Information science and information systems: Conjunct subjects disjunct disciplines

Abstract

The relationship between information science and information systems (IS) research is examined through analysis of the subject literature of each field and by citation and co‐citation analysis of highly cited researchers in each field. The subfields of user studies (US) and information retrieval (IR) research were selected to represent information science research as these subject areas are central to information science and seemed also to represent areas in which there was most overlap of interest or subject matter. The two forms of analysis revealed that although there seemed considerable overlap or potential for overlap in research subjects that there was almost none in relation to the disciplinary fields as assessed by the co‐citation analysis of the most highly cited authors in the three subject areas. An examination of the reasons for this is offered in relation to the nature of scientific disciplines, the socialization process of researchers in the different fields and with institutional pressures.

Visualizing and mapping the intellectual structure of information retrieval

“…In that sense, it supplements works by others who studied the literature of information retrieval (Ding et al, 2000(Ding et al, , 2009Ellis et al, 1999); the literature of library and information science (Chen et al, 2010;Cronin & Meho, 2007, 2008Donohue, 1972;Harter & Hooten, 1992;Harter et al, 1993;Persson, 1994;Rice, 1990;Tang, 2004;White, 2003;White & McCain, 1998;Åström, 2007, 2010 and its relationships with other disciplines (Borgman & Rice, 1992); the literature of other LIS subfields such as image indexing and retrieval (Chu, 2001) and human information behavior (McKechnie et al, 2005); and the literature of science in general (e.g., Small, 1999).…”

“…Although a number of studies have examined the literature of library and information science (e.g., Åström, 2007, 2010Chen, Ibekwe-SanJuan, & Hou, 2010;Cronin & Meho, 2007;Donohue, 1972;Harter & Hooten, 1992;Harter, Nisonger, & Weng, 1993;Persson, 1994;Rice, 1990;White & McCain, 1998;Zhao & Strotmann, 2008a, 2008b, the nature of the literature concerning information retrieval has not been so thoroughly investigated (Ding, Chowdhury, & Foo, 2000;Ding, Yan, Frazho, & Caverlee, 2009;Ellis, Allen, & Wilson, 1999). In this paper, our main goal is to visualize and map the intellectual and cognitive structures of the IR subfield.…”

Discipline Formation in Information Management: Case Study of Scientific and Technological Information Services

“…In the case of lack of dialogue, this has been characterized as an apparent disjunction between the research of information science and information systems For example, Ellis, Allen, and Wilson (1999) considered the subfields of user studies and information retrieval, which are of interest to both fields. Using citation analysis, they found almost no overlap in relation to the disciplinary fields of the most highly cited authors.…”

Information Systems in Organizations and Society: Speculating on the Next 25 Years of Research

“…5 Both the ICIS and IFIP 8.2 communities are weakly tied to information science‚ sociology‚ communications‚ medical informatics‚ and public administration disciplines-where studies of the effects of information systems and organizations are also conducted (e.g. ‚ Ellis et al 1999). This disconnect suggests that creation and maintenance of community identity‚ an important part of the last 25 year's effort by both the IFIP 8.2 and ICIS communities‚ may have come at the expense of connecting to likeinterested research communities.…”