Mrs. Avram’s ReMARCable Creation
General May 3rd, 2006
News outlets are starting to do write-ups on librarian Henriette Avrams, who died last month at the age of 86. Avrams is credited with marrying computers and card catalogs in the 60s, creating the MAchine Readable Catalog (MARC,) a method of storing catalog information in the computer that is still used today. The Washington Post has a nice writeup on her life. Surprisingly, there’s no Wikipedia entry for her.
Avrams is notable for several reasons – she was a female pioneer in a man’s profession, she trailblazed library catalogs and computers where there was an obvious need but no previous connections, she had no library professional experience or training (and was a house-wife for many years before coming up with MARC.) I like her because she was a computer scientist who peeked into libraries and changed the world.
My tech services professors talked about hosting her and her husband at UIUC when she was given an honorary degree a few years back. Her husband was quoted that MARC really stands for Misses Avram’s Remarkable Creation. You can’t argue with that. I encourage everyone to browse your school or public library and check out a book, and know that her Remarkable Creation is still working for you.
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