Overlooked No More: Karen Sparck Jones, Who Established the Basis for Search Engines

Very interesting. In 1981, I developed a word-based library cataloguing system based on a simple conversion of the Dewey system numbers into their word equivalents and then showed how this could be extended into general word searches - initially for books but then, naturally, into all digitised text. I was IT manager for the Australian Department of Housing and Construction at the time and, unaware of K.S. Jones's work, arranged for the Library system of our Northern Territory office to be keyed in as a word-based library catalogue with the option of extending it to cover digital text in general. I then passed it on to the Head Librarian of the National Library in Canberra, who became very excited. She said that this was the "golden solution" to computerising library catalogues and hadn't been done anywhere else in the world. The National Library then very happily ran with it.

"“Cambridge was in many ways not user-friendly, in the sense of women-friendly,” she said of the delay." A friend of mine studied physics at Cambridge. From what she told me, it sounded like some of the meanest misogynistic snobs in the world worked there. British intellectuals have honed a very special talent for putting down their perceived inferiors. I hope it's changed. Please God let knowledge-seeking become a friendly, mentally healthy endeavour.

Thank you NYT, for highlighting the life of yet another brilliant woman. She was a role model for many of us.

Better belated than never - thanks for reminders that the field this white male works in isn't driven just by white males. I've worked with (and for) too many impressive people who aren't just like me to have ever fallen for the myth that guys (or white guys) somehow are unique in really understanding technology.

This inspires me in many many ways. Thank you!!! We as citizens need to know how people live well.

Thanks for this. Imagine working on something for 20 years......a backwater........and then suddenly this backwater becomes the centre of the Universe. What a strange feeling that must be. Interesting person. Interesting life.

NYT, thank you for this.

Wow. A truly remarkable woman.

Thank you NYT... I love these write-ups

Another brilliant woman whose work changed the world. Glad the Times is doing these obits, these pioneering women deserve credit even if it is late.

What a fascinating woman and what extraordinary contributions she's made to the world. And while I understand the reasons she and her husband chose to not have children, it's also at the same time a bit of a shame their their DNA will not live on. Anyway, it reads as a life well lived. Thank you for being ahead of your time and recognizing so many important concepts, including the impact of technology and later, social media, on our society.

It is mind-boggling to me that this woman’s work in computer technology AND its implications have been overlooked by your newspaper I get it, I get it-the New York Times is making reparations by acknowledging individuals now for not being recognized in the past-her contributions were not that long ago! I am astounded! Re your article this past week as to how Google and Facebook are trying to censor particular “talk” on their sites globally- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/27/world/facebook-moderators.html. Troubling that your editorial staff did not recognize this woman’s work earlier AND heeded her advice.

Thank you so much for this wonderful series on notable women. How did any of us excel in our fields without knowing these role models? How could these exceptional people be overlooked so consistently?