Originally published as "Library and information science and the philosophy of science", Journal of Documentation Volume 61 Number 1, 2005
ISBN: 1 84544 090 0
Guest edited by: Professor Birger Hjørland, Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark.
This Special Issue is concerned with metatheories in Library and Information Science (LIS) and especially with the philosophy of science of LIS.
Metatheories are theories about the description, investigation, analysis or criticism of the theories in a domain. They are mostly internal to a domain, and may also be termed “paradigms”, “traditions” or “schools”. This issue is termed “Library and Information Science and the Philosophy of Science” to indicate that the emphasis is on basic approaches developed and generally well known outside of LIS (such as critical realism, empiricism, hermeneutics and pragmatism). Here these general views are interpreted and investigated within the context of LIS. Such approaches deal with how knowledge is understood and acquired and are important in discourses of the foundations of any domain.
Contents:
Critical realism as a philosophy and social theory in information science?
The philosophical position known as critical realism is briefly introduced, and some of its central features are used to connect the philosophy and the realist social theory to some current library and information science (LIS) models of information behaviour.
Pragmatism, neo-pragmatism and sociocultural theory: Communicative participation as a perspective in LIS
Brought together, a neo-pragmatist, sociocultural perspective contributes to a focus on people's actions through the use of linguistic and physical tools. As a tangible example of how neo-pragmatism can be applied as an epistemological tool within LIS, information seeking seen as communicative participation is discussed.
Phenomenology and information studies
This article presents a literature-based conceptual analysis of pioneering work in phenomenology (including that of Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Paul Ricoeur, and others), application of such ideas as intentionality and being in information studies work, and the potential for greater application of the information seeker as other.
Structuralism, post-structuralism, and the library: de Saussure and Foucault
This paper is a literature-based conceptual analysis of the two philosophical movements, structuralism and post-structuralism, as represented by the seminal figures of Ferdinand de Saussure and Michel Foucault.
“Isms” in information science: constructivism, collectivism and constructionism
This paper describes the basic premises of three metatheories that represent important or emerging perspectives on information seeking, retrieval and knowledge formation in information science: constructivism, collectivism, and constructionism.
Hermeneutics as a bridge between the modern and the postmodern in library and information science
The use of hermeneutics in LIS has increased during the last decade, as has the number of authors discussing its scientific value for LIS. In many studies the interpretative character of the objects of study seen as hermeneutic in itself. This is a misconception which draws the attention away from hermeneutics as a scientific point of departure and methodology used in the study of these processes.
On Grounded Theory – with some malice
Grounded Theory is called into question regarding problems with pre-understanding, with everyday knowledge, with disconnection of context, and with coding procedure. It is important to think twice before using Grounded Theory in spite of its promising features at the outset.
Empiricism, rationalism and positivism in library and information science
The purpose of this paper is to examine the importance and influence of the epistemologies: “empiricism”, “rationalism” and “positivism” in library and information science (LIS).
Comments on the articles and proposals for further work
The purpose of this afterword is to examine which questions have been illuminated in the present issue and which theoretical problems still need to be addressed.
About the Journal of Documentation
This highly regarded journal, with its long and distinguished history, provides a forum for the dissemination of scholarly articles, research reports and critical reviews in the information sciences. It provides a link between research and scholarship and reflective professional practice so that both are informed and enhanced. The journal regularly achieves the highest citation rating in ISI for comparable titles.
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