A. Brian Deer

A. Brian Deer
Born
Alec Brian Deer

(1945-01-10)January 10, 1945[1]
Brooklyn, New York
Died (aged 74)[2]
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
NationalityKahnawake, Canada
EducationJohn Grant High School (1962), Concordia University (BSci, Math, 1966)
McGill (MLS, 1974)
Occupation(s)Librarian
Scholar
Entrepreneur (Otiohkwa Video)
Known forBrian Deer Classification System

Alec Brian Deer (1945 – January 12, 2019), Tionerahtoken (Mohawk), known as Brian Deer, was a librarian from Kahnawake known for the development of a high-level, original library classification system that expresses Indigenous knowledge structures. He developed it while working in the late 1970s for the National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations) in Canada. He also applied the principles to other small collections, while creating new classifications. After further development, the system was revised and has been adapted for wider use, known as the Brian Deer Classification System (BDCS).[3]

This classification system was extended and adapted for use by Deer and others for other libraries in Canada. In the early 1980s, a version was developed for use in British Columbia, known as BDC-BC.[4] It has since been revised and used for the Xwi7xwa Library, established as an indigenous library at the Vancouver campus of the University of British Columbia.[5][6][7]

Born with pneumonia and suffering from lung problems when young, Deer worked hard to build his physical strength.[1] He long outlived doctors' expectations. He died at the age of 74 on January 12, 2019, at the Royal-Victoria hospital in Montreal.[8]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Rowe2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "DEER Alec Brian 19452019, death notice, Canada". Canada Obituaries. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  3. ^ Dupont, Sarah (2015). Indigenization of Knowledge Organization at the Xwi7xwa Library (Thesis). University of British Columbia.
  4. ^ "Brian Deer Classification System". Indigenous Librarianship. University of British Columbia Library. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  5. ^ Lee, Deborah; Kumaran, Mahalakshmi (2014-06-11). Aboriginal and Visible Minority Librarians: Oral Histories from Canada. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442236820.
  6. ^ "Indigenous Knowledge Organization | Xwi7xwa Library". xwi7xwa.library.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  7. ^ "Aboriginal Library". Aboriginal Education. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  8. ^ "Remembering the life of Alec DEER". montrealgazette.remembering.ca. Retrieved 2019-01-17.