Library and information science and the philosophy of science


Book Description

This e-book is concerned with metatheories in Library and Information Science (LIS) and especially with the philosophy of science of LIS. Metatheories are theories about the description, investigation, analysis or criticism of the theories in a domain.




Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science


Book Description

"The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science provides an outstanding resource in 33 published volumes with 2 helpful indexes. This thorough reference set--written by 1300 eminent, international experts--offers librarians, information/computer scientists, bibliographers, documentalists, systems analysts, and students, convenient access to the techniques and tools of both library and information science. Impeccably researched, cross referenced, alphabetized by subject, and generously illustrated, the The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science provides an outstanding resource in 33 published volumes with 2 helpful indexes."




Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences


Book Description

The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences, comprising of seven volumes, now in its fourth edition, compiles the contributions of major researchers and practitioners and explores the cultural institutions of more than 30 countries. This major reference presents over 550 entries extensively reviewed for accuracy in seven print volumes or online. The new fourth edition, which includes 55 new entires and 60 revised entries, continues to reflect the growing convergence among the disciplines that influence information and the cultural record, with coverage of the latest topics as well as classic articles of historical and theoretical importance.




Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, Second Edition -


Book Description

A revitalized version of the popular classic, the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, Second Edition targets new and dynamic movements in the distribution, acquisition, and development of print and online media-compiling articles from more than 450 information specialists on topics including program planning in the digital era, recruitment, information management, advances in digital technology and encoding, intellectual property, and hardware, software, database selection and design, competitive intelligence, electronic records preservation, decision support systems, ethical issues in information, online library instruction, telecommuting, and digital library projects.




World Guide to Library, Archive and Information Science Education


Book Description

This directory lists education institutions world-wide where professional education and training programmes in the field of library, archive and information science are carried out at a tertiary level of education or higher. More than ten years after the publication of the last edition, this up-to-date reference source includes more than 900 universities and other institutions, and more than 1.500 relevant programmes. Entries provide contact information as well as details such as statistical information, tuition fees, admission requirements, programmes' contents.




Information Science as an Interscience


Book Description

Science is first and foremost an intellectual activity, an activity of thought. Therefore, how do we, as information scientists, respond intellectually to what is happening in the world of information and knowledge development, given the context of new sociocultural and knowledge landscapes? Information Science as an Interscience poses many challenges both to information science, philosophy and to information practice, and only when information science is understood as an interscience that operates in a multifaceted way, will it be able to comply with these challenges. In the fulfilment of this task it needs to be accompanied by a philosophical approach that will take it beyond the merely critical and linear approach to scientific work. For this reason a critical philosophical approach is proposed that will be characterised by multiple styles of thinking and organised by a compositional inspiration. This initiative is carried by the conviction that information science will hereby be enabled to make contributions to significant knowledge inventions that may bring about a better world. Chapters focus on the rethinking of human thinking, our unique ability that enables us to cope with the world in which we live, in terms of the unique science with which we are involved. Subsequent chapters explore different approaches to the establishment of a new scientific spirit, the demands these developments pose for human thinking, for questions of method and the implications for information science regarding its proposed functioning as a nomad science in the context of information practice and information work. Final chapters highlight the proposed responsibility of focusing on information and inventiveness and new styles of information and knowledge work. - focuses on rethinking information science to achieve a constructive scientific approach - provides an alternative methodological approach in the study of information science - shows how a change in scientific approach will have vast implications for the understanding and dissemination of knowledge - presents the implications of a new approach for knowledge workers, and the dynamics of their work - explores the future of thinking about science, knowledge and its nature and the ethical implications




Libraries, Literatures, and Archives


Book Description

Not only does the library have a long and complex history and politics, but it has an ambivalent presence in Western culture – both a site of positive knowledge and a site of error, confusion, and loss. Nevertheless, in literary studies and in the humanities, including book history, the figure of the library remains in many senses under-researched. This collection brings together established and up-and-coming researchers from a number of practices – literary and cultural studies, gender studies, book history, philosophy, visual culture, and contemporary art –with an effective historical sweep ranging from the time of Sumer to the present day. In the context of the rise of archive studies, this book attends specifically and meta-critically to the figure of the library as a particular archival form, considering the traits that constitute (or fail to constitute) the library as institution or idea, and questions its relations to other accumulative modes, such as the archive in its traditional sense, the museum, or the filmic or digital archive. Across their diversity, and in addition to their international standard of research and writing, each chapter is unified by commitment to analyzing the complex cultural politics of the library form.







Handbook of Research on Connecting Research Methods for Information Science Research


Book Description

In today’s globalized world, viable and reliable research is fundamental for the development of information. Innovative methods of research have begun to shed light on notable issues and concerns that affect the advancement of knowledge within information science. Building on previous literature and exploring these new research techniques are necessary to understand the future of information and knowledge. The Handbook of Research on Connecting Research Methods for Information Science Research is a collection of innovative research on the methods and application of study methods within library and information science. While highlighting topics including data management, philosophical foundations, and quantitative methodology, this book is ideally designed for librarians, information science professionals, policymakers, advanced-level students, researchers, and academicians seeking current research on transformative methods of research within information science.




Theory Development in the Information Sciences


Book Description

Emerging as a discipline in the first half of the twentieth century, the information sciences study how people, groups, organizations, and governments create, share, disseminate, manage, search, access, evaluate, and protect information, as well as how different technologies and policies can facilitate and constrain these activities. Given the broad span of the information sciences, it is perhaps not surprising that there is no consensus regarding its underlying theory—the purposes of it, the types of it, or how one goes about developing new theories to talk about new research questions. Diane H. Sonnenwald and the contributors to this volume seek to shed light on these issues by sharing reflections on the theory-development process. These reflections are not meant to revolve around data collection and analysis; rather, they focus on the struggles, challenges, successes, and excitement of developing theories. The particular theories that the contributors explore in their essays range widely, from theories of literacy and reading to theories of design and digital search. Several chapters engage with theories of the behavior of individuals and groups; some deal with processes of evaluation; others reflect on questions of design; and the rest treat cultural and scientific heritage. The ultimate goal, Sonnenwald writes in her introduction, is to “encourage, inspire, and assist individuals striving to develop and/or teach theory development.”