Burton Adkinson

Burton Adkinson

Burton Adkinson (1909-2004) was an American geographer, librarian and information science program officer.

Life

Burton Wilbur Adkinson was born March 5, 1909 in Everson, WA. He received his Ph.D. in physical geography from Clark University in 1942 and worked as a geographer at the Department of State, 1942-43, and as Assistant Director, U.S. Board of Geographical Names at the Department of the Interior, 1943-44.

During World War II he worked as Assistant Chief Map Intelligence Section, Map Division, for the OSS 1944-45. Then at the Library of Congress as Assistant Chief, Acting Chief, then Chief of the Map Division 1945-49. In 1949 be became Director of the Reference Department where he established the Division of Science and Technology within the Department, reorganized the Division for the Blind, initiated a research program dealing with "talking books," established punched-card control of loans to federal employees, and developed bibliographies and information projects for other government agencies.

From 1957 to 1970 Adkinson was appointed Head of National Science Foundation's Office of Science Information where he became concerned with the publication, retrieval, storage, and exchange of information within the nation as well as internationally.

He then served as Director of the American Geographical Society, 1971-1973. where he became concerned with the publication, retrieval, storage, and exchange of information within the nation as well as internationally. He died September 15, 2004.

Publications

• Two centuries of Federal information. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, 1978. Appendices include a chronology and excerpts from significant reports.
• "The role of scientific societies today." Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 43, no 4 (April 1962): 119-124.
• "NSF-Science Information." In A. Kent, H. Lancour, & J. E. Daily (Eds.), Encyclopedia of library and information science 19 (1976): 154-177. New York: Marcel Dekker.
• "Federal government's support of information activities: A historical sketch." Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science, 2, issue 8 (1976), 24-26.

Offices

• International Federation of Documentation (FID). President, 1963-65.
• Special Libraries Association. Treasurer 1954-56, President, 1959-60.
• Association Society of Geographers. Secretary 1954-57; Director, 1970-73.

Awards

• International Federation for Documentation (FID). Centennial Medallion, 1995.
• American Society of Geographers. Fellow, 1944- .

Further reading

• [Festschrift honoring Burton W. Adkinson.] Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science. 22, Issue 1 (Oct/Nov 1995): 11-16. [1] Contains tributes stated to be excerpts from a planned Festschrift booklet: "In Honor of Burton W. Adkinson."; "Dr. Adkinson and the Library of Congress," by John Sherrod; "Burt Adkinson and the Concept of Information Science," by Harold Borko; "Dr. Adkinson and NSF/OSIS Leadership." by Pauline Atherton Cochrane; "Dr. Adkinson and Secondary Information Services," by Dale Baker; "How Burt Became President of the FID," by Cloyd Dake Gull; and "Dr. Adkinson and Psychological Research," by Harold Van Cott. A few of copies of this booklet were said to have been distributed at the 1995 ASIS Annual Meeting
• "Burton Adkinson Obituary." The Seattle Times Sep. 28, 2004. [2]

Papers

• University of Wyoming, Library, Special Collections Division. Mostly about his research on geology.