An adventure in applied science - IRRI books - International Rice ...

68 History of the International Rice Research Institutereplacement for Ruttan. I approached Barker and then talked with GeorgeTrimberger, project leader of the Cornell group. Although Barker still hadabout 1.5 years before his assignment as visiting professor at the College wouldend, arrangements were made for him to supervise the graduate students whohad thesis problems in agricultural economics at IRRI and to guide IRRI’syoung research assistants who were in the department when Ruttan left.Barker joined IRRI on a full-time basis in July 1967 and continued to headthe agricultural economics program until 1978 when he left to return to CornellUniversity as international professor of Agricultural Economics. He had anextremely successful career at IRRI and during his 11-year stay came to berecognized around the world as the leading rice production economist. He wasreplaced as department head by Robert W. Herdt who had joined IRRI in 1974.Barker and Herdt (the latter while on study leave from IRRI at CornellUniversity) have collaborated on a book on the rice economy of Asia, whichshould be published in 1982.From 1972 onward, the Department of Agricultural Economics at IRRIexpanded considerably. Thomas Wickham joined the department in 1972 asassociate agricultural economist to work on the economics of water management.Herdt was at IRRI as a visiting scientist in 1973 but mutual interest wassuch that he joined the staff on a permanent basis the following year. YujiroHayami of Japan joined the staff in 1974 for a 2-year period, and the next yearEdwin C. Price was added to the department as associate agricultural economistin the cropping systems program. When Barker left in 1978, John C. Flinn,an Australian agricultural economist then at IITA, joined IRRI, and Herdtbecame head of the department.LIBRARY AND DOCUMENTATION CENTERIn the earliest documents describing the projected activities of IRRI, it wasrecognized that an essential element would be a good library that wouldcontain the world collection of important rice literature and such otherreference materials as would be needed by a group of natural and socialscientists engaged in an active research and training program. Furthermore,the facility should be able to make available to scientists in developingcountries any articles that they were unable to get in the libraries of theinstitutions where they were working.The search for an IRRI librarian began in May 1960 when I talked with thehead of the Library Science Department at the University of the Philippines,asking whether she could identify a recent graduate who would be qualifiedto undertake advanced study in the U.S. on a Rockefeller Foundation fellowshipand eventually become IRRI’s librarian. She replied affirmatively and Itold her that I would be in New York the next month and would take up thematter with Dorothy Parker, the Foundation’s library specialist in the NewYork office.Parker agreed that the proposed plan was a logical one and called RalphShaw, who headed the School of Library Science at Rutgers University in New