b. Dec. 30, 1948, Calgary, AB; d. Sept. 17, 2020, Edmonton, AB

1970 BA University of Calgary
1973 MA University of Calgary
1975 MLS University of British Columbia

1974–1977 Head, Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Calgary
1978–1983 Founding Director, Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (now Canadiana.org)
1984–1990 University Librarian, University of Regina
1990–2013 Vice-Provost and University Librarian, University of Alberta
2010–2013 Director, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta

Ernie published fifty-seven articles and chapters in books, and made nearly two hundred conference and public presentations. The following is a selection of his works. Many of his journal articles have been published in Feliciter, the newsletter of the Canadian Library Association; these accounts featured many smaller Canadian public libraries.

Ingles, Ernie (1973). Some aspects of dry-land agriculture in the Canadian prairies to 1925. University of Calgary. Thesis (MA).

Ingles, Ernie and Jean Tener (1978). A guide to the collections: Canadian authors manuscripts. [Calgary]: University of Calgary Library, Dept. of Rare books and Special Collections.

Ingles, Ernie (1990). Canada. Oxford: Clio.

Ingles, Ernie, Apollonia Steele, and Shirley A. Onn (1991). The Margaret P. Hess Collection. Repr. with revisions. Calgary: University of Calgary Libraries, Special Collections.

Adshead, G.R., and Ernest Ingles (1994). Bibliography of Canadian bibliographies. 3rd ed. updated, rev. and enl. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Engles, Ernie (1996). “Some aspects of library development in Western Canada and their relations with the National Library of Canada.” In The National Library of Canada and Canadian Libraries: Essays in Honour of Guy Sylvestre, pp. 111–132. Edited by Jean-Rémi Brault, Gwynneth Evans, and Richard Paré. Ottawa and Montréal: CLA and ASTED.

Peel, Bruce Braden, N. Merrill Distad, and Ernest B. Ingles (2003). Peel’s bibliography of the Canadian prairies to 1953. 3rd ed., rev. and enl. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Ingles, Ernie, and 8Rs Research Team (2004). The future of heritage work in Canada: a joint CCA-CLA-ASTED-CMA project. [N.p.]: 8Rs Research Team.

Ingles, Ernest, and 8Rs Research Team (2005). The future of human resources in Canadian libraries. Edmonton: 8Rs Canadian Library Human Resource Study.

Ingles, Ernie (2005). L’avenir des ressources humaines dans les bibliothèques canadiennes. [Edmonton]: 8Rs Étude sur les ressources humaines des les bibliothèques canadiennes = 8Rs Canadian Library Human Resources Study.

Ingles, Ernie (2006). Training gaps analysis: librarians and library technicians. [Ottawa]: Cultural Human Resources Council.

Beaudry, Guylaine, Ernie Ingles, et al. (2014). The future now [electronic resource]: Canada’s libraries, archives and public memory: a report of the Royal Society of Canada’s Expert Panel on the Status and Future of Canada’s Libraries and Archives. Ottawa: The Royal Society of Canada, the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada.

Beaudry, Guylaine, Ernie Ingles, et al. (2014). L’avenir au present: les bibliothèques, les centres d’archives et la mémoire collective au Canada: un rapport du groupe d’exports de la Société royal du Canada sur l’etat et l’avenir des bibliothèques et des centres d’archives du Canada.

Ernie served in executive capacity on more than twenty-five professional associations, societies, government boards and committees. The following is a selection of his service:

President, Saskatchewan Library Association, 1987–1988
President, Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL)
President, Bibliographical Society of Canada, 1989–1991
President, Canadian Library Association, 1991
President, OCLC Members Council, 2006–2007
President, Canadian Association of Research Libraries, 2009
Chair, Advisory Board of the Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information
Chair, Steering Committee of the Canadian Initiative on Digital Libraries
American Research Libraries (Ernie served on numerous ARL committees and working groups, including the ARL Board of Directors, 2010–2013) Library Association of Alberta (LAA)

During his career, Ernie received twenty-nine professional awards and four medals. The following is a selection:

