| Robert M. Hayes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 3 December 1926 New York City, United States |
| Residence | Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Information science |
| Institutions | UCLA |
| Alma mater | UCLA |
| Known for | Work on information systems and information economy |
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Notes
President, American Society for Information Science and Technology, 1967-1968 |
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Robert Mayo Hayes (born 1926) is Professor Emeritus and former dean (1974-1989) of the School of Library Service, later known as the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), now the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. In the early years, he jointly taught mathematics and information science, later concentrating on information science. Hayes was president of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, formerly known as the American Documentation Institute (1962-1963), and won the association's highest honor, the Award of Merit, in 1993. Hayes is one of the most widely known information scientists in the world, having consulted in dozens of developing and developed nations in his specialties. He was visiting professor at Loughborough University, Strossmayer University, University of New South Wales, Khazar University, Keio University, University of LIS in Tsukuba Science City (Japan), Nankai University, University of Illinois, and University of Washington.
Hayes has had an enormous influence on American library and information science as well. [1] During his Deanship, the UCLA library and information science school was ranked variously between second and fifth in North America, out of about sixty programs overall at the time. [2] He is an expert on information systems, having developed and marketed, through his own company, one of the earliest database programs. He co-authored with Joseph Becker Information Storage and Retrieval, the most comprehensive text in the field at that time (1962).[3] Indeed, the book essentially defined the area at a very early stage in development of the field of Information Retrieval. Hayes' and Becker's book Handbook of Data Processing for Libraries was the bible for the information technology staff of libraries worldwide in the 1970's. Hayes was responsible for the training program in library automation for the ALA staff at 1964 Seattle World's Fair[4] to introduce online retrieval to the general public.[5] His current research focuses on information economy and philosophical foundations of information science.
He received his BA, MA and PhD (1952) in Mathematics from UCLA.