Robert Saxton Taylor: Difference between revisions

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Robert Saxton Taylor (1918-2009) was an influential American library scholar.

Life

Robert Saxton Taylor was born on June 15, 1918 in Ithaca, NY. He studied history (AB) at Cornell University 1935-1941; civil engineering at Virginia Polytechnic, 1943-44; library service (MSLS) at Columbia University, 1949-1950; and an MA in history at Lehigh University, 1951-1954. He was also a newspaper reporter in Lufkin, Texas, 1941-1942 and served in the US Army, 1944-1945, and Army intelligence, 1945-1947.

Taylor worked Lehigh University from 1950 in the library and from 1962 to 1967 as director of information science at Lehigh University. He was professor and and director of the Library Center at Hampshire College (1967-1972).

In 1972 Taylor joined the faculty of Syracuse University School of Library Science, later School of Information Studies, from 1972 to 1983, serving as dean between 1972 and 1981. He died on January 1, 2009.

Contributions

One of his most memorable accomplishments at the school was changing its name from library science to the more comprehensive information studies. "The change in name is not a cosmetic cover, but a recognition that the activities and courses we presently have can no longer be called library science," he said at the time. "Simply put, 'information studies' better represents what we are doing and the direction we are going." Taylor founded the nation's first master's degree in information resource management (which is now called information management) in 1980.

Publications

Question-Negotiation and Information-Seeking in Libraries (1967).
"'Value Added Processes in Information Systems (1986).

Offices

American Documentation Institute / Society for Information Science. Executive Council 1959-61; President, 1968.

Awards

Society for Information Science Best Information Science Book, 1972; Award of Merit, 1992.
Fulbright Lecturer, 1956.

Papers

Syracuse University Libraries. Special Collections Division. Robert Taylor Papers. 1943-2004. [3]

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+'''Robert Saxton Taylor''' (1918-2009) was an influential American library scholar.
 [[File:Taylor2.gif|thumb|Image of Robert Saxton Taylor]]
 == Life ==
--2009
+'''Robert Saxton Taylor''' was born on June 15, 1918 in Ithaca, NY. He studied history (AB) at Cornell University 1935-1941; civil engineering at Virginia Polytechnic, 1943-44; library service (MSLS) at Columbia University, 1949-1950; and an MA in history at Lehigh University, 1951-1954. He was also a newspaper reporter in Lufkin, Texas, 1941-1942 and served in the US Army, 1944-1945, and Army intelligence, 1945-1947.
-Wikipedia has a useful sketch of his life and work, including links to a memorial page at Syracuse University: <nowiki>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_S._Taylor</nowiki>
-== Relevant Employment ==
+Taylor worked Lehigh University from 1950 in the library and from 1962 to 1967 as director of information science at Lehigh University. He was professor and and director of the Library Center at Hampshire College (1967-1972).
-* Lehigh University
+In 1972 Taylor joined the faculty of Syracuse University School of Library Science, later School of Information Studies, from 1972 to 1983, serving as dean between 1972 and 1981. He died on January 1, 2009.
-* Syracuse University
 == Contributions ==
-An Ithaca, N.Y., native, Taylor earned a bachelor's degree in history from Cornell University and worked for a short stint as a sports reporter before being drafted into the U.S.Army in 1942. He became a member of the Army's Counter Intelligence Corps until returning to the United States in 1947. He enrolled in Columbia University's library science program on the GI Bill, earning an M.S. in Library Science in 1950. He was named a Fulbright Lecturer in 1956. He went on to work as a librarian, professor and director of information science at Lehigh University (1956-1967) and then a professor and director of the Library Center at Hampshire College (1967-1972).
+One of his most memorable accomplishments at the school was changing its name from library science to the more comprehensive information studies. "The change in name is not a cosmetic cover, but a recognition that the activities and courses we presently have can no longer be called library science," he said at the time. "Simply put, 'information studies' better represents what we are doing and the direction we are going." Taylor founded the nation's first master's degree in information resource management (which is now called information management) in 1980.
+== Publications ==
-He served as dean of the Syracuse University School of Information Studies from 1972 to 1981. One of his most memorable accomplishments at the school was changing its name from library science to the more comprehensive information studies. "The change in name is not a cosmetic cover, but a recognition that the activities and courses we presently have can no longer be called library science," he said at the time. "Simply put, 'information studies' better represents what we are doing and the direction we are going." Taylor founded the nation's first master's degree in information resource management (which is now called information management) in 1980.
+*''Question-Negotiation and Information-Seeking in Libraries'' (1967).
+*"'Value Added Processes in Information Systems'' (1986).
-He served as President of ASIS&T in 1968 and was the recipient of the 1992Award of Merit and the 1972 ASIS&T Best Information Science Book Award for The Making of a Library.Two of his seminal works, ''Question-Negotiation and Information-Seeking in Libraries'' (1967) and ''Value Added Processes in Information Systems'' (1986), continue to be quoted. [Excerpted with permission from his obituary in The Bulletin of The American Society for Information Science and Technology, April-May, 2009]
+== Offices ==
+*[[ASIST|American Documentation Institute / Society for Information Science]]. Executive Council 1959-61; President, 1968.
 == Awards ==
+*[[ASIST|Society for Information Science]] Best Information Science Book, 1972; Award of Merit, 1992.
+*Fulbright Lecturer, 1956.
-* 1972 Best Information Science Book (ASIS)
+== Further reading ==
-* 1956 Fulbright Lecturer
+*"Robert Saxton Taylor." ''Wikipedia'' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_S._Taylor]
+*''Robert S. Taylor: Dean 1972-1981.'' Syracuse University School of Information Studies. Obituary.  [https://web.archive.org/web/20110715024655/http://ischool.syr.edu:80/remembrance/taylor/taylor_home.html]
-== Offices ==
+*Obituary. ''Bulletin of The American Society for Information Science and Technology'' (April-May, 2009).
-* ASIS: Executive Council 1959-61
-* Pres. 1968
 == Papers ==
-'''Location #1:''' Syracuse University Special Collections Division
+*Syracuse University Libraries. Special Collections Division. Robert Taylor Papers. 1943-2004. [https://library.syracuse.edu/digital/guides_sua/html/sua_taylor_r.htm]
-* Papers dates:
-* Size:
-* Includes: Papers have been deposited at Syracuse University Special Collections Division
-* Finding aid:
-* Source: Obituary, 2009