Frederick Gridley Kilgour

Frederick G. Kilgour

Frederick G. Kilgour (1914-2006) was an American pioneer of information science.

Life

Born in Springfield, MA in 1914. After working at Harvard College, Columbia University and Harvard Graduate School he served during World War II in the Office of Strategic Services and the US Naval Reserve. Between 1948 and 1967 he worked at Yale University as lecturer, medical librarian and journal editor. In 1967 he became professor of library administration at Ohio State University.

Contributions

During the Second World War Frederick Kilgour developed an extensive system for obtaining publications from enemy and enemy-occupied areas. He is best known for proposing (with Ralph

.founded OCLC, developed WorldCat, and developed a prominent interlibrary loan system. He also founded and served as the first editor for the journal Information Technology and Libraries.

Publications

• Collected Papers of Frederick G. Kilgour, comp. by P.A. Becker and A.T. Dodson, ed. by L.L. Yoakim. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 1984. 2 vols: Early years and OCLC years.
• Report to the Committee of Librarians of the Ohio College Association. With Ralph H. Parker. 1965. Repr. in Kilgour, F. G. Collected papers: The OCLC years. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 1984, pp 1-7. Report that led to OCLC.
• Landgraf, Alan L. & Frederick G. Kilgour. "Catalog records retrieved by personal author using derived search keys." Journal of Library Automation 6, no 2 (June 1973): 103-108. Query formulation rules derived from Ruecking's word compression techniques can operate very efficiently using only a very few characters for author and title.
• "Historical development of library computerization." In: The Information age, its development, its impact, ed. by Donald P. Hammer. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1976, pp 241-257.
• National Library of Medicine (Bethesda, MD). Oral history interview with Kilgour, 1985. Abstract at [1]
• Columbia University Libraries (online). Oral history interview with Kilgour, 1988. Finding aid: [2]

Awards

• ASIST. 1979 Award of Merit for "transforming a state association of libraries into a national interlibrary loan bibliographic utility...This achievement may be the single greatest contribution to national networking in the United States. His work will have a lasting impact on the field of information science" (Lilley-Trice).
• American Library Association. Honorary Life Membership, 1982.
• Four honorary doctorates.

Further reading

• "Fred Kilgour." Wikipedia [3]
• Obituary. [4]
• For more biographical details see his Collected Papers of Frederick G. Kilgour, compiled by P.A. Becker and A.T. Dodson and edited by L.L. Yoakim. Dublin, OH: OCLC, 1984; 2 vols.

Papers

• Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives (New Haven, CT). 1873-1956. 1.5 linear feet (4 boxes, 1 folio). The papers of Richard Kirby. Frederick Kilgour is listed as an important correspondent. Finding aid: [5]
• Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives (New Haven, CT). 1960-2006. 107.25 linear feet (77 boxes). Includes: Yale University Library Systems Office records: The records consist of correspondence, notebooks, subject files and magnetic tapes documenting the activities and operations of the Yale University Library Systems Office. Included are research and development records maintained by Frederick G. Kilgour and Ben-Ami Lipetz. [6]
• Yale University Library Manuscripts and Archives (New Haven, CT). 1948-1987. 17.5 linear feet. Includes Yale Medical Library records: The records consist of annual reports, minutes, accreditation records, budgets, and correspondence, including files of Frederick G. Kilgour and Stanley D. Truelson as directors of the Yale Medical Library. A significant number of records relate to Kilgour's involvement with early library automation efforts. Other records pertain to Kilgour's published writings on lib [7]
• OCLC Archives (online). Includes: Correspondence, photos, speeches, memos, reports, published articles, etc. Finding aid available via OCLC archives. [8]