、。
My father is, so to speak, a walking dictionary.
Literal
I [of-の] father [topic-は], so-to-speak walking-dictionary is.
いわば ('so to speak, as it were') is a literary/considered hedge, softening a metaphorical claim. 生き字引 ('walking dictionary/encyclopedia') is a set metaphor — literally '[a] living dictionary.' Used to praise someone's vast knowledge. The hedging いわば signals that the speaker knows they're using a figure of speech.