Ranganathan

Ranganathan is a surname of Indian origin, commonly found among Tamil- and Kannada-speaking communities. The name is derived from Ranganath, a name associated with the Hindu deity Vishnu, and is frequently used as a family name in South India.

The most prominent person with this name is Shiyali Narayana Ranganathan, often cited as S. Ranganathan, an Indian librarian and mathematician who is widely regarded as the father of modern library science in India. He contributed to the development of library organization, documentation, and information science, and he advanced systematic approaches to library management and classification. Ranganathan designed Colon Classification, a pioneering faceted system for organizing library materials, and he articulated The Five Laws of Library Science, a concise framework for library service. His writings, including Prolegomena to Library Classification, helped shape library practices in India and influenced library science globally.

Beyond S. Ranganathan, other individuals with the surname Ranganathan appear in various fields, including academia, politics, and the arts, particularly within India and the Indian diaspora. While these figures may be notable in their own right, the name is most closely associated in global reference works with S. Ranganathan and his contributions to library and information science.

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