Claire K. Schultz, 1924–2015

Abstract

EDITOR'S SUMMARYA groundbreaker and important link between library science and computer‐based information science, Claire Kelly Schultz passed away in May 2015. Though Schultz's original aim to become a doctor was derailed, her first job as a biology lab assistant and librarian launched her on a career path that ultimately provided important service to medicine, pharmacology and information science. With training in library studies, chemistry and medicine, Schultz became the librarian at the future Merck, Sharp and Dohme Research Labs and became aware of the technical challenges of literature retrieval in the field. She consulted with others at the forefront of indexing and retrieval systems to develop a successful card sorting method using Boolean logic. This success led to consulting positions and publications on information retrieval, vocabulary control, thesaurus construction and indexing. Schultz strongly advocated applying documentation practices to the developing field and to the history of the American Documentation Institute (ADI), forerunner of the Association for Information Science and Technology, and she created the first thesaurus of information science. Active in several professional societies, Schultz became the ADI's first woman president and earned its 1980 Award of Merit.