Remembering William Goffman: Mathematical information science pioneer

This paper reviews the career and legacy of William (Bill) Goffman, who served as a researcher, Professor, Dean and Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, from 1959 to 2000. Goffman pioneered mathematical information science broadly and in several key areas. First, he applied...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Information processing & management 2008-07, Vol.44 (4), p.1634-1647
Main Author: Harmon, Glynn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioinformatics
Bradford distributions
Epidemiology
Exact sciences and technology
Goffman, William
Information and communication sciences
Information retrieval
Information science
Information science. Documentation
Knowledge epidemiology
Library and information science. General aspects
Library science
Mathematics
Sciences and techniques of general use
Scientific discovery
Studies
Theories, definitions and sources in information science
William Goffman
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Summary:This paper reviews the career and legacy of William (Bill) Goffman, who served as a researcher, Professor, Dean and Emeritus at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, from 1959 to 2000. Goffman pioneered mathematical information science broadly and in several key areas. First, he applied disease epidemiology concepts to model accurately the spread of knowledge and the formation of knowledge systems and their ecologies, including the dynamics of scientific discovery. Second, he proposed significant improvements in information retrieval through the deployment of multi-valued logic, appropriate file ordering, effective and efficient retrieval measures, and simplified retrieval approaches, including early work in citation-based searching. Third, Goffman applied Bradford-like distributions to model effective core research literature collection development and usage. Fourth, he developed original epidemiology models, and was an early contributor in biomedical informatics. His mathematical contributions have stood the test of time and will continue to be applicable indefinitely.
ISSN:0306-4573
1873-5371
DOI:10.1016/j.ipm.2007.12.004