Madeline M. (Berry) Henderson: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 19:28, 16 April 2025

Madeline M. (Berry) Henderson (1922-2011) was an American information services specialist.

Life

Madeline Mary Berry (later, in 1957, Madeline Henderson) was born on September 3, 1922 in Merrimac, Massachusetts. She attended Emmanuel College, Boston, receiving an AB in chemistry in 1944. After college, she worked briefly with DuPont in explosives research and as a chemist for Harrington Research Labs in Quincy. She then accepted a position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) High Pressure Research Lab as a research associate.

In February 1950 her career took a major turn when she became as assistant to James W. Perry at MIT who was interested in information technology. She helped edit Punched cards: Their application to science and industry (1951) and was designated co-editor of the second edition (1958). She and Perry undertook a study of notational systems for structural formulas. They also thought about recording semantic relationships ("semantic factoring") and terse "telegraphic" abstracts during a contract with the CIA. In 1951 Allen Kent joined them. All three moved to Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, in 1953. This very productive partnership ended when Perry and Kent moved to Western Reserve University (later Case Western Reserve University) to form the Center for Documentation and Communication Research.

In 1956 Henderson became an assistant to Helen Brownson, director of a new Program for Support and Scientific Documentation at the National Science Foundation, where she worked full-time 1956-1958 and part-time 1958-1962. There she compiled Current Research and Development in Scientific Documentation (15 issues, 1958-1969) and the first two issues of Nonconventional Technical Information Systems in Current Use (1958-1966). She then worked part-time, later full-time at the National Bureau of Standards. She retired in 1979 but remained active as an independent consultant until 1991. She died on July 17, 2011 in Frederick, Maryland.

Contributions

Madeline Henderson was highly influential through her research, writings, and professional activities. In particular, her work helped quite disparate information-related activities to form information science as a more coherent whole.

Publications

Google Scholar lists numerous publications, some under Berry [1] and others under Henderson. [2]

Punched cards: Their applications to science and industry. 2nd ed. Ed. with R. S. Casey, J. W. Perry & A. Kent. New York: Reinhold, 1958.
Cooperation, convertibility, and compatibility among information systems: A literature review. Withe others. Washington DC: US Govt Printing Office, 1966. National Bureau of Standards Miscellaneous Publication 276. [3]
Evaluation of information systems: a selected bibliography with informative abstracts. Washington, DC: US Govt. Print. Off., 1967. [4]
Automation and the Federal library community: report on a survey. With others. Washington: Federal Library Committee, 1973. [5]
Oral history interview with Madeline M. Henderson. Philadelphia: Science History Institute, 1997. [6]

Offices

American Association for the Advancement of Science. Secretary, 1978.

Awards

American Society for Information Science. Watson Davis Award, 1989.
American Institute of Chemists. Fellow, 1964.
American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellow,

