John William Jolliffe (15 July 1929 – 30 March 1985) was a British librarian and academic who was Bodley's Librarian (head of the Bodleian Library at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
) from 1982 until his death.
Life
Jolliffe was born in Hastings in 1929. His parents were William Jolliffe and Gwendolen Gadd.
Jolliffe was educated at
Hastings Grammar School
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
before studying French at
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
. Jolliffe married Beryl Bailey, with whom he would go on to have three daughters. He was appointed Assistant Keeper in the Department of Printed Books at the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in 1955, moving to Oxford to become Keeper of Catalogues at the Bodleian Library in 1970. He was a
fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of
Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...
from 1971 onwards. He became Bodley's Librarian in 1982 at a time of budget cuts, having earlier been Acting Librarian.
His publications included various articles on his specialist area of 16th-century
French literature
French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than F ...
. He was also an early leader in the use of computers for cataloguing old books; between 1968 and 1974, he directed a project examining proposals for cataloguing early books in the university libraries of
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
, and
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and the report was published in 1974 as ''Computers and Early Books''.
Joliffe was involved in the development of the use of computers in the Bodleian Library. He died in 1985 after a short illness, aged 55. On his death, his colleague