Ralph R. Shaw

Ralph Shaw had his first job in a library at the age of 16 when he worked as a page at the Cleveland Public Library. He obtained his BA in 1928 from the Adelbert College Western Reserve University and then subsequently a library science bachelor's degree from the library school at Columbia University in 1929.

He then went on to obtain his master's degree from the library school at Columbia University in 1931 and his PhD from the University of Chicago Graduate Library School in 1950. By the time Shaw had earned his PhD he had already served as senior assistant and chief bibliographer of the Engineering Society's Library, served as the director of the Gary Public Library in Indiana, and had been appointed the director of the U.S. National Agricultural Library in 1940.

United States National Agricultural Library - (1940–1954)

Shaw served as the department librarian for the United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) from 1940 to 1954. Shaw's personal project was to mechanize the bibliography and citation process of the Agricultural Library, creating more efficient means of searching and referencing information.

Rutgers University - Faculty 1954, Dean 1959-1961

In his role as Rutgers faculty Shaw worked on the second revision of American Bibliography, working with Richard H. Shoemaker to complete its entries through the year 1846.

University of Hawaii – 1964–1969

Shaw was the Dean of Library Activities 1966 to 1969 at the Hamilton Library at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

He married his first wife Viola Susan Leff in 1929 and married his second wife, Mary McChesney Andrews in 1969.