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Madeline M. (Berry) Henderson (1922-2011)
+'''Madeline M. (Berry) Henderson''' (1922-2011) was an American information services specialist.
+[[File:Henderson.jpg|thumb|Madeline M. (Berry) Henderson]]
 == Life ==
+Madeline Mary Berry (later, in 1957, Madeline Henderson) was born on September 3, 1922 in Merrimac, Massachusetts. She  attended Emmanuel College, Boston, receiving an AB in chemistry in 1944. After college, she worked briefly with DuPont in explosives research and as a chemist for Harrington Research Labs in Quincy. She then accepted a position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) High Pressure Research Lab as a research associate.
-== Contribution ==
+In February 1950 her career took a major turn when she became as assistant to [[James Whitney Perry|James W. Perry]] at MIT who was interested in information technology. She helped edit ''Punched cards: Their application to science and industry'' (1951) and was designated co-editor of the second edition (1958). She and Perry undertook a study of notational systems for structural formulas. They also thought about recording semantic relationships ("semantic factoring") and terse "telegraphic" abstracts during a contract with the CIA. In 1951 Allen Kent joined them. All three moved to [[Battelle Memorial Institute]] in Columbus, Ohio, in 1953. This very productive partnership ended when Perry and Kent moved to Western Reserve University (later Case Western Reserve University) to form the Center for Documentation and Communication Research.
-'''OTHER INFORMATION:'''
-Chemist, E.I. DuPont, 1944-45; researcher, C.S. Batchelder Co., 1945-46; research associate, MIT, 1946-52; consultant, 1953; Battelle Labs, 1953-56; research analyst, National Science Foundation, Office of Science Information Service, 1956-62; analyst, National Bureau of Standards, 1964-79; independent consultant, 1979-91. A fairly complete biography of Henderson appears in the following source: Robert V. Williams, "Madeline M. Henderson: From Chemical Information Science Pioneer to Archtect of the New Information Science." ''Libraries and the Cultural Record''45(2), 167-184.
-'''AWARDS:'''
-Watson Davis Award (ASIS); Fellow, American Institute of Chemists; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
-'''OFFICES:'''
-AAAS Secretary 1978
-=== A CAREER MEMORY FROM MADELINE HENDERSON ===
-'''Prolific Abstractors'''
-Madeline M. (Berry) Henderson
-In the early- to mid- 1950s there were three innovative approaches to the task of managing science information resources. In one, Calvin Mooers called for the application of "descriptors" to documents, and their coding by random numbers and superimposed punching on edge-notched cards. The random number codes and superimposed punches would cut down on false drops. Mortimer Taube proposed the use of unit terms, found in documents, to be recorded on individual cards, with document numbers listed on the appropriate term cards. Searches involved combining or coordinating terms to define desired subjects, and matching common document numbers on the selected cards. James Perry and his team of Perry, Berry, and Kent believed that the meanings of index terms or subject headings needed to be made explicit, and proposed expressing the semantic elements or "factors" of such terms. They also described use of brief "telegraphic" abstracts to express document contents.
-Each of the three innovators documented their approaches: Mooers issued Zator Company Technical Bulletins, while Taube published five volumes of his Studies in Coordinate Indexing. But neither matched the output of Perry, Berry, and Kent. We appeared in Chemical and Engineering News and in American Documentation, we conducted conferences and edited their proceedings, we published books on machine literature searching and on the use of punched cards. We were so prolific that we inspired Si Newman to compose a limerick. (Simon Newman was a chemist at the U. S. Patent office, active in early efforts to automate patent searching procedures.) Si wrote:
-Perry, Berry, and Kent
-Reannounce the self-same event.
-Their abstracts in miniature
-Cover the world's literature
-Recently doubled by Perry, Berry, and Kent!
-It was a fun time, an exciting time to be active in the field, and I am glad to have been part of it.
-== Selected Publications ==
-== Papers ==
+In 1956 Henderson became an assistant to [[Helen Louise Brownson|Helen Brownson]], director of a new Program for Support and Scientific Documentation at the [[National Science Foundation]], where she worked full-time 1956-1958 and part-time 1958-1962. There she compiled ''Current Research and Development in Scientific Documentation'' (15 issues, 1958-1969) and the first two issues of ''Nonconventional Technical Information Systems in Current Use'' (1958-1966). She then worked part-time, later full-time at the [[National Bureau of Standards]]. She retired in 1979 but remained active as an independent  consultant until 1991. She died on July 17, 2011 in Frederick, Maryland.
-'''LOCATION #1'''
-A few personal and professional papers are in her possession; most of her professional papers reside in the various agencies noted above.
+== Contributions ==
+Madeline Henderson was highly influential through her research, writings, and professional activities. In particular, her work helped quite disparate information-related activities to form information science as a more coherent whole.
-'''SOURCE:'''
+== Publications ==
+Google Scholar lists numerous publications, some under Berry
+[https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Madeline+M.+Berry] and others under Henderson.
+[https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Madeline+M.+Henderson]
-Conversation with Ms. Henderson, July, 1997.
+*''Punched cards: Their applications to science and industry.'' 2nd ed. Ed. with R. S. Casey, [[James Whitney Perry|J. W. Perry]] & [[Allen Kent|A. Kent]]. New York: Reinhold, 1958.
-----'''PAPERS AT:'''
+*''Cooperation, convertibility, and compatibility among information systems: A literature review.'' Withe others. Washington DC: US Govt Printing Office, 1966. National Bureau of Standards Miscellaneous Publication 276. [https://openlibrary.org/works/OL6991284W/Cooperation_convertibility_and_compatibility_among_information_systems?edition=key%3A/books/OL6007789M]
+*''Evaluation of information systems: a selected bibliography with informative abstracts''. Washington, DC: US Govt. Print. Off., 1967. [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006187475]
+*''Automation and the Federal library community: report on a survey''. With others. Washington: Federal Library Committee, 1973. [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000719324/]
+*''Oral history interview with Madeline M. Henderson''. Philadelphia: Science History Institute, 1997. [https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/kd17cv03c]
-'''LOCATION #2:''' Chemical Heritage Foundation.
+== Offices ==
+*American Association for the Advancement of Science. Secretary, 1978.
-'''PAPERS DATES:''' Oral history interview conducted by Robert V. Williams, 14 July 1997 for the CHF.
+== Awards ==
+*[[ASIST|American Society for Information Science]]. Watson Davis Award, 1989.
+*American Institute of Chemists. Fellow, 1964.
+*American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellow,
-'''SOURCE:''' CHF Web site, Historical Services Dept.
+== Further reading ==
+*Williams, R. V. "Madeline M. Henderson: From chemical information science pioneer to architect of the new information science." ''Libraries and the Cultural Record'' 45, no 2 (2010): 167-184. Biography.
+*''1922 - Madeline - 2011''. Brief obituary. Stauffer Funeral Homes, 2011. [https://www.staufferfuneralhome.com/obituaries/madeline-henderson]