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

70 History of the International Rice Research InstituteManalo turned out to be a first-class librarian, well trained, conscientious,hardworking, and innovative. She has an engaging personality, and her livelyinterest in the arts has encouraged and often initiated IRRI-sponsored culturalactivities. In my opinion, and that of more disinterested judges as well, Manalohas built the best library among the network of international agriculturalresearch centers. She married Benito Vergara, IRRI’s plant physiologist, inSeptember 1968 and continues to head IRRI’s Library and DocumentationCenter.The Manalo-Vergara wedding gave us a first among the senior staff. Thewedding was on the portico of the IRRI guesthouse with guests standing on thelawn below. (Our dog, Chrissy, considered herself invited and was an alert anddignified spectator of the discreetly amplified ceremony until stirred by thestrains of the organ to respond soulfully — and on key.) The Vergaras alsoprovide the rare situation of a husband and wife on the senior staff of aninternational center.Parker was of inestimable value in getting IRRI’s library off to a good start.Besides helping to identify and train Manalo, she obtained the services ofKeyes Metcalf, librarian emeritus of Harvard University, to assist in designingand equipping IRRI’s library. More importantly, she administered the preparationof a 10-year bibliography of rice literature for the period 1951-60. Thebasic work was done by Margaret Bryant in the National Agricultural Libraryin Washington during 1961 and 1962. Since then, annual bibliographies havebeen prepared and issued by the IRRI library staff.IRRI soon established a small office in Tokyo to assemble the bibliographyof Japanese rice literature. In addition, it arranged for translations into Englishof the more important Japanese journal articles. Jukyu Cho was in charge of theTokyo office until he retired in 1973. On request, IRRI arranges for translationsfrom languages other than Japanese.With its microfilm and services, IRRI’s library serves well not only its ownscientists and research scholars but many rice specialists in developing countrieswhere library services are inadequate. Furthermore, IRRI’s library facilitiesare used extensively by both faculty and students of the University of thePhilippines at Los Baños.EXPERIMENTAL FARMFrom the first, it was obvious that IRRI would need a farm superintendent andbecause all farm laborers would be Filipino, it was felt that the superintendentshould be Filipino. In the search for a qualified candidate, Dean Umali againcame to the rescue. He recommended Ramos, who had graduated from theCollege of Agriculture in Los Baños and had obtained his MS degree at OhioState University. In 1959, Ramos was a supervisor in the National RehabilitationResettlement Administration on a project in Mindanao.Wortman and I interviewed Ramos first in March 1960 and again in May. InJuly, he was offered the position of assistant field superintendent. He acceptedthe offer and began work on 1 October, about 2 weeks after Johnson arrived,to design and construct the experimental fields. Ramos was soon promoted