Knowledge map of information science

Abstract

This article is part of a group of four articles that resulted from a Critical Delphi study conducted in 2003-2005. The study, "Knowledge Map of Information Science," was aimed at exploring the foundations of information science. The international panel was composed of 57 leading scholars from 16 countries who represent nearly all the major subfields and important aspects of the field. This article presents a systematic and comprehensive knowledge map of the field, and is grounded on the panel discussions. The map has 10 basic categories: (1) Foundations, (2) Resources, (3) Knowledge Workers, (4) Contents, (5) Applications, (6) Operations and Processes, (7) Technologies, (8) Environments, (9) Organizations, and (10) Users. The model establishes the groundwork for formulating theories of information science, as well as developing and evaluating information science academic programs and bibliographic resources.