Addresses three issues of library science in the United States during the 20th century: (1) use of European documentation efforts; (2) the "information science versus library science" argument; and (3) technological innovation in librarianship. Also examines the role of technology in library science at the University of Chicago's…

Presents a compilation of definitions of information and other related terms including data, knowledge, impact, and development to organize and interrelate them. The goal is to provide members of the information science profession with a common basis for referring to key concepts. (Author/LRW)

Presents different aspects of library and information science (LIS) from a theoretical and philosophical perspective. Topics include attitudes toward LIS; knowledge production versus knowledge utilization; specialists versus generalists; institutional affiliations; technology-driven paradigms; theoretical models; related disciplines; and research…

Argues that the phrase "library science" is an oxymoron and that the term "librarianship" is correct. Suggests that library science and information science are now completely different fields. An information access model is proposed that can be used as a vehicle for unification and integration. (JMV)

Discussion of information as a process focuses on a conceptual exercise for calculating the information content of an information process. Topics include Bertram Brookes' fundamental equation; Claude Shannon's mathematical theory of communication; set of a priori alternatives; knowledge structures; and an example of an archaeologist's information…

Reviews six research literatures that consider access from different vantage points to identify common aspects of the concept "access to information." Highlights include conceptualizations of information itself; conceptualizations of the notion of access, including access to knowledge, technology, communication, and control;…

Presents a history of information science and examines research problems that confront information science historians. Concludes that information science researchers need to draw on a range of related historical studies such as the history of science and technology, printing and publishing, and information institutions such as libraries, archives,…

This analytical paper covers: (1) review of the terrain of information utilization; (2) posits/examines Bertram Brookes' fundamental equation of information science as a theoretical framework, and discuss our understanding of/research into, the cognitive aspects of information utilization, and (3) discusses methodological aspects for investigating…

Describes an investigation that was conducted to show the feasibility of spectral methods in information science, particularly for analyzing academic library circulation data. Signal analysis methods were used to detect periodicity, and spectral methods show promise for analyzing time series and other signals in information science. (Author/LRW)

Summarizes and extends the review of fundamental conceptualizations of access to information in six research literatures developed in Part I. Highlights include implications of conceptualizations of access to information; implications of influences and constraints on access, including physical, cognitive, affective, economic, social, and…

This study maps the intellectual structure of the field of Information Retrieval (IR) during the period of 1987-1997. Co-word analysis was employed to reveal patterns and trends in the IR field by measuring the association strengths of terms representative of relevant publications or other texts produced in IR. Results show that the IR field has…

Explores the implications of articulating the bridges that are built, usually implicitly, between metatheory and method, and between these and their ultimate interests, the doing of research; the purpose is to articulate the uses of methodology. Suggests that there is lacking a vocabulary for talking about methodology which attends to the…

Discourse analysis addresses questions regarding both spoken and written communications and can be applied to purposes and practices of information study that appear in books and journals in the field. Applications of discourse analysis to information include investigation of the social, political, and technical implications of the word…

Discusses the differences between objectified and interpretive approaches to context. Suggests that in information needs and seeking research (INS), the former approach has been more common. One way of understanding INS phenomena is to define them as patterns of behavior; another way is to understand them as phenomena mediated by social and…

Reports the results of a non-randomized study of 45 history Ph.D. students in England and discusses the results in terms of the theory of knowledge structure and the modification of knowledge structure due to information. Topics include information as process; a model of stages of the information process; and grounded theory. (Author/LRW)