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Command and Control, Documentation, and Library Science: The Origins of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh
October-December 1999 (vol. 21 no. 4)
pp. 4-20
This article describes the history of the first information science department formed in the United States—at the University of Pittsburgh—and the roles of two of its principal faculty members: Allen Kent and Anthony Debons. In particular, it looks at the origins of the program in command-and-control systems, documentation of scientific literature, and library automation.
1. Bulletin, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1975-1977.
2. G. Swetnam, "The Dean's Dream—Eight Years Later," Pittsburgh Press, Apr.19 1970, p. 5.
3. Univ. of Pittsburgh "Report to the Community: 10 Years Report, 1955-1965," Apr.29 1965, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
4. See, for example, "Dynamo at Pitt," Time, vol. 69, Jan.7 1957, pp. 49-50; "Business in Education," Newsweek, Vol. 48, 12 Nov. 1956, p. 95; H. La Cossitt, "$100,000,000 to Work With," Saturday Evening Post, Vol. 228, 9 June 1956, pp. 42-43; H. Solow, "The All-Purpose Executive," Fortune, Vol. 58, Dec. 1958, pp. 122-124.
5. E.H. Litchfield, "Toward Higher Ground, a Five Year Report on the Progress of the University of Pittsburgh, 1957-1962," Univ. of Pittsburgh official document, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
6. R.C. Alberts, Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1987.Pittsburgh, Pa.: Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1987.
7. Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh, 1787-1987.
8. "Toward Higher Ground."
9. "Message from the Deans," Carnegie Library School Association News Notes, 1 Mar. 1962. Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
10. "The Challenge of Change," memorandum, School of Library and Information Science, 1982. Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
11. Letter, Jan.16 1998.
12. Telephone interview, May20 1997. Also Kent's curriculum vita.
13. A. Kent, as quoted in C. Conklin, "Birth of a New Age," Pitt Magazine, Mar. 1992, p. 34.
14. A. Kent as quoted in C. Marcus, "Pitt Prof's Computers—From Vision to Reality," Pittsburgh Press, Nov.14 1977, p. A-2. Kent corrected the quotation in a letter to the author, 27 Dec. 1997.
15. For example, see A. Kent, J.W. Perry, and M.M. Berry, Machine Literature Searching, John Wiley&Sons, New York, 1956; A. Kent, J.H. Shera, and J.W. Perry, eds., Information Systems in Documentation. John Wiley&Sons, New York, 1957; A. Kent and J.W. Perry, Tools for Machine Literature Searching, John Wiley&Sons, New York, 1958; A. Kent, G.L. Peakes, and J.W. Perry, eds., Progress Report in Chemical Literature Retrieval, John Wiley&Sons, New York, 1958; A. Kent, Information Retrieval and Machine Translation, John Wiley&Sons, New York, vol. 1, 1960 and vol. 2, 1961; and perhaps most importantly, Textbook on Mechanized Information Retrieval, John Wiley&Sons, New York, 1962, which is widely regarded as the first textbook in information science and has been translated into six languages.
16. A. Kent, "A Machine that Does Research," Harper's Magazine, Apr. 1959.
17. Kent oral history interview.
18. Kent oral history interview.
19. As quoted in the Bulletin, Univ. of Pittsburgh, 1964-1965.
20. Debons oral history.
21. Bulletin, 1964-1965.
22. Shirey oral history.
23. Debons oral history interview by W. Aspray, Carnegie, Pa., May3 1997.
24. Debons oral history.
25. A. Debons and E.E. Horne, "NATO Advanced Study Institutes of Information Science and Foundations of Information Science," J. Amer. Soc. for Information Science, vol. 48, no. 7, July 1997.
26. Letter, Debons to author, Feb.23 1988.
27. D.E. Walker, ed., Third Congress on Information System Science and Technology.Washington, D.C.: Thompson Book Co., 1967.
28. Letter, Debons to Aspray, Nov.22 1997.
29. Kent oral history.
30. Debons oral history.
31. Debons, Kent, and Shirey oral histories.
32. Debons oral history.
33. Emphasis in original. "Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Information Science," School of Library and Information Science, Feb.25 1970, p. 1. Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
34. Emphasis in original. "Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Information Science," p. 7.
35. "Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Information Science," p. 7.
36. "Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Information Science," p. 9.
