Analysis of the interdisciplinary nature of library and information science

Abstract

Library and information science (LIS) is highly interdisciplinary by nature and is affected by the incessant evolution of technologies. A recent study surveying research trends in the years 2002—6 at various information science departments worldwide has found that a clear trend was identified in Masters theses and doctoral dissertations of social aspects of information moving into the spotlight. The study found that only a third of the research that was tagged on the ProQuest Digital Dissertations database under either or both ‘Library Science’ and ‘Information Science’ was actually conducted at LIS departments. The current study aims to examine the remaining two thirds of these papers, conducted in non-LIS departments. This will contribute toward our understanding of the field and its future development. The research findings indicate that there is a relatively clear division of research topics between the studies conducted in various information studies departments and those conducted in other departments that study information. The main difference found is the opposite foci of LIS and non-LIS studies. While LIS scholars focus on the information user, other fields, headed by business administration, computer science, education and communication, focus on the system, on information technology, the information industry and the management of information.

Academic genealogy as an indicator of interdisciplinarity: An examination of dissertation networks in Library and Information Science

“…Baradol and Kumbar (1998) and Prebor (2010) both cited LIS as interdisciplinary "by nature" (p. 256), and Saracevic (1999) called interdisciplinarity in information science "predetermined" (p. 1059). Other scholars have cited the long history and tradition of multi-and interdisciplinarity in the field (Gunawardena et al, 2010;Weech & Pluzhenskaia, 2005).…”

“…Other document-based metrics have included using keywords and concepts in review articles (Baradol & Kumbar, 1998), citation patterns is LIS dissertations (LaBorle & Halperin, 1976;Sugimoto, 2011b), and designation of theses into ProQuest categories (Prebor, 2010).…”

Investigación sobre Bibliotecología, Ciencia de la Información, e Inteligencia Empresarial, a través de las presentaciones a los congresos INFO e IntEmpres: un análisis bibliométrico (2002-2012)

“…Estas áreas de la GIyC han sido igualmente visibles en la composición temática de la BCI según otros resultados (ej. : Prebor, 2010;Aharony, 2011;Larivière y otros, 2012).…”

Conceitos de informação e texto nas abordagens do ponto de vista cognitivo na ciência da informação e do processamento da informação na psicologia cognitiva – uma visão interdisciplinar

“…Ela tem sido defendida desde os primeiros anos do desenvolvimento dessa ciência até correntemente (BORKO, 1968;HOLLAND, 2008;INGWERSEN, 2002;PREBOR, 2010;SARACEVIC, 1995;1996;TANG, 2004). A Figura 1enfatiza o caráter interdisciplinar dessa ciência, ao mesmo tempo em que destaca disciplinas com ela associadas.…”