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Brian Campbell Vickery Quotes

1918–2009 United Kingdom

Brian Campbell Vickery (September 11, 1918 – October 17, 2009) was a British information scientist and classification researcher, and Professor and director at the School of Library, Archive and Information Studies at University College London from 1973 to 1983.

United Kingdom
Academics
Computer scientists
Librarians

Also known as: Brian Vickery

Random Brian Campbell Vickery quote

44 quotes

Citation does not necessarily reflect current demand.

Penelope Earle and Brian Campbell Vickery (1969)

The job of our profession is to facilitate the provision of knowledge (in all forms) to those who need it (for whatever purpose).

Information history – an introduction (2009)

There is as yet no unified theory of retrieval systems, and a good deal of retrieval practice is still an empirical art, unsullied by theory.

On Retrieval System Theory (1961)

Information science is concerned with every aspect of the chain of information transfer activities, but the heart of its interest is information search.

B.C. Vickery (1997)

It is with this whole cycle [between generation and use of information] that information science is now concerned.

Information Science in Theory and Practice (1987)

The principles of information science apply, whatever the medium of transfer.

Fifty years of information progress (1994)

Classification in its simplest terms, means putting together things or ideas that are alike, and keeping separate those that are different.

Classification and indexing in science (1958)

The crux of the retrieval problem is that selecting documents to read grows ever more difficult, and new techniques are continually needed.

B.C. Vickery (1970)

Documentation is a practice concerned with all the processes involved in transferring documents from sources to users.

Concepts of documentation (1978)

Looking back, I ask myself why so little of the basic research has had an impact on professional practice.

A Long Search for Information (2004)

User needs determine what functions should be provided, and different functions require different structures.

B.C. Vickery (1971)

The scientific study of the communication of information in society – “information science” in the sense of an academic discipline...

Information Science in Theory and Practice (1987)

I suspect that teaching the history of our subject is less frequent in our institutions than it was. We are getting short-sighted both in looking forward and in looking backward, to our detriment.

A Long Search for Information (2004)

A retrieval system can be studied at three levels

The Structure of Information Retrieval Systems (1959)

For the profession as a whole, it is necessary that our hard-won understanding of our discipline be handed on to the next generation in a formal way.

A Long Search for Information (2004)

Despite the fact that our profession constantly urges others to “consult the literature”, I do not think we are distinguished nowadays by knowledge of our heritage.

Vickery (1998)

Facet analysis results in more varied, multidimensional relationships, at least in theory, better reflecting the complexity of subject knowledge

The old-established groups in the information profession... have come to recognise that many other social groups are concerned with information transfer.

Fifty years of information progress (1994)

The structure if a fully developed classification can be technically described in the following way

Classification and indexing in science (1958)

Neither citation nor loan demand is an adequate measure of literature use by a large community. Each is only an indicator, illuminating some aspects of use but with its own inherent bias. The joint study of several indicators gives a more balanced picture..

Penelope Earle and Brian Campbell Vickery (1969)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Brian Campbell Vickery (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.