Eugene P. Sheehy

Who is Eugene P. Sheehy?

Eugene P. Sheehy was an American academic librarian, professional researcher, author and editor. As a librarian he served as the head of the reference department at Columbia University in New York City from 1967 to 1986. He is best remembered as the editor-in-chief for the Guide to Reference, an exhaustive meta-reference book published by the American Library Association that reviewed periodicals and journals of all disciplines. Sheehy's version of GRB was widely used in the 1970s and 1980s as an educational tool for library students, as a tool for reference librarians to assist them with difficult searches and as a tool for purchasers for libraries to assist them in choosing which materials to obtain for their library. Although Sheehy was not the first editor of GRB, his name became so synonymous with the book that it was often simply referred to as "The Sheehy".