Warwick Cathro

{{Use Australian English|date=March 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix =  | name = Warwick Cathro | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1948|3|8|df=yes}} | birth_place = Newtown, New South Wales | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | region = | other_names = | occupation = Librarian | period = | known_for = | title = | boards =  | spouse = | children = | awards =  | website = | education = Newington College | alma_mater = University of Sydney | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences =  | era = | discipline =  | sub_discipline =  | workplaces = National Library of Australia | doctoral_students =  | notable_students =  | main_interests = | notable_works = Trove | notable_ideas = | influenced =  | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | footnotes = }} '''Warwick Scott Cathro''' (born 8 March 1948) was pivotal in the development of Trove,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vala.org.au/vala2010/papers2010/VALA2010_127_Cathro_Final.pdf|title=Developing Trove: the policy and technical challenges|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206005914/https://www.vala.org.au/vala2010/papers2010/VALA2010_127_Cathro_Final.pdf|archivedate=6 December 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref> an Australian online library database aggregator hosted by the National Library of Australia. The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) says of him; "His extraordinary work in developing and implementing standards; advancing innovative solutions; championing national sectoral infrastructure and encouraging communication and debate in the profession, place Warwick Cathro among the most important Australian library and information practitioners of our time."<ref>[https://www.alia.org.au/warwick-cathro Australian Library and Information Association] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206005754/https://www.alia.org.au/warwick-cathro |date=6 December 2017 }} 5 December 2018.</ref>

==Early life== Cathro was born in Newtown, New South Wales and attended Newington College (1957-1964) commencing as a preparatory school student in Wyvern House.<ref>Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) pp 31</ref> In 1959, he was the Dux of Wyvern and in 1964 he was Dux of the College and received the Halse Rogers and Schofield Prizes.<ref>Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998 (Syd, 1999) Part 2 - The Lists</ref> Following school, he commenced study at the University of Sydney and in 1969 graduated as a Bachelor of Science and was awarded his PhD in physical chemistry in 1975.<ref name=us>{{cite web | title =Alumni Sidneienses | publisher =University of Sydney | url =https://alumniarchives.sydney.edu.au/as/FMPro?-db=as_main.fp5&-lay=web&-format=..%2Fas%2Fsearch_list.html&-max=10&-error=error.html&-SortField=dLastName&dLastName=Cathro&dFirstName=Warwick&dGradYear=&-find=Go%21 | accessdate = 5 December 2017}}</ref>

==Library career== Cathro joined the staff of the National Library of Australia in January 1978 and on his retirement in 2011 held the position of Assistant Director-General, Resource Sharing and Innovation. During that time, Cathro played a leading role in the Library's delivery of innovative network services to the Australian library community including the Australian Bibliographic Network, Australian National Bibliographic Database, and Libraries Australia. Cathro is considered the founder of Trove, which is the National Library's discovery service and links Australians to resources available online, and in Australian libraries, cultural institutions and research collections. It highlights material collected by 1100 Australian institutions and links to more than 120,000,000 items, including full-text books, journal and newspaper articles, images, music, sound, video, maps, websites, letters, archives, and biographies of prominent Australians. In 2010, the site received 3 million visits and now boasts an average of 25,000 unique visitors a day. Visitors to the site assist in correcting the machine-readable indexed text in the full-text newspaper section.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/forum/showthread.php?471-Dr-Warwick-Cathro-Trove-Champion National Library of Australia – Trove Champion] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205093137/https://trove.nla.gov.au/forum/showthread.php?471-Dr-Warwick-Cathro-Trove-Champion |date=5 December 2017 }} Retrieved 5 December 2017.</ref>

In 1997, Cathro was one of the primary organizers of the fourth Dublin Core Metadata Initiative's workshop which was hosted by the National Library in Canberra.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june97/metadata/06weibel.html|title=The 4th Dublin Core Metadata Workshop Report|last=Weibel|first=Stuart|last2=Iannella|first2=Renato|date=16 June 1997|website=www.dlib.org|access-date=4 December 2017|last3=Cathro|first3=Warwick}}</ref>

==Honours== Cathro was awarded the ''H.C.L. Anderson Award'' by ALIA in 2012 for his contribution to the development of Trove, the discovery service and national newspaper digitisation project.<ref>[https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulhagon/8493131765 Dr Warwick Cathro receiving the HCL Anderson Award.] Retrieved 5 December 2017.</ref><ref>[https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/awards-and-grants/hcl-anderson-award/previous-recipients-hcl-anderson-award HCL Anderson Award] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206005807/https://www.alia.org.au/about-alia/awards-and-grants/hcl-anderson-award/previous-recipients-hcl-anderson-award |date=6 December 2017 }} 5 December 2017.</ref> Other awards include the ''ALIA Library Manager of the Year'' (1991)<ref>[http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/inCiteALIA/1992/78.pdf Library Manager off the Year, 1991] Retrieved 5 December 2017.</ref> and the Victorian Association for Library Automation ''R.D. Williamson Award'' (1993).

== Oral history == An oral history interview with Cathro, recorded in 2018, is available at the National Library of Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Warwick Cathro interviewed by Dr David Jones {{!}} Catalogue {{!}} National Library of Australia |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/7887564 |access-date=2025-11-12 |website=catalogue.nla.gov.au |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathro, Warwick Scott}} Category:1948 births Category:Australian librarians Category:Living people Category:University of Sydney alumni Category:People educated at Newington College Category:Australian physical chemists Category:National Library of Australia Council members Category:20th-century Australian chemists