Margaret Elizabeth Egan

Margaret Elizabeth Egan (March 14, 1905 – January 26, 1959) was an American librarian and communication scholar. She is primarily recognized for her significant contribution to library science through the article "Foundations of a Theory in Bibliography," published in 1952 in the *Library Quarterly*. Co-authored with Jesse Hauk Shera, this paper was groundbreaking as it introduced the term "social epistemology" in the context of library science. Egan earned a B.A. from the University of Cincinnati in 1939, followed by graduate studies at Yale University and the University of Chicago. Her professional career included roles at the Cincinnati Public Library (1933–1940) and later at the University of Chicago, where she served as a librarian at the Industrial Relations Center and began teaching in the Graduate Library School (GLS) in 1943. She was appointed an assistant professor in the GLS in 1946 and also served as an associate editor of the *Library Quarterly* from 1952 to 1955. In 1955, Egan moved to Western Reserve University to join Jesse Shera at the School of Library Science, working as a research associate at the Center for Documentation and Communication Research, and was promoted to associate professor in 1956. Her concept of social epistemology focused on the production, distribution, and utilization of intellectual products, viewing information seeking and use through a societal lens. Despite her critical role in developing this concept, Egan's contributions were sometimes overshadowed by Shera's subsequent work, leading to frequent omissions of her name in citations of their joint publication.