37. "Report to the Provost on the Mission of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Information Science (IDIS)," May24 1971. Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
38. "Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences 1969-1971," Univ. Pittsburgh Bull., vol. 65.
39. Private communication to author, Jan. 1998.
40. "Report to the Provost on the Mission of the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Information Science (IDIS)," May24 1971. Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
41. "Report to the Provost."
42. "Report to the Provost."
43. Letter, Debons to Aspray, Nov.22 1997.
44. For an interim status, see the report of the Committee on the Reorganization of Library Science, Information Science, and Education Communication, chaired by Debons and cochaired by J.E. Daily, Nov.24 1971. Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
45. Memorandum, from J.W. Eaton, chairman, Sub-committee of the Senate Policy Committee et al. to E. Gerjuoy, April11 1972. Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. of Pittsburgh.
46. "The Challenge of Change."
47. A. Debons, "The Information Counselor," J. Information Counseling, vol. 1, no. 1, Jan. 1980.
48. Debons oral history.
49. D. Shirey oral history interview, Pittsburgh, Pa., May4 1997.
50. Williams oral history.
51. Shirey oral history.
52. Shirey oral history.
53. Shirey interview.
54. By this time, Kent had the library and the computing center reporting to him, as well as directing KASC and the information sciences department.
55. Williams, oral history interview.
56. Williams, oral history interview. Emphasis in original.
57. For an announcement of the program and a description of the requirements for admission, objectives, and career tracks it offers, see "SLIS Offers Undergraduate Program in Information Science," Univ. Pittsburgh Carnegie Library Schools Alumni Association Newsletter, vol. 5, no. 1, Fall 1979, and memorandum from T.J. Galvin, Dean of the School of Library and Information Science to Members of the Class of 1981, 17 May 1979. Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. Pittsburgh.
58. Debons oral history interview.
59. Debons oral history.
60. Debons oral history.
61. Williams oral history.
62. Shirey oral history.
63. Change magazine, Winter 1974-1975.
64. J. Gourman, The Gourman Report: A Rating of Graduate and Professional Programs in American and International Universities.Los Angeles: National Educational Standards, 7th ed., 1996.
65. Debons oral history.
66. Private communications with Shirey, Debons, and Mary Lou Soffa (professor of computer science and former dean at Pitt).
67. Shirey oral history.
68. Private communication, Sig Treu, July 1998.
69. Kent, curriculum vitae.
70. "Kent From SLIS: Super-Hero to IS Professionals Retires," Univ. Pittsburgh Alumni Magazine, no date,Univ. Archives, Hillman Library, Univ. Pittsburgh.
71. Williams oral history.
72. "Kent From SLIS."
73. Williams oral history.
74. Williams oral history.
75. Williams oral history.
76. As quoted by Shirey, oral history.
77. Private communication, J. Bigelow.
78. The awards were for Debons, D. Shirey, Donald King, and Una Mansfield, The Information Professional: Survey of an Emerging Field,New York: Dekker, 1981; and Debons, Esther Horne, and Scott Cronenweth, Information Science: An Integrated View, Boston, G.K. Hall, 1983.
79. Letter, Debons to Aspray, Feb.23 1998.
80. Mark Bowles, a historian of science at Case Western Reserve, is doing research on Kent. Colin Burke, a historian at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, is preparing a full-length history of information science. Some other literature exists, including: H. Borko, ed., "Information Science: What Is It?" Amer. Documentation, vol. 19, no. 1, 1962, pp. 3-5; S. Herner, "Brief History of Information Science," J. Amer. Soc. Information Science, vol. 35, 1984, pp. 157-163; J.H. Shera and D.B. Cleveland, History and Foundations of Information Science (1977); M.C. Yovits, "Information Science: Towards the Development of a True Scientific Discipline," Amer. Documentation, vol. 20, no. 4, 1969, pp. 369-376.
81. A. Kent, "Information Science," Peterson's Guide to Graduate Programs in Engineering and Applied Sciences.Princeton, N.J.: Peterson, Inc., 1993, pp. 565-566.
82. A. Debons and E.E. Horne, "NATO Advanced Study Institutes of Information Science and Foundations of Information Science," J. Amer. Soc. for Information Science, vol. 48, no. 7, July 1997.
Citation:
William Aspray, "Command and Control, Documentation, and Library Science: The Origins of Information Science at the University of Pittsburgh," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 4-20, Oct.-Dec. 1999, doi:10.1109/85.801528
