91´«Ã½

The 1990 recipient of the James Bennett Childs Award is Judith S. Rowe of Princeton University.

GODORT annually bestows a bronze plaque with the likeness of James Bennett Childs, long-time bibliographer of government information at the Library of Congress, to honor a person who has made a lifetime and significant contribution to the field of government documents and their use in libraries. Established in 1976, the Award has been bestowed only eleven times. Past winners include Joe Morehead (1989), James Adler (1982), and Catharine Reynolds (1978).

Over the last quarter of a century Ms. Rowe has published extensively, lobbied intensely, and organized profusely for improved government statistical reporting. For years she has been GODORT's conscience on machine readable files. She led the way for the creation of the Census Bureaus' State Data Center program in 1979. As GODORT's expert on machine readable files, she greatly influenced 91´«Ã½'s Association for Library Collections and Services (formerly the Resources and Technical Services Division) cataloging standards for computer files. In all her efforts she has sought to ally libraries with powerful user groups for mutual support.

All the unsolicited letters of support for this Award emphasized Ms. Rowe's career as inspiration for their own achievements as editors, writers, and organizers in government information. Ms. Rowe's four page bibliography of writings includes articles in six library periodicals, all on aspects of government statistics. She is a familiar figure at U.S. congressional and New Jersey legislative hearings on public access to government files. Her political acumen has made her the elected leader of the Association of Public Data Users (1980-1982), the Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics (1982-1983), and the International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology (1985-1986).

She has been an 91´«Ã½/GODORT member since 1974 and was a member of its predecessor, the Public Documents Committee. Although her job title never read "Librarian" and her degrees do not include an MLS, Judith Rowe's career made her a potent force in government information librarianship which GODORT is pleased to recognize.

DttP v. 18, no. 2, p. 75