Lois Mai Chan


Lois Mai Chan was a Taiwanese-American library scientist, author, and professor at the University of Kentucky School of Library and Information Science until 2011. Her publications on cataloging, library classification, and subject indexing were recognized with various awards.

Early life and education

Chan was born in Taiwan on July 30, 1934. Her parents were Mai Wuzhi and Tuen-Mok Sau-Ng.
After high school, Chan graduated from National Taiwan University with a B.A. in English. She then moved to the United States and earned an M.A. from Florida State University and her Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Kentucky.

Career

In 1966, Chan began her library career as a serials cataloger at the University of Kentucky. By 1980, Chan was a professor in the library sciences department at University of Kentucky. Chan began publishing books in the late 1970s, beginning with Library of Congress Subject Headings: Principles and Application, a text on the Library of Congress system of subject headings. She followed with texts on library cataloging, the LC classification scheme, and the Dewey Decimal Classification.
Chan received the American Library Association Margaret Mann Citation for her contributions to the library science profession.

Awards

Personal life

Chan was married to Shung-Kai Chan. They had two children, Jennifer and Stephen.
On August 20, 2014, Chan died in Kentucky. She was 80 years old.