Robert L. Birch
Robert L. Birch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | August 9, 1925 Mobile, Alabama |
| Died | July 26, 2005 (aged 79) Falls Church, Virginia |
| Occupation | Librarian |
| Known for | National Trivia Day |
Robert Louis Birch (August 9, 1925 – July 26, 2005) was an American librarian known for creating National Trivia Day and other lesser-known holidays such as Swap Ideas Day and Lumpy Rug Day.[1][2] National Trivia Day is celebrated in the United States and Canada and is seen as a way for organizations to share interesting facts about their subject areas.[3][4] The holiday was first celebrated in 1980.[5] Birch founded the Puns Corp, intended to help people have fun with words.[6]
Birch was born in Mobile, Alabama, 1925 and grew up in Cuba. He got a degree from the University of Miami, Florida, with a double major in literature and philosophy and earned a master's degree in library science from the Catholic University of America in 1958. He served in the military during the Korean War.[7]
Birch worked for the Patent Office Scientific Library and at the National Agricultural Library, each for ten years. He worked on a research project with the Science Index Group determining a way to make writing or speeches maximally intelligible. This work was centered around translations of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.[8][9] He did other library research into wording styles of material titles to determine what would make them most efficiently retrieved.[10] He also published papers about Lincoln's speech style that suggested Lincoln was making use of similar wording and memory techniques.[11] Birch was the president of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia.[12]
Birch co-authored the book Memory Dynamics: A complete Memory System with Judge William Fauver which outlined how people could use "coded memory pictures" to recall information.[13] He did presentations about these memory systems to professional librarian associations.[14]
Birch lived in Falls Church, Virginia. He and his wife Grace had eight children.
References[edit]
- ^ "Robert Birch Obituary (2005)". Legacy.com. Culpeper News. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
- ^ Slotek, Jim (2016-12-17). "Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a joyous A'phabet Day to you". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ Dailey, Bonnie (2022-01-04). "SWCD celebrates National Trivia Day". Delaware Gazette. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ Parsons, McKenzy (2022-01-04). "Here's some useless information for you! It's National Trivia Day!". KPTM. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ Team, PWLiving Editorial (2022-01-03). "Celebrate National Trivia Day on Jan. 4". Prince William Living. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ "Puns Corps Company Profile". Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
- ^ "Announcing the passing of Robert (Bob) Birch on 2005 July 25". Birch Family Site. 2005-09-01. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ "Lincoln's Gettysburg Address : Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection". Internet Archive. 2021-12-20. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ Current Research and Development in Scientific Documentation. NSF 58. National Science Foundation, Office of Science Information Service. 1964. p. 1-PA64. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ National Science Foundation (U.S.) (1961). Scientific Information Notes. National Science Foundation. p. 13. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ "Journal of Irreproducible Results". Internet Archive. 1995. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ "Congressional Record August 13, 1969 – September 10, 1969". Internet Archive. 1969-08-13. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
- ^ Memory dynamics : a complete memory system (Book, 1981) [WorldCat.org]. OCLC 7310511. Retrieved 2022-01-04 – via WorldCat.org.
- ^ National Agricultural Library (U.S.); Technical Information Systems (U.S.) (1975). Agricultural Libraries Information Notes. Technical Information Systems, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture. p. 14-PA2. Retrieved 2022-01-04.