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Template:Featured/Calvin Northrup Mooers

Calvin Northrup Mooers (1919-1994) was an American information retrieval specialist.

Calvin Northrup Mooers
Calvin Northrup Mooers | Credit IT History Society

Mooers coined the terms "information retrieval" in 1950 and "descriptors." He promulgated "Mooers' Law": "An information system will tend not to be used whenever it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to have information than for him not to have it." (Bulletin of ASIS 22, no 1 (Oct/Nov 1996): 22-23).

In 1959, Mooers began to develop the Text Reckoning and Compiling (TRAC) language. Doug Engelbart, famous for “point and click,” used the his mechanical mouse in his famous 1968 demonstration to point and the "active function" of Mooers' TRAC language to click. Bemer (2004) wrote, "In summary, Engelbart may be remembered as the “point” man, and Mooers as the “click” man. The point facility that Engelbart gave Mooers was just what he needed for the click facility. Mooers had described the function, but a more effective execution of the function awaited the mouse hardware."

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