Archie L. Dick

Candidate statement

Archie L Dick, Professor, University of Pretoria. After completing a PhD in library and information science in 1991, I explored the discipline’s connections with the history of book culture. My early research revealed ways in which non-elite or common readers used libraries and voluntary associations for cultural and political purposes. Adding the activities and records of other memory institutions, I continue to explore and explain aspects of South Africa’s intellectual history. Appointments to the editorial advisory boards of Palgrave Macmillan’s series New Directions in Book History, and SHARP’s journal Book History are examples of recognition. Cambridge University Press published my most recent work in their Elements Series. I read papers at SHARP Lyon (2004), Cape Town (2007), Helsinki (2010), Dublin (2012), and Münster (2021) and served as a judge on the DeLong Prize Committee. I was an organising committee member for the 2007 SHARP Regional Conference in Cape Town and SHARP Regional Liaison Officer for Southern Africa until 2018. I was a SHARP Ambassador in 2004. As a co-applicant for Print, Publishing and Cultural Production in South Africa, 1948-2012 http://www.printculturesouthafrica.org/, I hope to help nurture a new generation of scholars in Southern Africa. A fuller biography and a list of more than 120 works can be found at: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7243-3137. As a member of the Board of Directors I shall bring awareness of the challenges, and strategic advice for growing SHARP’s presence in this region.