1974 Ruth Cameron Medal for Librarianship
1996 Bibliographical Society of Canada Marie Tremaine Medal
2001 Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (Ernie was the first practicing librarian to be elected)
2001 Canadian Library Association Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award
2003 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
2006 Canadian Association of Research Libraries Award for Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship
2011 Honorary degree Blackfoot Eminent Scholar Kainai PhD from Red Crow College along with the Blackfoot title Kaaahssinnin (“Elder”)
2017 American Library Association Ken Haycock Award for Promoting Librarianship

“Ernie Ingles was one of Canada’s preeminent academic librarians and library innovators.”

“Early in his career, [which spanned more than four decades], he achieved national attention for his creation of the Canadian Author’s Manuscript Collections and the Canadian Architectural Archives. He also established the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions/ Institut canadien de microreproductins historiques, now Canadiana.org.”

His “work at CIHM/Canadiana.org led to the filming and later digital preservation of Canada’s printed , published heritage of books, periodicals and pamphlets. It also inspired his creation of the Peel’s Prairie Provinces Website at the University of Alberta (http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/index.html ) containing full digital texts of many thousands of Western Canadian books and printed ephemera”.

At the University of Alberta, Ernie “was the driving force in linking Alberta library resources and services through the creation of Alberta’s NEOS library consortium; the Alberta Library; the Lois Hole Campus Alberta Digital Library; the Health Knowledge Network (HKN); and the First Nations Information Connection.”

“During Ernie’s time as Chair, SLIS [the University of Alberta School of Library and Information Studies] created and launched the online MLIS program: the first wholly online degree of its kind in Canada.”

“His crowning achievement was the creation [in 1993] of the Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute (NELI) that is internationally acclaimed as a landmark contribution to professional leadership development. More than 400 librarians have developed their leadership potential through the NELI experience.”

Ernie’s leadership-development program “has inspired, strengthened, and equipped a new generation to step up to the plate, and his leadership of the massive five-year 8Rs study – The Future of Human Resources in Canadian Libraries (2004) established the fundamental data on which to ramp up our human resource development for a resilient future.”

“Lots of librarians come and go, and they do make a major impact. But after some years, they're forgotten. But this is not going to happen with the legacy that Ernie has left behind. The things he has done will definitely stand the test of time.”

“The Ernest (Ernie) B. Ingles Reading Room is located in Bruce Peel Special Collections, a donor-supported research and teaching library on the University of Alberta’s North Campus. The library houses more than 100,000 rare books and other significant archival materials. Before the COVID-19 pandemic significantly scaled back travel, it drew researchers from around the world.”

Canadian Who’s Who, vol. 31, 1996.
Globe and Mail. Ernest Boyce Ingles, 1948–2020. [obituary published from Oct. 3 to Oct. 7, 2020] [Accessed Nov.21, 2021]
University of Alberta. School of Library and Information Studies. SLIS marks the passing of former chair Ernie Ingles. [Accessed Nov. 21, 2021]
Folio, University of Alberta. Former chief librarian leaves indelible legacy. [Accessed Nov. 21, 2021]
The Quad, University of Alberta.Lowering the flag: Ernie Ingles, September 25, 2020. [Accessed Nov. 21, 2021]
University of Alberta Library innovator honoured for bringing information to millions. [Accessed Nov. 21, 2021]
Newman, Wendy (2021). “Ernie Ingles (1948–1920): a lasting legacy.” ELAN 69 (Spring): 9.

Three tributes to Ernie are also found in the Ex Libris Association’s “Remembering our Colleagues and Friends" site [Accessed Nov. 21, 2021]:
— Calgary Herald. Ernest Boyce Ingles (Ernie), December 30, 1948–September 17, 2020. [obituary]
— Association of Research Libraries. Memorial: Ernest Boyce “Ernie” Ingles, 1948–1920 [by Kaylyn Groves].
— Distad, Merrill (2020). “Ernest Boyce (“Ernie”) Ingles, BA, MLS, FRSC, December 30, 1948–September 17, 2020.”