Donald W. King
Distinguished Research Professor
School of Information and Library Science

Biographical note:

Mr. King, a statistician, has described and evaluated the communication
and information services landscape for over 45 years. Much of this work
was conducted for the National Science Foundation under a series of
contracts entitled "Statistical Indicators of Scientific and Technical
Information Communication." One study, completed in 1978, involved a
systems analysis of science journals which produced an estimate of the
total cost of the journal system and a forecast of when electronic
journals would become commonplace (20 years). Another study provided
tracking of science journal attributes including prices starting in
1960 and kept up to date to 2006. Mr. King has co-authored 11 books (5
dealing with science, engineering and other professions’
communication), edited 5 books, authored nearly 80 articles and about
300 other publications. He is currently co-PI on three studies
including surveys of faculty information-seeking and reading patterns
(U. of Tennessee) and use of the Internet and the future of librarians
in the workforce (UNC). He is currently advisor on two non-U.S.
national studies examining the scholarly journal systems with an
emphasis on Open Access initiatives. In December he will keynote an
event in London reporting results of one study by Cambridge Economic
Policy Associates entitled: "Activities, Costs and Funding Flows in
Scholarly Communications." His contributions have been recognized
through many honors including being named a Pioneer of Science
Information, Chemical Heritage Foundation; Fellow, American Statistical
Association; Research Award and Award of Merit, American Society for
Information Science and Technology.