Notable people · Librarian · Computing
Frederick Gridley Kilgour
Fred Kilgour led the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) from 1967 to 1980, building the shared online cataloging system that became WorldCat. OCLC is headquartered in Dublin, Ohio. He was born in Massachusetts and died in North Carolina.
At a glance
- Born
- 1914-01-06
- Died
- 2006-07-31
- Education
- Harvard College, Cambridge, MA, to 1935, chemistry
- Known as
- Librarian, Computing
- Organizations
- OCLC
Life story
Fred Kilgour was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1914 and earned a chemistry degree at Harvard in 1935. He worked in the Harvard library, served in the Naval Reserve in World War II and earned the Legion of Merit for intelligence work.
He became librarian of the Yale Medical Library in 1948.
In 1967 he joined the Ohio College Association to build a shared cataloging system. In 1971 OCLC launched it for 54 Ohio academic libraries.
He later taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and died there in 2006 at 92. He wrote 205 papers and the book The Evolution of the Book.
Timeline
- 1914-01-06: Born (Springfield, MA) source
- 1935: Harvard chemistry degree (Cambridge, MA) source
- 1940: Marries Eleanor Margaret Beach (Massachusetts) source
- 1942: Naval Reserve service begins (United States) source
- 1948: Librarian of Yale Medical Library (New Haven, CT) source
- 1967: Joins Ohio College Association to develop OCLC (Columbus, OH) source
- 1971: OCLC shared cataloging system launched for 54 Ohio libraries (Columbus, OH) source
- 1978: Melvil Dewey Medal (United States) source
- 1990: Joins UNC Chapel Hill faculty (Chapel Hill, NC) source
- 2006-07-31: Dies (Chapel Hill, NC) source
What Frederick is known for
- Founder of OCLC and shared online library cataloging (WorldCat), 1971
- OCLC shared cataloging system (1971)
- The Evolution of the Book (1999)
- Founded and edited the journal Information Technology and Libraries
Inventions and firsts
- OCLC shared cataloging (1971)
Honors and things named for them
- Melvil Dewey Medal (1978)
- ALA honorary membership (1982)
- Five honorary doctorates
- Legion of Merit
- Kilgour research award (since 1998)
Family
- wife: Eleanor Margaret Beach
- daughter: Marta
- daughter: Vajra Alison
- daughter: Meredith
Ohio places
Where Frederick Gridley Kilgour was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Worked: Columbus, Franklin County ZIP 43215 · Columbus · Franklin County
- Worked: Dublin, Franklin County ZIP 43017 · Dublin · Franklin County
Further reading
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- Fred Kilgour (Wikipedia) life, OCLC, honors