AYER, H(arry) D(ouglas Sandy) 1952-

PERSONAL:

Born May 7, 1952, in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada; son of Gordon Saunders (a clerk) and Euphemia Sinclair (a homemaker; maiden name, Whitehead) Ayer; married Diane Susan George, May 29, 1982; children: Adam, Hannah. Ethnicity: "Canadian." Education: University of British Columbia, B.A., 1974, M.L.S., 1984; Simon Fraser University, teaching certificate, 1975; Regent College, M. Christian Studies, 1980. Religion: Christian and Missionary Alliance. Hobbies and other interests: Birding, fishing, speed-walking, language and languages, poetry (including writing haiku), liturgy, travel, humor.

ADDRESSES:

Home—1278 Campbell St., Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4T 5P7. Office—Canadian Bible College, Canadian Theological Seminary, 4400 Fourth Ave., Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4T 0H8; fax: 306-545-0210. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Canadian Theological Seminary, Canadian Bible College, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, director of library services, 1984—.

MEMBER:

American Theological Library Association, Regina Natural History Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Grant from American Theological Library Association, 1992.

WRITINGS:

The Christian and Missionary Alliance: An Annotated Bibliography of Textual Sources, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

H. D. Ayer told CA: "I started writing the Alliance bibliography as a means of determining which items I should include in the special research collection I had begun to compile for the library of the Canadian Bible College and Canadian Theological Seminary. The in-house project turned into something broader when I discovered that I qualified for a sabbatical and needed a research proposal to get the sabbatical approved. Actually it took me two sabbaticals to complete the project.

"I learned how to do annotations in the children's literature course I took from Sheila Egoff in library school. The discipline of haiku—completing a verbal image in seventeen syllables—also helped. As for compiling the bibliographical citations themselves, well, I'm a collector by nature—formerly stamps, now sightings of birds—and so putting together a list appealed to me. However, my next book, if I end up writing another, will be about my adventures as a birder."