WEBVTT

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 when I was working for the US army, I was looking for the U. S. Army

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hospital in Nuremberg as a refugee. My
boss was World war two and so on

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Korea Vietnam veteran. And he said oh
you will be going to Arizona phoenix.

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I have a friend there at the
university

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and so I got a reference to him. And
when I arrived our friends here in

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phoenix, they worked again. Well you
may remember Honey belle before Honey

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belle there was general electorate
Black Canyon. Remember their job?

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We had a group of computer engineers.
Several of them were our friends Who

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were leaving gradually from like 1960
for every year. Somebody there were

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about five or six checks at Honeywell
including a librarian. And they said

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you should talk to vera she knows the
librarians here including a S. U. So

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we met and she said yeah I don't we
moved to A S. U. Because they have

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better resources in some areas than we
have. Anyway. So somehow negotiated

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an interview with Dr who was at that
time he was well university librarian

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and he interviewed me and then he sent
me to his both of his assistants. I

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forgot that for The one who was
technical service early in the name. But

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the second one for a public service um
Tom Harris was his name and he

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interviewed me and he said yeah we
would like to hire you because I had a

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relatively decent background in and
the sciences, engineering literature.

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And so he offered me a job as of your
life. And I said is there any

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chance this was like in april we came
in March to phoenix and He said well

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I will try. And he hired me as of the
end of May one May 1, I started this

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in 1968

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and I said that was my best mayday
because in europe they celebrated

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special of dominance. But everyone May
labor Day is mayday Mayday one.

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Not like here we have during the day
in september right? And I said that

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was my best made a because I didn't
have to go, you know, for his

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communist force you to go celebrate.
And if he didn't know we were in

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trouble, I didn't know every time. But

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yeah, well you know that from history
I guess. And so tom Harris actually

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I'm gonna, they used in those days
they used to send them, there was under

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president thing right? Never hiring
professionals and professors. And I

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got a telegram telegram, you're right,
there was no email telegram

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um from the president. And that was
it. So First really impression when I

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got here was Hayden Library, brand new
open 66. And there were some people

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, most people actually who went
through the move from the old mathews

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librarian

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to Hayden. So don't talk about him. I
started a wan in the Hayden library

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in the department was called at that
time. Science Engineering reference

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department because our reference
librarian and I was in charge of the

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mostly engineering because they didn't
have really the fellow who was tom

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marshall who was the department hand
or chair. We'll call him um He was a

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biologist. So we covered the life
science society and I was covering there

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were some other people too. But and I
think in september it would be

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wondering how is it possible? But in
september I became the or september

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october became the head of the
department. Not that I didn't anything bad

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or good. My boss tom marshall who I
really am. Mhm. I had a respect for

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had to leave when I was hired by
Harris. I think about less than a year

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later he said well we have a dilemma.
This library was designed to add two

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more floors. Born. We should build a
science of libraries separate. And I

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said well you know opinion would be
library because he said mine too. But

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then it's second librarian came after
retired expert. Bill expert was the

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second Harris was

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temporary acting librarian. And then
they hired acts for he didn't stay

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too long. But the first thing was no,
no we are not going to build any

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library. We'll put two floors on the
building. So I said okay that's the

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end of it. He said you will have
another flower devoted to science. You

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are wish he was the boss. So what can
but he lasts only about three years

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expert at that time.

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The librarian became you don't have
any down cap. Oh and he had different

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opinions. He said I think we should
build a science library? That would be

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you know wouldn't be disrupting in the
when you add on the building which

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is needed almost all the time. So he
decided, he said what do you think? I

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said well I couldn't agree with you
more because I wasn't the one who was

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deciding that. He said I'll take it to

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and find it. But then there was no
money like we know that already there's

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always not enough money. We had a
student here from Saudi Arabia who got

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his PhD here at A. S. U. And he
approached me if I wouldn't want to work

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and Saudi Arabia, what would I do
that? Yeah we have a university that run

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mean university of patrolling
minerals. And I said I wasn't interested and

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there was a professor of physics by
the name Ali Khairallah.

