KATZ, William A(rmstrong) 1924-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born July 6, 1924, in Seattle, WA; died September 12, 2004. Librarian, educator, journalist, and author. Katz was widely recognized as a reference work authority. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II and earning a Bronze Star, he graduated from the University of Washington in 1947. Katz then embarked on a journalism career, working as a reporter for the Vancouver Columbian, Oakland Post Enquirer, and San Francisco News during the late 1940s and early 1950s. He was also an editor for the Daly City, California Record for four years and a reporter for the Seattle Times from 1954 to 1957. Going back to school, he earned a master's degree from the University of Washington in 1956 and, in 1965, a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. After completing his M.A., Katz started his library career at the King County Library in his home state of Washington, and from 1960 to 1964 was an editorial assistant for the American Library Association in Chicago. He then began an academic career, first as an associate professor of library science at the University of Kentucky, then, beginning in 1966, as a professor at the School of Information Science and Policy at the State University of New York at Albany. The former editor of such professional journals as RQ, Acquisitions Librarian, and Reference Librarian, Katz published several respected reference works, as well, including the two-volume Introduction to Reference Work (1969; fourth edition, 1992), Reference and Online Services Handbook (1982), and Dahl's History of the Book (1995). He was also the author of A History of Book Illustration.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

periodicals

Library Journal, November 15, 2004, pp. 17-18.

online

School of Information Science and Policy Web site, http://www.albany.edu/sisp/ (January 3, 2005).