NASA Reshapes Libraries: The Space Program’s Impact on Academic Libraries, Special Libraries, and Archives

Abstract

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has enriched many fields through its scientific discoveries and new technologies, but its impact on information science, though lesser known, may be among its most significant contributions. From the reconceptualization of librarians as information scientists by NASA leaders like Von Braun and Day to NASA’s massive program of knowledge dissemination, including breakthroughs in hardware and software, NASA’s informational initiatives helped to lay the foundation of modern information science. This report will describe these developments to give some perspective on what academic libraries, special libraries, and archives owe to NASA.

KEYWORDS:

• NASA history
• information science history
• aeronautical engineering libraries
• space science history
• archival science
• academic libraries
• special libraries