If E. M. Jellinek was the most influential scholar to define the science of addiction studies, Mark Keller was probably the most influential defining its language. Additionally, he can be considered the first Information Specialist in our field too.
Mark Keller portrait by Vera Efron (Image credit: Mark Keller Papers, Alcohol Studies Archive)
Fellow-documentalist and scientist Vera Efron once called Mark Keller “next to Bunky, probably the most knowledgeable man in the field of alcohol problems,” by the time the Center moved to Rutgers from Yale in 1962. Revisiting his papers helped me find out a lot more about Keller and discover how the legendary QJSA/JSA editor had turned from a high school dropout into faculty at multiple universities. Stay tuned for our article introducing the updated Mark Keller Bibliography, which will shed more light on how his work contributed to information science.
Keller’s various initiatives promoted communication between scholars from different disciplines and made the field more accessible to practitioners and community members. The ultimate Information Specialist, he worked throughout his life to make the results of addiction research available not only for researchers but for those whose lives were most affected.
Editing and mentoring
Keller is probably best known for his editorship and mentorship. As the long-term editor of the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol/Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Keller defined the field of publishing for decades. He was also the editor of monograph series, bibliographies, conference proceedings, reports, and other periodicals, such as the Alcoholism Treatment Digest and Digest of Alcoholism Theory and Application: DATA.
Facilitating The Disease Concept of Alcoholism
His most influential accomplishment is editing E. M. Jellinek’s seminal book, The Disease Concept of Alcoholism, called “the most widely cited (and least read) literary artifact of the modern alcoholism movement” by William White. Our blog post The “Disease Concept” at the Alcohol Archive tells the story of its publication.
Organizing information for the field
Card sorting (Image credit: Mark Keller Papers, Alcohol Studies Archive)
Developed by Jellinek and Keller, the Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature (CAAAL) is a collection of approximately 20,000 abstracts prepared by Center staff from 1939 through 1977 of the scientific and scholarly alcohol literature (journal articles, published and unpublished reports, monographs. A manual, provided for use in subject searching, includes the principles of organizing the collection and ATOD subject headings. Keller was instrumental in developing a consistent, controlled vocabulary, leaving behind a great model of organizing information.
- Keller, M.; Efron, V.; & Jellinek, E. M. (1965). CAAAL manual: A guide to the use of the Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature with an index key to sorting. Publications Division, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies.
- Keller, M. (1964). Documentation of the alcohol literature; a scheme for an interdisciplinary field of study. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 25(4), 725-741.
Defining alcohol language
At the 37th SALIS Conference in San Diego, the terminology of our field was discussed extensively in the “Language matters” panel. Bill Bejarano’s talk addressed Keller’s role in formulating a working vocabulary. In addition to the scientific language, Keller collected alcohol-related words from all walks of life and published a multi-functional, general dictionary. A copy of the first edition of his dictionary marked up for an expanded second edition demonstrates his process. He was working on a third edition until his death in 1995.
- Keller, M.; & McCormick, M. (1968). A dictionary of words about alcohol. Publications Division, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies.
- Keller, M.; McCormick, M.; & Efron, V. (1982). A dictionary of words about alcohol (2nd ed.). Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies.
Providing bibliographies
For a long time, the Center of Alcohol Studies Bibliographies were extensive printed lists of references to the international scientific literature on specific alcohol subjects, covering journal articles, books, technical reports, dissertations, and conference proceedings. Several cumulative bibliographies were also published and edited by Mark Keller.
- Keller, M. [ed.]; & Jordy, S. S. [comp.] (1966). International bibliography of studies on alcohol. Vol. 1, references, 1901-1950. Publications Division, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies.
- Keller, M. (1968). International bibliography of studies on alcohol, vols. 1 & 2. Publications Division, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies.
Compiling statistics
A long-term instructor at the Summer School of Alcohol Studies at Yale and Rutgers, Keller taught courses for several decades on statistical data and how to interpret them in addiction studies. A compendium was annually updated and published as an illustration under the title Selected statistics on alcohol problems (1953-1976).
- Keller, M. (1976). Statistics on consumption of alcohol and on alcoholism. Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies.
Founding the Jellinek Memorial Award
The “Bunky” as awarded to Mark Keller in 1977 used to be on display in the Center of Alcohol Studies Library
A colleague and friend of E. M. Jellinek, Keller never missed an opportunity to emphasize the role of Jellinek’s work in developing a scientific approach to alcohol and alcoholism. After Jellinek’s death in 1963, Keller was among the few who set up the Jellinek Memorial Fund with an annual award, which has become the most prestigious acknowledgment in the field. He delivered the lecture at the Jellinek Memorial Award to Bill W. Even if he never finished the Jellinek bibliography, he kept Jellinek’s tradition alive with articles such as Who Remembers Jellinek? – and perpetuated myths about Bunky, debunked (pun intended) in the Jellinek panel at the 2014 SALIS conference in New Brunswick, NJ. See more in the special issue of the Center of Alcohol Studies Information Services Newsletter (Special Issue 1: SALIS ’14)
Keller himself was the recipient of the Jellinek Award in 1977, which came with the “Bunky,” a bust of E. M. Jellinek, on display in the Conference Room at the Center.
Reviewing books
As an editor and CAAAL steward, Keller was in a unique position for decades: virtually every book and publication in the field passed through his desk. In addition to writing brief CAAAL abstracts and teasers for the digests, Keller published at least 151 book reviews, 149 of them in QJSA/JSA, a fact that we discovered after hand-searching for his reviews. The sheer number points out that reviewing is an integral part of one’s scholarly activity. As an editor Keller was aware that the larger alcohol studies benefits from amplifying, interpreting, and evaluating the work of specialists.
Academic and public speaking
An ongoing (and rather daunting) investigation is rounding up Keller’s lectures, seminars, keynotes, conference presentations, speeches, panel talks, dinner and lunchtime invitations. Keller was a very popular speaker who was often invited by anyone from small, local groups, such as a Hillel, to large, international organizations all over the world. His international reach includes countries visited to lecture such as Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, Switzerland, Hungary, Israel, Japan, and more. Many of these presentations were published in conference proceedings and books, but a recently discovered, unpublished manuscript called Alcohol . . . Because: Mark Keller’s Unpublished Conference Presentations gives a better idea of Keller’s depth of knowledge, witty style, and outstanding presentation skills.
Leaving behind pictures from the early days
Apart from grainy newsletter and book illustrations, there are not too many photos from the early years of alcohol studies, let alone color pictures. This is why the album Photos: Mark Keller’s Recognition Dinner from 1977 is extremely important: it contains pictures of many who were or had become celebrities in the field.
For example, Treasure of the Month: A Picture of Keller, the Bunky, and Bunky’s Daughter post shows an unforgettable moment, as Keller is showing the Bunky to Jellinek’s daughter, Ruth Surrey Jellinek in color.
Stay tuned for the updated Mark Keller Bibliography, which currently has 370 items: 336 original publications and 34 republished items. Based on a bibliography of 132 items compiled by previous librarians, the updated version includes 237 additional original publications and republished texts (often in other languages) discovered during the Keller research (2015 to date).
Originally written for SALIS News, published in Volume 44, No. 2, this updated version was expanded with further links and bibliographic notes.