Elaine Svenonius is an American librarian and library scholar, known for her research on bibliographic control, particularly cataloging, classification, and indexing.[1] She is best known for bringing a philosophical knowledge organization approach to cataloging theory.
Elaine Svenonius | |
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Alma mater |
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Occupation(s) | librarian and library scholar |
Awards | ALCTS Margaret Mann Citation, Ranganathan Award for Classification Research |
Svenonius received an MA in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1957, an MA in Library Science in 1965 from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in Library Science in 1971, as well from the University of Chicago.[2]
In The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization, Svenonius attempts to "synthesize the literature of information organization in a language and at a level of generality to make it understandable to persons outside the field of library and information science" and to "synthesize subject and descriptive cataloging within a common conceptual framework."[2] The book is frequently assigned to Master of Library and Information Science students, among whom it is nicknamed "the red devil".[3]
Svenonius was the recipient of the ALCTS Margaret Mann Citation[4] and the Ranganathan Award for Classification Research.[5]