Prof. Dr. Abdul Moid (1920–1984)
Dr. Moid was in fact the Melvil Dewey of Pakistan in terms of founding the first library school and the national library association. The institution of a graduate program within the walls of a university as early as 1956 should not be viewed as an ordinary achievement of the man, for he had to face obstacles of all kinds in this regard. It was not easy to convince the academic community of the need for such a program in a little known discipline at a newly established university which was already under pressure to institute courses in traditional subjects of vital national interest. In fact, the qualified librarians coming out from the Department each year shaped the direction of library development in the country. Of these, particular mention could be made of Dr. Anis Khurshid, Dr. Syed Jalal Haider, Prof. Akhter Hanif, M. Adil Usmani, Dr. Ghaniul Akram, Dr. Mumtaz A. Anwar, Abdul Hafeez Akhter, Dr. A.R. Butt, Dr. Fazil Baloch, Dr. Khawaja Iftikhar, and Meer Hassan Jamali.
Born in India on 20 January 1920, Moid received his B.A. degree from AligarhMuslimUniversity (1941), his M.A. from the University of Michigan (1955) and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (1964). The topic of his dissertation, which he completed under the supervision of Professor R.B. Downs, was Urdu Language Resources in the United States of America. Of his teachers, mention could be made of luminaries like Maulana Abdul Aziz Memon (Aligarh), Professor Gjelsness (Michigan), and Professor R.B. Downs (Illinois). He was personally known to S.R. Ranganathan, Sir Frank Francis and Dr. Ralph R. Shaw.
He worked in a number of libraries both in India and Pakistan, including ArabicCollege (Delhi), DelhiUniversity, Punjab Public Library (Lahore), SindhUniversity and KarachiUniversity, of which he was the founding librarian where he played a key role in building it as the largest library of the post–independence period. From 1973 to 1983 he taught at AhmaduBelloUniversity (Zaria) and BayeroUniversity (Kano) where he established the Library and Information Science (LIS) Department and headed the University Library. He also taught at NorthTexasStateUniversity as a visiting professor during the summer of 1967.
Professor Moid was also instrumental in the formation of the Pakistan Library Association and had the honor of being elected its founding secretary–general. The greatest contribution of Moid as secretary–general of the association was the organization of its first annual conference. This historic conference was inaugurated on 8 January 1958 by no less a person than the president of the country, and it proved to be a great success in spreading the message of library service and the cult of books in the country. Some of the resolutions adopted at the conference dealt with the need for planning of library services, easing restrictions on the import of books and journals, establishment of library schools at the universities, amendment of the Copyright Law, etc. Moid tried his best to project the Association both at the national and international level. He was also associated in various capacities with the country’s other professional bodies, such as the Society for the Promotion and Improvement of Libraries, the Karachi Library Association and the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group.
He represented Pakistan at several international forums, including the Organizing Conference of the Asian Federation of Library Associations, Tokyo (1957) and the International Association of Orientalist Librarians.
Moid was not a prolific writer but he did contribute thirty articles to professional journals . His article on “Illumination” in the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science deserves special mention. Among his publications are: A Guide to Works of Reference Published in Pakistan, A Guide to Periodical Publications and Newspapers of Pakistan, Directory of Libraries, etc. He was a member of the Advisory Board of International Library Review and the Journal of Library History in their formative stages.
Dr. Moid was in fact the Melvil Dewey of Pakistan in terms of founding the first library school and the national library association. The institution of a graduate program within the walls of a university as early as 1956 should not be viewed as an ordinary achievement of the man, for he had to face obstacles of all kinds in this regard. It was not easy to convince the academic community of the need for such a program in a little known discipline at a newly established university which was already under pressure to institute courses in traditional subjects of vital national interest. In fact, the qualified librarians coming out from the Department each year shaped the direction of library development in the country. Of these, particular mention could be made of Dr. Anis Khurshid, Dr. Syed Jalal Haider, Prof. Akhter Hanif, M. Adil Usmani, Dr. Ghaniul Akram, Dr. Mumtaz A. Anwar, Abdul Hafeez Akhter, Dr. A.R. Butt, Dr. Fazil Baloch, Dr. Khawaja Iftikhar, and Meer Hassan Jamali.
Born in India on 20 January 1920, Moid received his B.A. degree from AligarhMuslimUniversity (1941), his M.A. from the University of Michigan (1955) and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (1964). The topic of his dissertation, which he completed under the supervision of Professor R.B. Downs, was Urdu Language Resources in the United States of America. Of his teachers, mention could be made of luminaries like Maulana Abdul Aziz Memon (Aligarh), Professor Gjelsness (Michigan), and Professor R.B. Downs (Illinois). He was personally known to S.R. Ranganathan, Sir Frank Francis and Dr. Ralph R. Shaw.
He worked in a number of libraries both in India and Pakistan, including ArabicCollege (Delhi), DelhiUniversity, Punjab Public Library (Lahore), SindhUniversity and KarachiUniversity, of which he was the founding librarian where he played a key role in building it as the largest library of the post–independence period. From 1973 to 1983 he taught at AhmaduBelloUniversity (Zaria) and BayeroUniversity (Kano) where he established the Library and Information Science (LIS) Department and headed the University Library. He also taught at NorthTexasStateUniversity as a visiting professor during the summer of 1967.
Professor Moid was also instrumental in the formation of the Pakistan Library Association and had the honor of being elected its founding secretary–general. The greatest contribution of Moid as secretary–general of the association was the organization of its first annual conference. This historic conference was inaugurated on 8 January 1958 by no less a person than the president of the country, and it proved to be a great success in spreading the message of library service and the cult of books in the country. Some of the resolutions adopted at the conference dealt with the need for planning of library services, easing restrictions on the import of books and journals, establishment of library schools at the universities, amendment of the Copyright Law, etc. Moid tried his best to project the Association both at the national and international level. He was also associated in various capacities with the country’s other professional bodies, such as the Society for the Promotion and Improvement of Libraries, the Karachi Library Association and the Pakistan Bibliographical Working Group.
He represented Pakistan at several international forums, including the Organizing Conference of the Asian Federation of Library Associations, Tokyo (1957) and the International Association of Orientalist Librarians.
Moid was not a prolific writer but he did contribute thirty articles to professional journals . His article on “Illumination” in the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science deserves special mention. Among his publications are: A Guide to Works of Reference Published in Pakistan, A Guide to Periodical Publications and Newspapers of Pakistan, Directory of Libraries, etc. He was a member of the Advisory Board of International Library Review and the Journal of Library History in their formative stages.