006. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
- ^ The Ross Atkinson Lifetime Achievement Award
Literature
- Alan, Robert; MacEwan, Bonnie (2005), Community, Collaboration, and Collections: The Writings of Ross Atkinson, ISBN 978-0-8389-8361-4
 | This article about a person involved with library and information science is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
