It’s Fun to Interview Him, If You Can Catch Him: an interview with Robert Wedgeworth

Abstract

Robert Wedgeworth, President of the International Federation of Library Association and Institutions (IFLA) from 1991–1997, was interviewed August 20, 1998, Hotel Okura, Amsterdam, during the 64th General Conference of IFLA. Past presidents of IFLA, starting with Sir Frank Francis, have been taped and transcriptions have been published. The persons being interviewed do not know the questions to be asked before the interview, but each does receive a photocopy of the proposed context before publication. Wedgeworth was previously interviewed by the author in 1986 on the subject of international relations and the American Library Association (ALA) of which he was Executive Director at that time. The author has been privileged to know the five previous presidents personally before they were interviewed, including Wedgeworth since 1974, and IFLA since 1968. The interview incorporates some memories of IFLA meetings but largely presents the crisis during his presidency and the new management techniques utilized within the IFLA structure to resolve problems and improve IFLA.