LIS 600: Foundations of Library and Information Science

Week Three

Kevin Rioux, PhD

Division of Library and Information Science

Part 1

The Basics

Defining “Information Science”: Taylor

• …the science that investigates the properties and behavior of information, the forces governing the flow of information, and the means of processing information for optimum accessibility and usability. The processes include the origination, dissemination, collection, organization, storage, retrieval, interpretation, and use of information. The filed is derived from or related to mathematics, logic, linguistics, psychology, computer technology, operations research, the graphic arts, communications, library science, management, and some other fields (Taylor, 1966).

“De-institutionalized library science”

• Rubin notes that information science has been characterized as “de-institutionalized library science.”

• This view holds the entire world as the “collection”

• All humans’ information needs are the object of the practice of the information scientist

Rubin’s Framework:

• Libraries are but one part of a larger information infrastructure that is enormously complex and varied.

Information Science vs. Library Science (not necessarily a dichotomy)

• Information Science

– Broader than library science

– Deals with entire information cycle--creation to use

– Overtly borrows from the social sciences, e.g.:

• Psychology

• Communication

• Sociology

• Library Science

– Focus is on providing access and knowledge organization issues

– Deals mostly with InBEs

– Is institutionally focused

– Overtly identifies as a mature service profession

Goals of information science and their relationship with librarianship

• The development of theory that helps guide all information systems—this is concurrent with librarianship’s goals and values of access and usability.

• Maintain an academic discipline with academe, which buttresses librarianship training programs in universities, which emphasize research

Research Emphases in Information Science

• Information seeking behavior

• Information needs of service populations

• Impact of information technologies on human information behavior and society

• Policy issues

Emergence of user-centered research (and subsequent practice)

• Systems View

– Focus on collection

– Focus on institution

– More passive approach

• User-Centered View

– Focus on user needs

– A more global view of information

– A more active approach based on the user

History of Information Science

• Heavily influenced by “library science” = the “science-ified” form of librarianship that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

– Examples of early library “science”: classification schemes, collecting circulation statistics

– Librarians were doing “science” for a long time before the term was coined

History of Information Science, cont’d.

• Emerged as an articulated discipline as new information formats were developed (e.g., microfilm, scientific reports, etc.) to join books in the information sphere.

– Started to think beyond books

• VERY BIG CONCEPTUAL LEAP AT THE TIME

• Emphasis on the information, not the format

• Information technologies became a focus after WWII

• Sputnik boosted government support

Paul Otlet

• Paul Otlet born in Brussels, Belgium,• in 1868. His monumental book Traité de documentation. (Brussels, 1934) was both central and symbolic in the development of information science - then called

"Documentation" - in the first half of the 20th century. • Paul Otlet was the most central figure in the development of

Documentation. • He struggled tirelessly for decades with the central technical, theoretical,

and organizational aspects of a problem central to society: How to make recorded knowledge available to those who need it.

• He thought deeply and wrote endlessly as he designed, developed, and initiated ambitious solutions at his Institute in Brussels.

• Emphases: universal organization and access, idealistic internationalism

Source: Michael Buckland homepage. University of California, Berkeley

Other early information scientists

• Martin Schrettinger, Munich: practical classification and “library science”

• Melvil Dewey, New York: scientific management, efficiency, modularity

• Wilhelm Ostwald, Leipzig: hypertext world brain, paper sizes• Emmanuel Goldberg, Dresden: automated search & retrieval• Watson Davis, USA: Microfilm, American Documentation Institute

(ASIS&T)• Suzanne Briet, Paris: “antelope”--scope and nature of

documentation• Vannevar Bush: USA, “As We May Think”, MEMEX hypertext

system

Other early information scientists, cont’d.

• Shannon-Weaver Model--circuit of communication. Source: Mick Underwood

Part 2

•Nature of Information Science

•Areas of Inquiry for Information Science

Interaction with information: A dynamic process

• Personal—idiosyncratic

– Zipf’s Principal of Least Effort (easy access vs. quality)

• Dynamic—contructivist

– Kuhlthau (1991) – Information Search Process

• Affective--emotions are a component

• Social--social beings who learn as a group and share information

• Cognitive--internal mental processes

Information Needs

• Need is widely defined

• Specialized groups

– Diabetics

– Children

– Scientists, Attorneys, Physicians, Teachers, etc.

– Business

– Consumers

– General public

Information Seeking, Information Gathering, Information Acquisition

• Seeking: looking for relevant information to satisfy a current or immediate need

• Information gathering: looking for information for a deferred need, e.g., browsing

• Acquisition: a broader term that includes unintentional “bumping into” information as we move through the information space, e.g., “information encountering” (Erdelez, 1997), “information acquiring-and-sharing” (Rioux, 2004).

Contextual Information Acquisition

• Also known as a “problem environment”

• Problem environment is based on needs

• Assumes that that people don’t often seek information just for the sake of the process

• This notion is somewhat in opposition to the traditional restrictiveness in reference interviews

Social aspects of information acquisition

• Mostly rely on our own memory

• When that fails we prefer to ask people we know for information

– May not be best: “Theory of Weak Ties”--Granovetter• Librarians as information sources occupy little top of mind awareness

for most people.

– How can we change this?• Interest groups’ agendas for libraries

• Perceptions of the library across all social groups

– Often perceived as elitist institutions. How can we change this?

Information storage and retrieval

• Evaluating the relevancy of the information retrieved

• Retrieval models (e.g., Boolean terms)

• Database and file structures

• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

• Natural language processing

• Artificial intelligence

Easy Access is Key

• Physically easy to get the information

• Cost factor--has to be worth it in terms of time, money, effort

• Policy and laws affect access

What is “information”?

• Data--building block of information

• Information--data with meaning attached to it

• Knowledge--applied information

• Wisdom-- ??

• Cognitive authority--recognized authorities for discerning what’s what in various disciplines

Information value and adding value

• Value of information has always been a question for us. Today, our “information economy” is very interested in this issue.

– Commodification of information

• Implications for Fair Use• Entertainment is a gigantic industry in the US

• Minimizing the cost of acquiring information

• Adding Value

– Additional services or analysis or formatting or reports or delivery mechanisms, etc.

– Important for all information professionals, especially those who can be described as special librarians

Bibliometrics and Citation Analysis

• Two of the few research methods developed within the LIS discipline

• Bibliometrics--collects statistics on how resources are used

– Who, when, how, where

• Citation analysis--observes how authors’ ideas are spread

Emergent areas of inquiry:

• Information Architecture

• Knowledge Management

• Usability Engineering

• Competitive Intelligence