Urquhart and Probability: The Transition from Librarianship to Library and information Science

The role of Donald J. Urquhart, Founder of the British National Lending Library for Science and Technology (NLL), in the creation of modern library and information science, is analyzed. Urquhart was the first librarian to apply probability to library use, utilizing it not only to establish and manage the scientific journal collections of the NLL but also to evolve his Law of Supralibrary Use. The relationship of probability distributions to library use and the laws of information science is emphasized. It is observed that Urquhart's law has many implications for diverse areas such as journal evaluation and selection, collection management, resource sharing, document delivery, and journal sales.