Bensman SJ " Urquhart and probability: The transition from librarianship to library and information science" JASIST 56 (2). JAN 15 2005. p.189-214

[Joan Kolias]

Get a Life!

At 02:15 PM 2/21/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>E-mail Addresses: notsjb at lsu.edu
>
>TITLE:          Urquhart and probability: The transition from
>                 librarianship to library and information science (Article,
>English)
>AUTHOR:         Bensman, SJ
>SOURCE:         JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE
>                 AND TECHNOLOGY 56 (2). JAN 15 2005. p.189-214 JOHN WILEY
>                 & SONS INC, HOBOKEN
>
>ABSTRACT:       In this article, I analyze the role of Donald J. Urquhart
>in the creation of modern library and information science. Urquhart was one
>of the chief architects of information science in Britain and founder of the
>National Lending Library for Science and Technology (NLL), which evolved
>into the present-day British Library Document Supply Centre (BLDSC). In
>particular, I focus on the part played by Urquhart in the development of
>that branch of information science termed bibliometrics, the application of
>mathematical and statistical techniques to information phenomena, pursuing
>both historical and practical aims. The article is intended not only to
>trace the history of the probability distributions applicable to library use
>and other facets of human knowledge but also to demonstrate how these
>distributions can be used in the evaluation and management of scientific
>journal collections. For these purposes, the paper is divided into three
>parts of equal importance. The first part is statistical and establishes the
>theoretical framework, within which Urquhart's work is considered. It traces
>the historical development of the applicable probability distributions,
>discussing their origins on the European continent and how Continental
>principles became incorporated in the biometric statistics that arose in
>Britain as a result of the Darwinian revolution. This part analyzes the
>binomial and Poisson processes, laying out the reasons why the Poisson
>process is more suitable for modeling information phenomena. In doing so, it
>describes key distributions arising from these processes as well as the
>various tests for these distributions, citing the literature that shows how
>to conduct these tests. Throughout the discussion, the relationship of these
>distributions to library use and the laws of information science is-
>emphasized. The second part of the article analyzes the pioneering role of
>Urquhart as a conduit for the entry of these probability distributions into
>librarianship, converting it into library and information science.
>He was the first librarian to apply probability to library use, utilizing it
>not only to establish and manage the scientific journal collections of the
>NLL but also to evolve his Law of Supralibrary Use. Urquhart's work is
>portrayed within the context of a general trend to adopt probabilistic
>methods for analytical purposes, and a major premise of this article is that
>his law and the probabilistic breakthrough, on which it was based, were most
>likely in Britain. which was one of the few countries not only to develop
>but also maintain the necessary scientific preconditions. The third-and
>concluding section-discusses how Urquhart's Law forces a probabilistic
>reconceptualization of the functioning of the scientific journal system as
>well as the law's practical implications for journal sales, collection
>evaluation and management, resource sharing, and the transition from the
>paper to the electronic format.
>
>AUTHOR ADDRESS: SJ Bensman, Louisiana State Univ, LSU Lib, Baton Rouge, LA
>                 70803 USA
>Louisiana State Univ, LSU Lib, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 USA
>
>Publisher: JOHN WILEY & SONS INC, 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN, NJ 07030 USA
