Charles A. Bunge, Professor Emeritus and former director of the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has developed the field of Library Studies through his extensive publications on reference and user services.

Biographical Information:

Charles Albert Bunge was born in Kimball, Nebraska on March 18, 1936, and later in his life he married Joanne Vonstoeser. He is proficient in both French and German. He is a member of the American Library Association, the Association of American Law Schools, WisLA, Phi Beta Kappa, and Beta Phi Mu.

Educational Background:

In 1954 Bunge attended the University of Missouri, and after taking a year off in 1957, he returned to the university and attained a B.A. degree in philosophy in 1959. Immediately afterwards, Bunge enrolled into the University of Illinois and in 1960 obtained his Master's degree in library science. From 1960 to 1962, Bunge worked as a reference librarian at the Daniel Boone Regional Library at Columbia, Missouri. His experience in referencing was further deepened through his position as reference librarian at the Ball State Teachers College Library from 1962 to 1964.(1)

Later on that year, Bunge returned to the academic world at the University of Illinois to get his Ph.D. in the field of Library Science. From 1964 to 1966, Bunge also worked as a research assistant at the Library Research Center at Urbana, Illinois, though in the summer of 1965 he took a break from research assistance to teach a class in the field of Library Science at the University of Illinois Graduate School. Bunge performed so well at the Library Research Center that by 1966 he had been promoted to the role of research associate. In 1967, Bunge succeeded in obtaining his Ph.D. in Library Science, and later that year Bunge began his professional career as Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin Library School. Bunge taught at the UW-Madison for thirty years and held the position of directorship of the School of Library and Information Studies from 1971 to 1981.(2)

Contributions to Reference Services:

Charles Bunge has contributed greatly to the field of library science through his lifelong dedication to both public and academic libraries, his tutorship of library studies students, and his myriad of publications concerning the state of reference librarianship.(3) He was a pioneer in the information age, among the first to witness the digitalizing of libraries and consider its effects upon the field of reference services.

Bunge considered the reference librarian to be the heart of information service, thus during the academic year 1981-1982, he decided to take a half-time sabbatical leave from his teaching career to reacquaint himself with the public and academic library world. He spent one semester as reference librarian at a reputable academic library, and the second semester at a public library. Bunge believed that the “daily, hour-to-hour experience”(4) of a librarian is serious matter, necessitating keen observation and reflection. In fact, Bunge was one of the first to carefully examine the attitudes of librarians during the period of emerging digital databases and the need for specialization of services. He also ruminated on the role of the librarian in the face of digitalization and argued that reference services needed to be tailored to meet the new needs of library patrons. His continual scrutiny of reference interactions to improve the state of reference services was reflected in all of his writings, making his publications both practical and helpful.(5)

Bunge was the former Editor of the "Current Reference Books" section of The Wilson Library Bulletin. He is primarily interested in reference and book selection, so not only he has written a plethora of book reviews for several library publications, but he has also published comprehensively on the changes in reference and information resources, goals for the reference department, and the interpersonal dimensions of the reference interview. The field of reference and user services, in short, has been significantly shaped by Bunge’s guidance during its formative period of digitalization.

Publications:

Bunge, CA. (1991). CD-ROM stress. Library journal, 116(7), 63-64.

Bunge, CA. (1985). Factors related to reference question answering success: the development of a data-gathering form. RQ, 24(4), 482-486.

Bunge, CA. (1984). Interpersonal dimensions of the reference interview: a historical review of the literature. Drexel library quarterly, 20(2), 4-23.

Bunge, CA. (1983). Measurement and evaluation of reference and adult services. RQ, 22(3), 251-254.

Bunge, CA. (1967). Professional Education and Reference Efficiency. Springfield, Illinois.

Bunge, CA. (1986). Reference desk staffing patterns: report of a survey. RQ, 27(2), 171-179.

Bunge, CA. (1987). Reference questions-data from the field. RQ, 27(1), 15-18.

Bunge, CA. (1989). Stress in the library workplace. Library trends, 38(1), 92-102.

Bunge, CA. (1992). The philosophies and objective of graduate programs in library and information studies. Journal of library administration, 16(1-2), 13-18.

Ferguson, CD., and Bunge, CA. (1997) The Shape of Services to Come: Values-Based Reference Service for the Largely Digital Library. College & Research Libraries 58, 252-55.

References:

(1) Ash, L. (1970). A Biographical Directory of Librarians in the United States and Canada, Fifth Edition. Chicago: American Library Association.

(2) Wisconsin Week. (2000). Milestones. Retrieved November 18, 2006, from University of Wisconsin-Madison: News Web site: http://www.news.wisc.edu/3575.html

(3) Ferguson, C. (1999). Introduction. The Reference Librarian, 31(66), 1.

(4) Bunge, CA. (1984). Potential and Reality at the Reference Desk: Reflections on a 'Return to the Field.' Journal of Academic Librarianship, 10(3), 128-133.

(5) Watstein, S. (1999). PART 1: THE REFERENCE ENVIRONMENT. The Reference Librarian, 31(66), 9-11.

Lena T. Pham