The Past Catches up.

IF YOU WERE IN LIBRARY SCHOOL anytime during the last 40 years, you are probably familiar with F.W. Lancaster and his books on indexing, online searching, or paperless information systems. I recently reread the first online searching textbook ever written, while preparing a Library Trends article (Spring/Summer 2008) in tribute to Lancaster. The book, Information Retrieval On-Line (Melville), by Lancaster and Emily Fayen, appeared in 1973 when only a few librarians and subject specialists were tackling the new world of online databases.