>Subject Category: COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS; INFORMATION SCIENCE
>& LIBRARY SCIENCE
>
>IDS Number: 890JU
>ISSN: 1532-2882
>
>Cited References:
>1907, BIOMETRIKA, V5, P351
>    1919, BIOMETRIKA, V12, P211
>    *BRIT LIBR DOC SUP, 1996, COMP SUT ACC J SUBSC
>    BENSMAN SJ, 1998, LIBR RESOUR TECH SER, V42, P147
>    BENSMAN SJ, 2001, ASSESSMENT AGGREGATO
>    BENSMAN SJ, 2001, IFLA J, V27, P238
>    BENSMAN SJ, 2001, J AM SOC INF SCI TEC, V52, P714
>    BOWER CA, 1976, BLL REV, V4, P31
>    BUNN RM, 1957, ASLIB P, V9, P280
>    BUNN RM, 1958, ASLIB P, V10, P251
>    BUNN RM, 1962, J DOC, V18, P20
>    CAMIC C, 1994, AM SOCIOL REV, V59, P773
>    CATTELL JM, 1906, SCIENCE, V24, P658
>    CATTELL JM, 1910, SCIENCE, V32, P633
>    CATTELL JM, 1910, SCIENCE, V32, P672
>    CLARKE A, 1981, INTERLENDING REV, V9, P111
>    COCHRAN WG, 1954, BIOMETRICS, V10, P417
>    COELMAN JS, 1964, INTRO MATH SOCIOLOGY
>    DESOLLA PDJ, 1963, LITTLE SCI BIG SCI
>    EGGEBERGER F, 1923, COLLECTED PAPERS G P, V4, P94
>    EHRENBERG ASC, 1959, APPLIED STATISTICS, V8, P26
>    ELLIOTT JM, 1977, FRESHWATER BIOL ASS, V25
>    EVANS GE, 2000, LIBR INORMATIN SCI T
>    FELLER W, 1943, ANN MATH STAT, V14, P389
>    FISHER A, 1922, MATH THEORY PROBABIL, V1
>    FISHER RA, 1925, STAT METHODS RES WOR, V5
>    FUSSLER HH, 1969, PATTERNS USE BOOKS L
>    GALTON F, 1874, ENGLISH SCI NATURE N
>    GALTON F, 1892, HEREDITARY GENIUS IN
>    GREENWOOD M, 1920, J ROY STATIST SOC  A, V83, P255
>    GRIFFITHS DA, 1973, BIOMETRICS, V29, P637
>    HAIGHT FA, 1967, PULBICATIONS OPERATI
>    HAIGHT FA, 1978, INT ENCY STAT, V1, P155
>    HOUGHTON B, 1972, DINOSAURS EVOLUTION
>    JOHNSON NL, 1969, DISCRETE DISTRIBUTIO
>    KATZ B, 2000, MAGAZINE LIBR
>    KEYNES JM, 1921, TREATISE PROBABILITY
>    KOSKO B, 1993, FUZZ THINKING NEW SC
>    KURTH WH, 1962, SURVEY INTERLIBRARY
>    LINE MB, 1974, J DOC, V30, P283
>    LINE MB, 1975, J DOC, V31, P234
>    LINE MB, 1976, J DOC, V32, P322
>    LINE MB, 1977, J DOC, V33, P151
>    MERRY K, 1984, INTERLENDING DOCUMEN, V12, P56
>    MORAN PAP, 1968, INTRO PROBABILITY TH
>    MORONEY MJ, 1956, FACTS FIGURES
>    NEWBOLD EM, 1927, J R STAT SOC 3, V90, P487
>    PATIL GP, 1968, DICT BIBLIOGRAPHY DI
>    PEARSON ES, 1966, BIOMETRIKA TABLES ST, V1
>    PEARSON K, 1894, PHILOS T ROY SOC A, V185, P71
>    PEARSON K, 1895, PHILOS T ROY SOC A, V186, P343
>    PEARSON K, 1900, PHILOSOPHICAL MAGA 5, V50, P157
>    PEARSON K, 1901, PHILOS T ROY SOC A, P443
>    PEARSON K, 1916, PHIL T A, V216, P429
>    PRICE AL, 1993, SERIALS REV, V19, P79
>    PRICE DJD, 1976, J AM SOC INFORM SCI, V27, P292
>    PRITCHARD A, 1969, J DOC, V25, P348
>    RIETZ HL, 1924, HDB MATH STAT, P82
>    RIETZ HL, 1927, CARUS MATH MONOGRAPH, V3
>    SCALES PA, 1976, J DOC, V32, P17
>    SNEDECOR GW, 1989, STAT METHODS
>    STEWART B, 1976, FAREWELL ALEXANDIRA, P105
>    URQUHART DJ, 1957, J DOC, V13, P13
>    URQUHART DJ, 1959, J DOC, V15, P21
>    URQUHART DJ, 1959, P INT C SCI INF WASH, V1, P287
>    URQUHART DJ, 1959, UNESCO B LIBR, V13, P173
>    URQUHART DJ, 1960, P PAP DISC SCARB C L, P51
>    URQUHART DJ, 1962, LIBRARY ASS RECORD, V64, P319
>    URQUHART DJ, 1963, J DOC, V19, P86
>    URQUHART DJ, 1977, J DOC, V33, P149
>    URQUHART DJ, 1981, PRINCIPLES LIBR
>    URQUHART DJ, 1986, RES PRACT LIBR INT S, P21
>    URQUHART DJ, 1990, BOSTON SPA
>    URQUHART JA, 1976, RELEGATION STOCK CON
>    URQUHART JA, 1977, ASLIB P, V29, P32
>    URQUHART JA, 1978, PERIODICALS ADM LIBR, P116
>    URQUHART JA, 1982, INTERLENDING REV, V10, P97
>    WELDON WFR, 1890, P ROYAL SOC, V47, P445
>    WELDON WFR, 1893, P ROYAL SOC, V54, P318
>    WINSOR CP, 1947, HUM BIOL, V19, P154
>    WOOD JL, 1969, REV AVAILABILITY PRI, V1

Joan M. Kolias
Metadata and Reporting Analyst
MIT Libraries
E25-131
kolias at mit.edu
voice:  617 253 0633