ABSTRACT
The narrow purpose of this entry is threefold: 1) to identify the key events and players in the origin and early development of the discipline of library science in the United States (and perhaps North America more generally, but certainly not Europe, much less India, other than to mention its origins in Germany); 2) to describe the intellectual foundations and history for the discipline of library science as developed at the University of Chicago’s GLS; and 3) to briefly identify the knowledge and skills as well as values associated with this emergent field. Strictly speaking, therefore, it is not a discourse on computer science, informatics, information science, information studies, or for that matter, the history of librarianship nor books and libraries; neither is it a history of literary endeavors, printing, writing, or scholarly communication per se, but rather it is an introductory orientation to a highly specialized field of knowledge.
