Maria Luisa Monteiro da Cunha


Maria Luisa Monteiro da Cunha was a Brazilian librarian who developed many of the cataloging principles used in Brazil. Her extensive contributions to library science extend not only to national librarianship in Brazil but also to a variety of international library activities.

Education

Originally trained as a dentist, she began studying library science in 1940. After receiving a scholarship from the American Library Association, she studied at Columbia University School of Library Science. During her studies, she developed a set of principles that eventually became the framework for Brazilian cataloging. She also represented Columbia University at the First Conference of Librarians of the Americas in 1947.

Work

After seven years at the São Paulo Municipal Library, she became the Director of the University of São Paulo Central Library, a position she held for twenty nine years. In 1965, she joined a committee which would that created the School for Communications and Arts at the university. During this time, she also became an active member of the Brazilian Committee of Library Technical Services, where she worked with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions on international cataloging principles and the revision of International Standard Bibliographic Description.

Selected publications