theorywatch

Liz Liddy, dean at Syracuse, has just announced that Bob Taylor passed away on New Year’s Day at the age of 90. He was the first working theorist I’d ever met, back in 1976 when I came to the School of Information Studies as a master’s student, and he changed my life in a number of ways.

Years later, in my dissertation, I observed:

“Theories are a theorist’s legacy to the future, as they can continue to work long after the theorist cannot.”

I believe that is the single sentence most likely to be considered “true” in the entire 300 pages, as I had him in mind when I wrote it. There is no question that the information environment has received innumerable value-added processes and products by library and information science professionals through his work.