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And he was originally from Lebanon. He
was I guess Lebanese I don't think

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he was exactly muslim. Because I
remember he had some problem in Saudi

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Arabia and he do that offer. And there
were several several uh

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architectural deals who work there in
Saudi Arabia burgess. There were

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several people from a s who work in
Arabia came back and he said you

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should go there not bad, you know they
pay everything, you know your

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housing and so on. So I asked my boss
down camp and I said

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when is the money for the library
company? Said we have no idea. It could

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be like three years from now because
there were still other priorities.

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So I said would would I get a leave of
absence and go to Saudi Arabia?

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Sure. So I got a leave of absence and
left for Saudi my family first

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actually I was supposed to live in The
fall of 67. They gave only visa to

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me and my son. I said I'm not going
without my wife and my daughter. Her

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son was about seven. He was born here
in Phoenix and

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so forget it and that at the end of
the 1967 suddenly they sent me a Visa

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for everyone and I said well I can go
now let him have kids in school. Um

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There was something around christmas
or january. I said I can't go now I

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will go later. So they agreed to it.
And I left here in May 67 7 is 77.

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Sorry. And when they're became a head
of the reference department there

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the reference was mostly science
engineering. Yeah I gotta work

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again before the email I guess I think
I got a telex or something from

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camp. We got the money for the library
come home. So I said sorry guys

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they wanted me to stay two years but I
stayed on my year and quarter I had

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a good time. They're traveled. They
paid for it. So when I came back. Mhm.

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The new librarian was already here. All right And

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he said we'll be building the library
soon. I said that's good. So he

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formed actually building committee and
planning committee or whatever. I

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started working with the architect,
the same architect that built Hayden

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library and the major architect was
there were two of them. Carmen demon

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he was I think we had the whole the
whole thing and

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german Hermann Jacoby was remember
him? I just heard about it. I don't

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know. Yeah. Oh he was terrific. He was
the

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it could have been here you know he
could be here all day because he

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served in the german army during the
war. He told me I almost got killed

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in Czechoslovakia. I said well you are
the invaders. He drove a truck and

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got stopped by some partisans or
something. And fortunately they let him

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go. But he was only a driver or
something or I don't know that was the

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story. And eventually he started or
finished architecture in Germany came

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here and he was a terrific sell the
old traditional. That's why I always

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tell so uh or in the old days used to
tell people to look at the normal

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library brickwork. He wouldn't allow
whenever he saw a bad break they had

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to take it out they have to dismantle

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and I worked with him a lot. We became
friends also. It was quite

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interesting then we started preparing
new library.

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There was sort of funny people say why
it's called Noble library. I don't

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think there are many people know that.
Then. A Noble was a Motorola. The

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guy who came here after the war. He
actually started Motorola here in the

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valley. It was first I think 52nd
Street, 56th Street. And but by the time

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I came he was already retired. One day
my boss asked me that page told him

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he should probably name the library
after someone or maybe we'll get some

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money. So Bill Welsh actually your
mammogram too. He was assistant

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dean. He came from Motorola. They went
to see Holland. My boss came to me

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and he said well we have the name from
the library and said what is the

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name? It will be called? Noble Noble
Science and Engineering Library. And

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I knew that I said oh so we'll be
getting pretty good chunk of money.

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Probably right for the name he said
yeah. So well nothing was coming. You

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know

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they never got anything the university
because they did it. This I guess

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unfortunate way that paige said okay
give them okay and didn't I don't

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care anymore or whatever. I don't know
that never happened when I

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mentioned that. I have visited many
universities around the country and

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whenever they had a name I said how
much I remember as in uh in boston

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yes is in the old even old days. It
was hundreds of thousands and maybe a

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million dollars Because that was the
old days it was 1932. You must have I

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had to prepare a program for that
building. Could you see computers coming

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at that? Yes. Yes. Yeah. I had one
librarian who I hire it actually. He

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was a graduate of the obey in the
physics astronomy and then he got his

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library also George

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and he was already working at that
time. There were no you didn't call the

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small computer Pc. There were
microcomputers. You remember them right. And

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so but he worked he was the first guy
who had his apple, one of his one of

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the first apples. And so I was working
with him but you know he helped me

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. I did work with the computer at that
time PC. Or don't have any but at

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the library even the library didn't
have anything except the main

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circulation area and so on.

