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Melvil Dewey published "A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library," detailing his ideas for how a library should be indexed. This system is still widely used around the world. -
In 1876, 90 men and 13 women attended a "Conference of Librarians" at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. At the end of the conference, a sheet was passed around to be signed by those who wished to charter members of the newly formed Association. To this day, the ALA remains the oldest and largest library association in the world. -
Andrew Carnegie provided funding to establish more than 2,500 libraries worldwide from 1886-1919. These funds added up to over $55 million. He believed that libraries were a necessary support for immigrants and newcomers to inaugurate themselves in their new culture, as well as that anyone should have access to education and the ability to learn. -
Theresa West Elmendorf was a driving force for librarianship in Wisconsin. She was the first woman to serve as librarian of a public library in any large American city, and was elected the first female president of the American Library Association from 1911-1912. -
Based in the University of Chicago, this peer-reviewed journal is still published 4 times a year. Their current mission is to publish " cutting-edge articles, essays, editorials, and reviews that inform, enable, equalize, lead, and empower our field to adapt to changes." -
Shannon and Weaver published their model of communication, based on transmitters, receivers, and reduction of outside noise and redundancy. It was later decided that this model was more useful for computer information and not relevant to library science. -
Cyril Cleverdon spearheaded research at the Cranfield Institute of Technology to improve information retrieval systems, mostly by improving indexing languages and methods. In experiments involving human testing, high tech systems of classification were often found to be less effective than their low tech counterparts. This research was the foundation of how we use search engines today, but has mostly been relegated to computer science over library science. -
Kuhn claimed that research is guided by sets of shared assumptions in scientific communities. This laid the groundwork for Paradigm Theory, the idea that interpretation of information can skew science and knowledge. -
A branch of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates Library Foundation invested $1 billion in public libraries between 1997 and 2018. It was created to help provide computers and computer literacy to libraries in the US and Canada, but has since been active in almost 20 countries worldwide. -
Dr. Carla Hayden earned her doctorate in Library Science from the University of Chicago, and was awarded the 1995 Library Journal's Librarian of the Year award. She is both the first African American and first woman to serve as the Librarian of Congress.