Provides a critical analysis of the development and deployment of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), focusing on discourse surrounding creation of the system's "information" category. Suggests that it functions to position information as a major sector of the economy and to organize data about information as a…

Investigates the relationship between information and economics through an analysis of representational literature on the value of information in both disciplines. The analysis reveals patterns of conceptualization shaped by the differing paradigms, and identifies four perspectives, including commodity, utility, and two forms of message.…

Presents the concept of the average decision maker as a statistical entity with 10 essential properties, and defines the information state in terms of the decision maker's probability of choice of various courses of action. The implications for a generalized theory of information science are suggested. (33 references) (EAM)

Describes informetric distributions as a family of regularities found to describe a wide range of phenomena both within and outside of the information sciences. Highlights include Bradford's Law of Scattering; Leimkuhler Variant; Lotka's Law; Zipf's Law; Pareto's Law; and a discussion of consequences for the social sciences. (22 references) (LRW)

Analyzes and discuses some aspects concerning the historical and social context of information science and information institutions. Highlights include views of Jose Ortega y Gasset; changing conceptions of the structure, foci, and content of the discipline; prewar and postwar paradigms; the physical paradigm; and the cognitive view. (Contains 27…

Considers the meanings of the terms document, documentation, information, information retrieval, and information science. Discusses the theoretical orientations of the discipline and how they are linked to epistemological assumptions, as well as the concept of memory institutions. (Contains 38 references.) (Author/LRW)

Describes stages of knowledge management and discusses how librarians can bridge the gap with the business world in order to attribute the needed skills to librarianship and information science. Topics include information technology; organizational culture and learning organizations; content management and taxonomies; and software selection. (LRW)

Examines the dynamics of shared responsibility for learning in the provision of graduate education for the library and information sector, as realized through a strategic collaboration between the State Library of New South Wales and the University of Technology, Sydney. Discusses professional information work and virtual libraries. (Author/LRW)

Studies of the problem of the professional training of future specialists have explored the essence, content, and structure of professionally oriented technologies of instruction. The most important characteristics of such technologies are: successfulness; economy (the amount of material that is effectively learned in a unit of time); ergonomic…

The situation of digital libraries teaching and learning in Spain up to 2008 is examined. A detailed analysis of the different curricula and subjects is provided both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Digital libraries have been mostly a postgraduate topic in Spain, but they should become mainstream, with special subjects devoted to them,…

A recent American Library Association (ALA) report has shown that less than 1% of credentialed librarians are African American males. This article discusses possible reasons for this dearth; and, in an effort to inform future LIS recruiting and marketing campaigns, the included study attempted to discover which factors lead African American males…

The purpose of this study was to explore and investigate the ways faculty at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign use Networked Information Sources and Services to support their research task. Library and Information Sciences faculty at the University of Illinois were chosen as…

This paper describes a controlled experiment concerning the use of a learning aid during an open and distance learning (ODL) course. The core issue of investigation is whether this instructional aid can support, guide, and scaffold the distant student in his/her study. For this purpose, a controlled experiment was conducted with the participation…

Discusses the nature of information and considers objective versus subjective views of information; examines concepts dealing with information practice, including access to and use of information; and discusses impacts on the education of information professionals based on a course offered at the University of Technology (Australia). (Contains 13…

The first of two articles discusses the place of information science and its expanding definition within the curricula of schools of library and information studies. The second article describes the history of foreign students in U.S. library and information science schools, their current role, and the major problems they face. (51 references)…