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I started also called patent deposited
library in sciences, patents are

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very important. They are not some
disciplines really well mostly

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humanities and social some social even
he was patterns but it's mostly and

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you know how they are divided
electrical patterns, mechanical path. And I

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started working with people in
Washington D. C. And eventually we became

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each state had a patent department
library. And we beat well we beat for

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obvious reasons you of eight with
because they did not have anyone at that

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time would have done it. And I because
I got acquainted with people in

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Washington D. C. The patent office.
There is so the first several years

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and there were annual meetings and
training and when we hired when I came

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to long bone that was before we even
started using the normal library. We

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but we were a S. You was a pattern
deposit right library as to libraries.

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And fortunately down rigs the
librarian which he was a biologist by trade

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before the library he approved that
and bought a lot of the we had a whole

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collection of patents and either
microfilm micro for whatever we don't

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like usually. But we were getting
current patterns as they were issued

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paper for one now now it's different
you know. Well everything is online

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and I think they even stop using the
term had deposited library and I'm

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not even sure if we had a collection
because somebody else we want can we

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sell it? We don't really need it. I
said well that should be decided by

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the university dean Libraries Dean. I
think if yeah very important space

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and nobody's using it if anybody wants
to buy maybe again europe or Japan.

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But that was probably before all of
the things went online. They were

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already online when I started but it
was very elementary I would say very

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elementary only the current path and
something they didn't have the

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background online. So so that was one
of the things I I can introduce you.

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Career progression

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quality or an answer here at a S. U.
Was from a reference librarian to

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head of reference but still doing what
we call subject specialty that

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means engineering. Then when I became
head of Noble we hired we had for

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many years we have two librarians.
Actually in engineering serving the

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College of Engineering people usually
divided up. It depends on their

00:17:19.289 --> 00:17:27.289
background like to be mechanical
versus electrical and civil and so on. So

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I did everything when I was a subject
specialist. And then I had There was

00:17:33.170 --> 00:17:40.806
until 19 82 because I was appointed in
82 people were still going to me

00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:46.647
and I was sometimes helping or when to
sit down stay down because I'm on

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the second floor to the subject
specialists. And I said which would be

00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:56.256
good enough help this guy. You know I
can help him. But I'm not the

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subject specialists really. I don't
want to bypass you as long as I was

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working I think I never finished my
career in a way. We had a lot of

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courses especially with these new
tools. They're always courses they teach

00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:17.086
maybe one day, two days, even three
days. I went to many the police

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courses here on campus and S. U. Or I
also liked the patents in Washington

00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:30.586
or we were even invited some of these
companies at that time have a

00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:35.516
beautiful hotel. I forgot the name in
Tucson. It's north of Tucson on the

00:18:35.549 --> 00:18:39.306
other side of the market. They're
paying everything and you know,

00:18:39.339 --> 00:18:44.816
wonderful time because we were using
their services. So they were, they

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don't do it anymore I think. But at
that time they wanted the word spread

00:18:50.190 --> 00:18:54.556
out because if another library didn't
have it said oh go with them, not

00:18:54.589 --> 00:19:00.677
only it's a useful service, but they
treat you well. So I was progressing

00:19:00.710 --> 00:19:05.016
in this respect because I did a lot of
reading actually when I came here I

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probably knew more because at that
time there were only about 5, 6

00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:15.026
professional journalists, especially
in what we called at that time was

00:19:15.059 --> 00:19:18.516
called documentation. There was a
general was called american

00:19:18.549 --> 00:19:24.726
documentation and I was reading you
had them in probably the library. So

00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:31.407
either the Academy of Sciences or the
National University. And so I was

00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:38.097
really before I came I was already on
top of things and I had this friend

00:19:38.130 --> 00:19:43.417
I mentioned briefly who was also a
fellow check and I got acquainted with

00:19:43.450 --> 00:19:50.226
him through I think writing articles.
And then as soon as I arrived here,

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about three years later we met and he
was advising me also. He was, he was

00:19:55.579 --> 00:20:01.437
an engineer who got his degree in
computer sciences. So, and he was

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working with information also. So that
was kind of my training over theyears