Henderson lecture to explore evolution of shared information resources

By CATHERINE LAZORKO
UNC School of Information and Library Science

CHAPEL HILL -- The pioneer of the interlibrary loan system and an information scientist who is leading the next wave of digital technology will discuss the evolution of shared information resources Nov. 21 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Their appearance is part of the Henderson Lecture, a free and open program of the School of Information and Library Science, is scheduled from Nov. 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Pleasants Family Assembly Room of UNC’s Wilson Library.

Sharing unique historical perspectives in the discussion titled "Sharing Library Resources: From Online Computer Library Center to Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting" will be Dr. Fred Kilgour, a distinguished research professor in UNC’s School of Information and Library Science, and Dr. Herbert Van de Sompel, team leader of the Digital Library Research and Prototyping Team at the Research Library of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Kilgour founded the Ohio College Library Center – now known as the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) -- in 1967. Before this milestone, he worked as a librarian and library director at Harvard and Yale universities for nearly 25 years. During World War II, he was a U.S. Navy intelligence officer in the Office of Strategic Services, where he developed a system for obtaining publications from enemy and enemy-occupied areas, and for which he received the Legion of Merit. Kilgour led OCLC from 1967 to 1980, presiding over its spectacular growth from an intrastate network to a national resource.

During his tenure, OCLC grew from a staff of two and revenues of $67,000, to a staff of 500 and revenues of $27 million. The number of libraries OCLC served grew from the original 54 Ohio academic libraries to 2,300 libraries in all 50 states. The number of records grew from the ground up to 5 million.

Van de Sompel has played a major role in creating the Open Archives Protocol for Metadata Harvesting, the OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services and the SFX linking server. He graduated in mathematics and computer science from Ghent University in Belgium, and earned his doctorate there in 2000. For many years, he was headed library automation at Ghent University. Before coming to Los Alamos, he was a visiting professor in computer science at Cornell University and director of e-Strategy and Programmes at the British Library.

The annual Henderson Lecture was established in 1990 to honor the memory of Lucile Kelling Henderson, a UNC faculty member from 1932 to 1960 and dean of what was then known as the School of Library Science from 1954 to 1960.

A reception will precede the lecture at 9 a.m., and a symposium is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Room 304 of Manning Hall. Persons interested in attending the symposium may contact Dr. Gary Marchionini, professor of information and library science at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science, at march@ils.unc.edu or (919) 966-3611.

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School of Information and Library Science contact: Catherine Lazorko, (919) 843-8337, lazorko@unc.edu
News Services contact: Mike McFarland