Herbert Spencer White (July 5, 1927 â September 9, 2024) was an Austrian-born American librarian. He was Dean Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the School of Library and Information Science at Indiana University, and adjunct professor, University of Arizona, Tucson. He was honored with the Award of Merit - Association for Information Science and Technology and the American Library Association Melvil Dewey Award. He was a contributor to current theory and understanding of the role of the special library in contemporary American organizations.
White was born in Vienna, Austria, on July 5, 1927. He had a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) and Masters of Library Science from Syracuse University.
He was Director of the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Facility, librarian at the Library of Congress and Atomic Energy Commission, program manager of the IBM Corporate Technical Information Center, and Vice President for Operations of the Institute for Scientific Information.
White was dean and professor from 1975-1991 at Indiana University School of Informatics Bloomington campus and distinguished Professor Emeritus after 1991.
White was the author of more than nine books and 200 articles on topics of library administration, supervision and library automation. He was a frequent speaker and presenter at seminars and workshops.
In retirement he continued adjunct teaching at the University of Arizona, writing and lecturing.
His "White Papers," a column published in Library Journal for more than a decade, was influential on current issues. Many of these popular columns were collected and republished in Librarianship Quo Vadis? (Libraries Unlimited: 2000).
White died on September 9, 2024, at the age of 97.