Linda C. Smith

Education for library and information science, with particular attention to online pedagogy; history of information science; impact of new technologies on reference and information services.

• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (elected 1993)
• Isadore Gilbert Mudge--R.R. Bowker Award, Reference & User Services Association, 2000
• Beta Phi Mu Award, 2004
• ALISE Award for Professional Contribution to Library and Information Science Education, 2008

Linda C. Smith joined the faculty in 1977 and retired in 2019. She taught courses on Information Organization and Access, Reference and Information Services, and Information Sources & Services in the Sciences. She is a past president of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), Beta Phi Mu, and the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T), a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Section T: Information, Computing and Communication), and a University of Illinois Distinguished Teacher/Scholar. She has been recognized with the Graduate College Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award (1998) and the Campus Award for Excellence in Online & Distance Teaching (2007) as well as awards from ASIS&T (Award of Merit, 2010; Outstanding Information Science Teacher Award, 1987) and ALISE (Award for Service to ALISE, 2012; Award for Professional Contribution to Library and Information Science Education, 2008; Award for Teaching Excellence, 1999). 

• Fall 2024 - CAS Project - IS559LCS

Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., except when in meetings

For a complete list of publications, visit Linda C. Smith's Google Scholar page.

Abels, E.G.; Howarth, L.C.; Smith, L.C. "Transforming Library and Information Science Education by Design." Advances in Librarianship 44A: 71-89, 2018.

Smith, L.C.; Wong, M.A., eds. Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. 5th ed. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2016. 881p.

Abels, E.G.; Howarth, L.C.; Smith, L.C. "Envisioning Our Information Future and How to Educate for It." Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 57(2): 84-93, 2016.  

Smith, L.C. "From Foundation to Federal Funding: The Impact of Grants on Education for Library and Information Science."  Advances in Librarianship 31: 141-165, 2008. 

Smith, L.C. "Education for Digital Reference Services." In: Lankes, R. D.; Nicholson, S.; Goodrum, A., eds. The Digital Reference Research Agenda. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2003, pp. 148-176.

Smith, L.C.; Lastra, S.; Robins, J. "Teaching Online: Changing Models of Teaching and Learning in LEEP." Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 42(4): 348-363, Fall 2001.

Smith, L.C.  "Memex as an Image of Potentiality Revisited." In: Nyce, J. M.; Kahn, P., eds. From Memex to Hypertext: Vannevar Bush and the Mind's Machine.  Boston, MA: Academic Press, 1991, pp. 261-286.

Smith, L.C. "Citation Analysis." Library Trends 30(1): 83-106, Summer 1981.

Smith, L.C. "Artificial Intelligence in Information Retrieval Systems." Information Processing and Management 12: 189-222, 1976.

Smith, L.C. "Systematic Searching of Abstracts and Indexes in Interdisciplinary Areas." Journal of the American Society for Information Science 25(6): 343-353, November-December 1974.

Smith, L.C. "Procognitive Systems: J.C.R. Licklider's Vision for Library Systems of the Future." Library History Seminar XIII, Boston, July 31-August 2, 2015.

Smith, L.C. "Partnering for Online Course Sharing: Lessons Learned by Schools Participating in the WISE Consortium." ALISE Annual Conference, Philadelphia, January 24, 2014.

Smith, L.C. "'Speaking Volumes': Cuadra, Williams, Cronin and the Evolution of the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology." ASIS&T 2012 Pre-Conference on the History of ASIS&T and Information Science and Technology, Baltimore, October 27, 2012.

Kingma, B.; Nicholson, S.; Schisa, K.; Smith, L.C. "WISE+ Course Development Partnerships: Collaboration, Innovation & Sustainability." Cooperation and Collaboration in Teaching and Research: Trends in Library and Information Studies Education, IFLA Satellite Meeting, Borås, Sweden, August 8-9, 2010.

Smith, L.C. "Making Connections: Librarianship and Interdisciplinarity." Allegheny College Pelletier Library Lecture, Meadville, PA, October 9, 2002.

Smith, L.C. "Pedagogy in Educating Information Specialists: Lessons Learned from Internet-Based Distance Education." German-Dutch University Conference on Information Specialists for the 21st Century, Hannover, Germany, October 14-15, 1999.

Smith, L.C. "Interdisciplinarity: Approaches to Understanding Library and Information Science as an Interdisciplinary Field." International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, Tampere, Finland, August 26-28, 1991.  

Smith, L.C. "'Wholly New Forms of Encyclopedias': Electronic Knowledge in the Form of Hypertext." (Keynote). 44th FID Conference and Congress, Helsinki, Finland, August 28-September 1, 1988.

Smith, L.C. "Procognitive Systems:  Retrospect and Prospect." Informatics 8:  Advances in Intelligent Retrieval, Wadham College, Oxford, England, April 16-17, 1985.

Smith, L.C. "'Memex' as an Image of Potentiality in Information Retrieval Research and Development." Joint BCS-ACM Symposium on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, St. John's College, Cambridge, England, June 24-26, 1980.