 |
Interview no.: 0165
Date of interview: 29 July 1997
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. of pages: 102
Interviewer:
Robert V. Williams
Minutes:
Sponsor: Eugene Garfield Foundation
Access level: Free Access. Users may view, quote from, cite, or reproduce the oral history with the permission of CHF. Users citing interviews for purposes of publication are obliged under the terms of the CHF Oral History Program to notify CHF of publication and credit CHF using the following format: [Name of interviewee], interview by [name of interviewer] at [interview location], [interview date] (Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation, Oral History Transcript # [interview number]).
|
Eugene Garfield begins the interview with a discussion of The Johns Hopkins University Welch Library indexing project. Garfield joined this project in 1951, during which he became involved in machine methods for indexing and searching literature. He worked on automating Current List of Medical Literature and experimented with punched cards and zato coding. During his tenure there, he helped to organize a symposium to demonstrate the project's work, at which he met many pioneering information scientists. Also while at the project, Garfield developed his idea for Contents in Advance. He discusses his relationship with Sanford V. Larkey, and his decision to attended library school at Columbia University. After graduating, Garfield joined Smith, Kline & French as a consultant. He eventually set up his own company, DocuMation, Inc., and worked on many projects, including a Genetics Citation Index for the NIH and Management's DocuMation Preview. Garfield discusses the development of Current Contents, the growth of his business, and the challenges he encountered. In the 1960s, he launched Science Citation Index, a concept that was later expanded to include other fields of literature. Garfield was also involved in many professional organizations throughout his career, including the Information Industry Association (IIA). He addresses the evolution of his company, Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), his colleagues, and his decision to sell ISI. Garfield concludes the interview with a discussion of his experience with VINITI, changes in library education, and the future role of the Internet.
|
| Title & Description |
|
Page No. |
|
|
|
Welch Indexing Project
Producing the Current List of Medical Literature. Efforts at automation. Using the IBM 101. Punched card technology. Welch Conference. Colleagues. Leaving the project. |
|
1 |
|
|
|
Beginning a Business
Publishing Contents in Advance. Attending library school at Columbia. Forming DocuMation, Inc. Consulting for Smith, Kline & French. NIH grant. Management’s DocuMation Preview. Contract with Bell Labs. Changing name to Eugene Garfield Associates. Current Contents. Working with Claire Schultz. Subscriptions. Copyright difficulties. |
|
23 |
|
|
|
Institute for Scientific Information
Launching Science Citation Index. Financial problems. Competing with Chemical Abstracts. Index Chemicus. Using the Wiswesser system. Genetics Citation Index. Colleagues at ISI. |
|
46 |
|
|
|
User Information
Utilization of citation indexes. Database. Interest in a book citation index. |
|
58 |
|
|
|
Information Science Organizations
NSF grant to Chemical Abstracts Service. Founding of IIA. NFAIS for non-profits. |
|
66 |
|
|
|
Conclusion
Controversy with Scientific American. Evolution of ISI. Decision to sell ISI. Experience with VINITI. Future of library education. Role of Internet. |
|
74 |
|
|
|
Notes
|
|
92 |
|
|
|
Index
|
|
94 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1948 |
|
B.S., Chemistry, Columbia University |
|
|
|
| 1954 |
|
M.S., Library Science, Columbia University |
|
|
|
| 1961 |
|
Ph.D., Structural Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania |
|
|
|
| Evans Research & Development Corp. |
| 1949-1950 |
|
Laboratory Chemist |
|
|
|
| Columbia University |
| 1950-1951 |
|
Research Chemist |
|
|
|
| Johns Hopkins University |
| 1951-1953 |
|
Staff member, Welch Machine Indexing Project |
|
|
|
| Eugene Garfield Associates |
| 1954-1960 |
|
President |
|
|
|
| Institute for Scientific Information |
| 1960-1992 |
|
President and CEO |
| 1992-1992 |
|
Chairman |
| 1993-Present |
|
Chairman Emeritus |
|
|
|
| ASIS&T (American Society for Information Science & Technology) |
| 1998-2000 |
|
President |
|
|
|
| The Scientist LLC. |
| 1986-2000 |
|
Editor-in-Chief |
| 2001-Present |
|
President |
|
|
|
| 1953 |
|
Grolier Society Fellow, Columbia University
|
|
|
|
| 1966 |
|
Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
|
|
|
|
| 1966 |
|
Fellow, Institute of Information Scientists
|
|
|
|
| 1975 |
|
Award of Merit, American Society of Information Scientists
|
|
|
|
| 1977 |
|
Hall of Fame Award, Information Industry Association
|
|
|
|
| 1977 |
|
Herman Skolnik Award, Division of Chemical Information, American Chemical Society
|
|
|
|
| 1978 |
|
Book Award for Best Information Science Book of 1977 (Essays of an Information Scientist, Vol.:1 & 2, 1962-1976), American Society of Information Science
|
|
|
|
| 1980 |
|
Award, Chemical Notation Society
|
|
|
|
| 1983 |
|
Patterson-Crane Award, American Chemical Society
|
|
|
|
| 1983 |
|
John Price Wetherill Medal, Franklin Institute
|
|
|
|
| 1984 |
|
Derek J. de Solla Price Memorial Medal, Scientometrics
|
|
|
|
| 1986 |
|
John Scott Award, City of Philadelphia
|
|
|
|
| 1987 |
|
Distinguished Alumni Award, Columbia University, School of Library Service
|
|
|
|
| 1988 |
|
Doctor Honoris Causa, Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium
|
|
|
|
| 1990 |
|
Honorary Ph.D., State University of New York, Albany
|
|
|
|
| 1991 |
|
Honorary Fellow, Society for Technical Communication
|
|
|
|
| 1991 |
|
Honorary Ph.D., Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia
|
|
|
|
| 1993 |
|
Honorary Fellow, Medical Libraries Association
|
|
|
|
| 1993 |
|
Honorary Foreign Member, Institute of Marine Biology, Vladivostok, Russia
|
|
|
|
| 1993 |
|
M.D. Honoris Causa, University of Rome, Tor Vergata, Italy
|
|
|
|
| 1995 |
|
M.D. Honoris Causa, Charles University, Czech Republic
|
|
|
|
| 1999 |
|
Avenue of Technology Award, Philadephia, Pennsylvania
|
|
|
|
| 2000 |
|
Professor Kaula Award for Library and Information Science, India
|
Robert V. Williams is a professor of library and information science at the University of South Carolina. He holds a Ph.D. in library and information studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison; an M.S. in library and information science from Florida State University; and an M.A. in history from New York University. Before joining the University of South Carolina in 1978, he was an archivist and information services manager for the Ford Foundation, and the Georgia Department of Archives and History. Williams has also been an information consultant for many organizations including Appalachian Council of Governments of Greenville, South Carolina, and Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra, Dominican Republic. He came to the Chemical Heritage Foundation as the Eugene Garfield Fellow in the History of Scientific Information in 1997. He is a member of the South Carolina Historical Records Advisory Board, the American Library Association (ALA), and the American Society for Information Science (ASIS), where he served as chair of ASIS History and Foundations of Information Science Special Interest Group in 1994-1995. Williams is also a member of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) and Chair of the SLA Membership Committee. Williams has numerous publications on the historical role of information science.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|