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Blast from the Past

By Mark Bardsley, MLIS Day

 

This month's blast comes from the September, 1983 issue of "The Sojourner".

It provides us with a glimpse of an important historic event that eventually led to the ubiquitous "i" prefix. Investigation would be required to find out whether the prefix stemmed from the day the program's name changed to Library and Information Science from Librarianship or from a line of products made by a fruit-hoisting computer company on Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California. My instincts say we waited for the computer company to use it, and then based on their success with it, began to use it in a carefree way to see what might come of it.

The name change did better reflect the broad nature of the program, and I don't think the current name will be up for modification anytime soon. Never-the-less, we should start planning now for another name change (even it is twenty years out). I suggest the following three: The Graduate School of Computer Science Without Assembly Language and all That Other Arcane and Difficult Stuff; The Graduate School of Advanced Google Searching or; The Graduate School of Librarians and Librarians Who go by Many Other Names Depending on Where They Work.

 

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Page last updated: February 09, 2004