Myer Mike Kessler

Myer M. Kessler (holding booklet) Credit: MIT Museum

Myer Mike Kessler (1917-1997) was a pioneer of information science.

Life

Kessler was born in Odessa, Ukraine. He earned B.S. (1939) and M.S. (1940) degrees in biophysics from MIT and a Ph.D. in Physics from Duke University (1948).  He worked for the former National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C., taught physics at Brandeis University, and worked on developing radar and military guidance systems at MIT's Radiation Laboratory and Lincoln Laboratory. He worked at MIT from 1954 to 1976.

A brief obituary is available at https://news.mit.edu/1997/obituaries2-0827

Contributions

Kessler invented bibliographic coupling. He was interested in citation analysis, application of ideas management, and instruction and technology in the administration of academic libraries. He worked on the MIT Technical Information Project (TIP), an early influential online search system. Bourne and Hahn's book on the history of online information searching credits TIP with several milestones in the development of the field (C. P. Bourne & T. B. Hahn, A History of Online Information Services, 1963-1976, pp. 42+). Kessler also conducted studies with AIP on citation analysis for laser literature.

Papers

Location #1 MIT Libraries Department of Distinctive Collections (Cambridge, MA)

• Papers dates: 1946-1994
• Size: 2 cubic feet (2 record cartons)
• Includes: Myer M. Kessler papers: correspondence, reports, reprints, proposals, papers, and conference materials, including documents from sessions 1-10 of the International Conference on Information Science. Also included in the collection are files from the Technical Information Project (TIP) including user manuals, progress reports, and programs
• Finding aid: https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/resources/1008
• Source: https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/resources/1008

Photo Credit: MIT Museum