Pioneers of Library and Information Science

Pioneers of Library and Information Science

Bliss, H.E. (1870-1955): Bliss was consider to be one of the greatest intellectuals in the field of  library classification. A great American librarian that devised the famous 'Bibliogrphic Classification' in 1935


Bradford, S.C (1878-1948): Bradford was known for his contribution to the field of documentation. He was a trained chemist, born in london who later turned into a library scientist. A good supporter of UDC. The book Documentation written by him in 1948 was original contribution in that field. He propounded the Bradfords Law of Scatter regarding the appearance of articles of one subject in different periodicals.


Brown, J.D (1862-1914): An eminent British librarian that led the public library movement of Britain in the last part of the 19th Century. He was the first librarian that introduced the open access system in the public libraries of Great Britain. He founded the journal 'Library World' in 1898 which is still serving the profession. The Manual of Library Economy (1903) and his 'Subject Classification' scheme (1906) are his everlasting contributions to the field of library science.

Dewey, Melvil (1851-1931): One of the greatest librarians and a versatile genius from the USA. His contributions to the field of library science and his enthusiasm for the progress and development of library services all over the world are quite matchless. Teh library world owes him a great debt. There is no single branch of library science which he did not influence through his original and revolutionary ideas. He was respoonsible for establishing the first library periodical (Library Journal), the first library association (ALA) and also the first library school in the world. of course his great and everlasting contribution to the field of library science is "The Decimal Classification" devised by him which is now 23re Ed.

Lubetzky, Seymour (1825-1908): Lubetzky was one of teh greatest theoreticians of library cataloguing. Born in Russia, he went to the USA in 1927 for studies in the University of California. On the request of ALA, he prepared a report analysing the ALA Catalogue Code on 1949 which was later published as Cataloguing Rules and Principles" (1953). This book was acclaimed as one of the classics of library literature that questioned the traditional practice of cataloguing  and paved the way for future cataloguing code (ie. AACR)

Mills, J: Jack Mills is a renowned library scientist from the UK who is also a great teacher of library science. He is the founder member and chairman of the World's first Classification Research Group (CRG) in London. At Present he is engaged in revising and editing the 2nd ed. of Bibliographic (BC 2) of Bliss.

Otlet, Paul (1868-): A great name in the world of documentalists. One of the greatest pioneers of Internatiional Organization and Documentation belonging to Belgium. He worked for the establishment of FID in the form of International Institute of Bibliography. One of the initiators of UDC who convened the International Congress of Bibliography and Documentation in 1908. His Book "Traits de Documentation" was published 1934

Panizzi, Anthony (1797-1879): An Italian patriot who fled his country and took asylum in England in 1821. For some time he worked as a Professor of Italian in the University College of London. Later he joined the British Museum as keeper of printed books and rose to the position of its chief librarian in 1856. He developed the British Museum into a national library of England through the enforcement of Legal Deposit Act and was also responsible for the design of the famous round shaped reading room of the British Museum. The 91 cataloguing rules framed by him are an everlasting contribution to the profession

Ranganathan, Dr. S.R. (1892-1972): Dr. Ranganathan was the Indian counterpart of Melvil Dewey of America. He was the National Professor of Library Science and also the Father of Library Science in India. The Great Library Scientist from India who revolutionised the library Science, especially the branch of Classification with his seminal ideas and gave it the status of a science on a par with other scientific disciplines. His greatest contribution to the profession is the COLON CLASSIFICATION devised by him. He devoted all his life time earnings only for the development of library science and services in our country. Through his efforts and intellectual devotion he created a separate school of thought in the field of library science known as 'Indian School of Thought' that gained recognition and respect throughout the world

Rider, Fremont (1885-1962): He devised Rider's International Classification for the arrangement of books on the shelves of general libraries, a purely enumerative scheme of classification in 1961. A writer, editor and publisher of many books on library science. He worked as a University librarian and for some time was an associate of Melvil Dewey. He was known for his Book "Melvil Dewey: A biography" 1944 (ALA)

Sayers, W.C. Berwick (1881-1960): He was a great librarian and an eminent teacher of library classification. Most of the prominent librarians and leaders in the library profession, in the first half of the 20th century all over the world, were his students only. Worked as chief librarian of the Croydon Public libraries for many years. His 'Manual of Classification' is a classic to be treasured by the profession forever.

Taube, Mortimer (1910-1965): Taube was an American information scientist, innovator, scholar and businessman, all in one. In 1952 he founded the Documentation Incorporation, the first information corporation of the world. This corporation undertook many innovative studies and pioneered in the field of information facilities management. He was specially known for his work on co-ordinate indexing using "Uniterms" which later formed the basis for computerized search strategy. His books include Studies in Co-ordinate indexing, Computers and Commonsense and The Myth of Thinking Machines.