Edith Ditmas

Edith Ditmas
Born	Edith Margaret Robertson Ditmas 1896
Died	28 February 1986
Occupation	archivist
Academic background
Alma mater	Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Academic work
Institutions	Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux

Edith Margaret Robertson Ditmas (1896 – 28 February 1986) was an English archivist, historian and writer.

Biography

Ditmas was born in Weston-super-Mare in 1896. She studied English Language and Literature at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and received a Second Class Honours degree^[1] and also a master of arts degree from the University of Oxford.^[2]

She was an influential official of the British Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux, whose journal she edited. As general secretary of what became the Association for Information Management (ASLIB) in 1946–1950, she called strongly at the Empire Scientific Conference for "a combination of government encouragement and private initiative" in developing specialized information services. This approach was to prevail.^[3] She also took over the editorship of the Journal of Documentation from 1947 until 1962.^[4]

In retirement, Ditmas turned to writing guidebooks. For a long period, she was a resident of Benson, Oxfordshire, and completed a thorough history of it in 1918. This circulated in typescript and was published posthumously in 2009, with addenda of information on subsequent archaeological research and of early maps.^[5] The one surviving picture of Ditmas was taken on a Women's Institute outing, the WI being one of her abiding interests.^[6]

Edith Ditmas died on 28 February 1986.

Selected works

• 1923, Ezra and Nehemiah. SPCK, London.
• 1942, "Special library in time of war". In: Proceedings of the 17th Aslib Conference. London 1942, pp. 52–55.
• 1956, Gareth of Orkney. Faber, London. Novel.
• 1970, Tristan and Iseult in Cornwall. Forrester Roberts, Brockworth.
• 1973, A Short History of Benson Church, Oxfordshire. British Publishing, Gloucester.
• 1979, Traditions and Legends of Glastonbury. Toucan Press, St Peter Port.
• 1973, The Legend of Drake's Drum. Toucan Press, St Peter Port.
• 1981, Glastonbury Tor: Fact and Legend. Toucan Press, St Peter Port.
• 2009, The Ditmas History of Benson. Pie Powder Press, Wallingford.

References

1. Landau, Thomas (ed.). "Ditmas , Edith Margaret Robertson". Who's who in Librarianship - Volume 1. Bowes & Bowes. p. 54. Education : Royal School for Officers ' Daugh-ters , Bath ; Lady Margaret Hall , Oxford . Qualifications : Second Class Hons . degree in English Language and Literature .
2. Liam Sloan (9 November 2009). "Benson's history is in print at long last". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
3. Dave Muddiman (2008). "Public Science in Britain and the Origins of Documentation and Information Science, 1890-1950". In W. Boyd Rayward (ed.). European Modernism and the Information Society. Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing. p. 208. ISBN 9780754649281. Retrieved 31 January 2023 – via Google Books.
4. Richard Kimber (1 April 1986). "Miss Edith Ditmas: An Appreciation". Journal of Documentation. 42 (4). MCB UP Ltd: 217–224. doi:10.1108/eb026794. ISSN 0022-0418. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
5. "National Library of Wales - E. M. R. Ditmas Papers". Archifau Cymru Archives Wales. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
6. "The Ditmas History of Benson". Books in Print. Pie Powder Press. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2023.

Bibliography

• Laurie J. Bonnici; Jonathan Furner; Alexander Justice; Kathryn La Barre; Shawne D. Miksa; Helen Plant (2003). "Pioneering women in information science". Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 40 (1): 425–426. doi:10.1002/meet.1450400151.
• Richard Kimber (1 April 1986). "Miss Edith Ditmas: An Appreciation". Journal of Documentation. 42 (4). MCB UP Ltd: 217–224. doi:10.1108/eb026794. ISSN 0022-0418. Retrieved 31 January 2023.