Biography marcia bates

Marcia J. Bates is a Professor Emerita of information studies at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies.
BIOGRAPHY.
Marcia J. Bates is Professor Emerita in the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Information Studies.

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Marcia J. Bates

What Is a Reference Book? A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

Reference books have traditionally been defined administratively (e.g., as books that are noncirc... more Reference books have traditionally been defined administratively (e.g., as books that are noncirculating) or functionally (e.g., as books used for reference), rather than descriptively (i.e., in terms of the essential characteristics that distinguish reference books from other books). It is argued that in order to provide a scientific basis for the study of reference, as well as to promote the study of search strategy, a descriptive definition is needed. Such a definition—based on the organizational structure of reference books—is provided and defended. An empirical study was conducted in three libraries—academic, public, and special—to identify types of book organization and to determine their frequency in reference departments and stack collections. The definition was strongly supported by the data, and the contents of books were found to fall in a surprisingly small set of forms of organization

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Early Life

Marcia Bates was born in 1942. She earned a Bachelors Degree from Pomona College in Claremont, California in 1963. After graduation, Bates joined the Peace Corps as a Volunteer and taught English as a second language in Thailand for two years. In 1967, Bates returned to school for a Master of Library and Science degree and continued on to receive a PhD in 1972, both from the University of California, Berkeley.

Career

In 1981, she became a tenured Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle after previously working at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is now a “Professor VI”,( a special rank given to professors), at the University of California, Los Angeles where she has served as both Associate Dean and Department Chair. She holds the title of Professor Emerita, which is a title given to female professors who have retired in an “honorable standing” but still keeps the title of Professor.

Dr. Bates is a well-respected writer of many technology articles. Topics include subject access in manual and automated systems, search strategy, user-c

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Marcia J. Bates

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Bates has published widely in the areas of information system search strategy, user-centered design of information retrieval systems, organization of knowledge, information seeking behavior, and the nature of the information professions. (See publications below.) She has taught reference services, information seeking behavior, subject access, and user-centered design of information systems. She has served as Associate Dean and Department Chair. She is now retired as Professor Emerita.

Dr. Bates was Editor-in-Chief of the 7-volume Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, 3rd Ed., with Mary Niles Maack, Associate Editor.

She has also been a professional consultant to numerous organizations in government, foundations, and businesses, including technology start-ups. She has consulted for these organizations, among others:

Library of Congress
Getty Research Institute (part of the Getty Trust)
Council on Library and Information Resources
U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
Centro de Investigaciones Regiona