Allen Kent: Difference between revisions
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== Life == | == Life == | ||
Kent was born in New York | Allen Kent was born October 24, 1921 in New York city. He received a degree in chemistry from City College of New York and served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After the war, he worked on a project at MIT in mechanized document encoding and search. | ||
He died May 1, 2014 | In 1955, Kent helped found the Center for Documentation Communication Research at Western Reserve University in Cleveland with [[James Whitney Perry|James Perry]]. He joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh in 1963, where in 1970 he began the Department of Information Science. He retired from the university in 1992. He died May 1, 2014. | ||
== | == Contributions == | ||
Concerned with free-field searching; Realized need for vocabulary control especially when dealing with automated functions; Began developing a semantic code dictionary in 1951; 1953-55 worked on the telegraph abstract; Helped establish the Mark I Information Retrieval Service (based on the WRU System) 1960; Involved in pilot program to study the feasibility of a mechanized information service for educational research materials - led to development of ERIC; Established the Knowledge Availability Systems Center; 1971-1974 Chairman of Board of Trustees of EDUCOM; Co-editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science''. | |||
(With Perry) associated with the discovery and pioneering of information science. Worked on an elaborate coding system which involved "telegraphic abstracts;" This system included rules to aid in retrieval. | |||
== | ); see link below. Permission to quote from not required as long as source is cited. | ||
== Publications == | |||
An extensive oral history interview with Kent was conducted in 1993 by the National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section and the tapes have been digitized and are available for listening | *An extensive oral history interview with Kent was conducted in 1993 by the National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section and the tapes have been digitized and are available for listening. [https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3Aais196440.233] Concentrates on his experiences as a Jew but includes his career in information science and work at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Pittsburgh. | ||
== Awards == | == Awards == | ||
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== Papers == | == Papers == | ||
University of Michigan, Rare books. Margaret (Smith) Warden papers. 1944-1987; bulk 1966-1985. 1.9 feet (ca.685 items). | *University of Michigan, Rare books. Margaret (Smith) Warden papers. 1944-1987; bulk 1966-1985. 1.9 feet (ca.685 items). | ||
*Kent's family has given permission for the selective publication of a majority of "The Memoirs of Allen Kent," written about 1995 (about 90 pages) | |||
Revision as of 19:53, 26 January 2025
Credit: University of Pittsburgh Library System Digital Collections
Allen Kent (1921- 2014) was a pioneer of information science.
Life
Allen Kent was born October 24, 1921 in New York city. He received a degree in chemistry from City College of New York and served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After the war, he worked on a project at MIT in mechanized document encoding and search.
In 1955, Kent helped found the Center for Documentation Communication Research at Western Reserve University in Cleveland with James Perry. He joined the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh in 1963, where in 1970 he began the Department of Information Science. He retired from the university in 1992. He died May 1, 2014.
Contributions
Concerned with free-field searching; Realized need for vocabulary control especially when dealing with automated functions; Began developing a semantic code dictionary in 1951; 1953-55 worked on the telegraph abstract; Helped establish the Mark I Information Retrieval Service (based on the WRU System) 1960; Involved in pilot program to study the feasibility of a mechanized information service for educational research materials - led to development of ERIC; Established the Knowledge Availability Systems Center; 1971-1974 Chairman of Board of Trustees of EDUCOM; Co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science.
(With Perry) associated with the discovery and pioneering of information science. Worked on an elaborate coding system which involved "telegraphic abstracts;" This system included rules to aid in retrieval.
); see link below. Permission to quote from not required as long as source is cited.
Publications
- An extensive oral history interview with Kent was conducted in 1993 by the National Council of Jewish Women, Pittsburgh Section and the tapes have been digitized and are available for listening. [1] Concentrates on his experiences as a Jew but includes his career in information science and work at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Awards
Further reading
- A brief obituary and biographical statement is available at: [2]
- Burke, Colin B. America's information wars: The untold story of information systems in America's conflicts and politics from World War II to the internet age. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
- "Allen Kent," Wikipedia [3]
Papers
- University of Michigan, Rare books. Margaret (Smith) Warden papers. 1944-1987; bulk 1966-1985. 1.9 feet (ca.685 items).
- Kent's family has given permission for the selective publication of a majority of "The Memoirs of Allen Kent," written about 1995 (about 90 pages)