Oral history interview with Eugene Garfield 1997 July 29

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Oral history interview with Eugene Garfield 1997 July 29

Eugene Garfield begins the interview with a discussion of The Johns Hopkins University Welch Library indexing project. Garfield joined this project in 1951, during which he became involved in machine methods for indexing and searching literature. He worked on automating Current List of Medical Literature and experimented with punched cards and zato coding. During his tenure there, he helped to organize a symposium to demonstrate the project's work, at which he met many pioneering information scientists. Also while at the project, Garfield developed his idea for Contents in Advance. He discusses his relationship with Sanford V. Larkey, and his decision to attended library school at Columbia University. After graduating, Garfield joined Smith, Kline & French as a consultant. He eventually set up his own company, DocuMation, Inc., and worked on many projects, including a Genetics Citation Index for the NIH and Management's DocuMation Preview. Garfield discusses the development of Current Contents, the growth of his business, and the challenges he encountered. In the 1960s, he launched Science Citation Index, a concept that was later expanded to include other fields of literature. Garfield was also involved in many professional organizations throughout his career, including the Information Industry Association (IIA). He addresses the evolution of his company, Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), his colleagues, and his decision to sell ISI. Garfield concludes the interview with a discussion of his experience with VINITI, changes in library education, and the future role of the Internet.

Sound recordings ; cassettesTranscript : (102 leaves) ; 29 cm.

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Chemical Heritage Foundation.

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Williams, Robert Virgil, 1938-

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Garfield, Eugene

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Born in New York, New York on 16 September 1925. Education: B.S., Chemistry, Columbia University (1948), M.S., Library Science, Columbia University (1954), Ph.D., Structural Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania (1961). Employment: 1949-1950 Evans Research & Development Corp. ; 1950-1951 Columbia University ; 1951-1953 Johns Hopkins University ; 1954-1960 Eugene Garfield Associates ; 1960- Institute for Scientific Information. From the description of Oral history interview with...