TY - MANSCPT DB - Science History Institute DP - Science History Institute M2 - Courtesy of Science History Institute. Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, S TI - Dale B. Baker, interviewed by Leo B. Slater and Robert V. Williams in Columbus, Ohio on June 6, 1997 ID - 73666543r PB - Science History Institute CY - Philadelphia AV - Oral History Transcript 0160 VL - Oral History Transcript 0160 AN - Oral History Transcript 0160 UR - https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/73666543r AB - Dale Baker begins the interview with a discussion of his early years and family background. Inspired by a high school teacher, Baker decided to major in chemical engineering upon entering Ohio State University in 1938, receiving his B.Ch.E. in 1942 and his M.Sc. in chemistry in 1948. While a student, Baker began working for the American Chemical Society's [ACS] Chemical Abstracts Service as an office boy. Aside from a brief time as a chemist working with explosives at DuPont, Baker spent his entire career with the ACS and Chemical Abstracts Service. In 1946, Baker became assistant editor of Chemical Abstracts. He took on the extra responsibilities of managing the publications' finances and administrative coordination. Baker and his staff at Chemical Abstracts learned indexing and abstracting through hands-on work while seeking to automate and quicken the availability of chemical information. In 1958, Baker became Director of Chemical Abstracts Service, a position he held until 1986. Baker was instrumental in developing an on-line system for Chemical Abstracts in the early 1980s. While Director of Chemical Abstracts Service, Baker also served the ACS in various capacities, from Acting Executive to Director Emeritus. Baker concludes the interview with a discussion of management techniques, and reflections on his career and family. KW - Chemical engineering KW - American Chemical Society. Chemical Abstracts Service KW - Chemistry--Nomenclature KW - American Chemical Society KW - National Federation of Science Abstracting and Indexing Services KW - E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company KW - Chemical engineers KW - Garfield, Eugene KW - Information storage and retrieval systems--Chemistry KW - Chemistry--Research KW - Baker, Dale B. KW - Chemists--Biography KW - Chemistry--Abstracting and indexing LA - English ER -