Frederick William Ratcliffe (born 28 May 1927) is an English philologist and librarian. He has a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in German, given for his thesis on Heinrich von Mügeln at the University of Manchester. From 1954 he was an assistant librarian or sublibrarian in the universities of Manchester, Glasgow, and Newcastle upon Tyne. He succeeded

Moses Tyson Moses Tyson (born 1897, Westmorland; died 1969), was a British historian and librarian who was Keeper of Western Manuscripts at the John Rylands Library from 1927 to 1935 and then Librarian of the Manchester University Library from 1935 until 1 ...

as the University Librarian at Manchester in 1965 and from 1972 was additionally director of the

John Rylands University Library The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...

. In 1980 he became University Librarian at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where he remained until his retirement in 1994. From 1995 to 2000 he was Parker Librarian at the

Parker Library, Corpus Christi College The Parker Library is a library within Corpus Christi College, Cambridge which contains rare books and manuscripts. It is known throughout the world due to its invaluable collection of over 600 manuscripts, particularly medieval texts, the ...

. He has written a number of papers on the subject of librarianship including the preservation of library materials. He was born in

Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

on 28 May 1927. His son is George Ratcliffe, a professor of plant metabolism at Oxford.

Selected writings

*1966-1980: University of Manchester. ''Librarian's report'', 1966–1980 *1980: "The Scholar in the Academic Library" in: B. C. Bloomfield, ed., ''Middle East Studies and Libraries: a felicitation volume for Professor J. D. Pearson''. London: Mansell Information Publishing; pp. 163–178 *1980: "Archival Responsibilities of University Libraries" in ''Journal of Librarianship and Information Science'' vol. 12 (1980) pp. 71–83 *1982: ''The Role of the Modern University Library''. 23 pp. Darwin *1991: "Preservation and Scholarship in Libraries" in ''Library Review'' vol. 40 (1991) pp. 62–71 *2007: ''Books, Books, Just Miles and Miles of Books: across the library counter, 1950–2000''. 317 p.; 31 cm. Cambridge: F. W. Ratcliffe (unpublished autobiography, held at Cambridge University Library)

References

*Who's Who. * Pullan, Brian & Abendstern, Michele (2000) ''A History of the University of Manchester, 1951-73'' ; p. 9
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliffe, Frederick William 1927 births Possibly living people British philologists English librarians Cambridge University Librarians Commanders of the Order of the British Empire