The interdisciplinary Study of Information

Abstract

To mark the 75th anniversary of ASIS&T this panel addresses the nature and recent history of the field of information science. It uses as a springboard The Study of Information: Interdisciplinary Messages, a collection of writings edited by economist Fritz Machlup and Una Mansfield (1983). More than a quarter of a century ago, The Study of Information (for short) presented the mandates of nine research specialties centered on information, namely: cognitive science, informatics, artificial intelligence, linguistics, library and information science, cybernetics, information theory, and systems theory. By illuminating the concerns, similarities, and differences of these related domains the book established one of the first and most lucid geographies of information as an interdisciplinary academic enterprise. In its day, reviewers described The Study of Information as "a quite remarkable overview" (Hayes, 1985), "an extraordinary volume" (Barnes, 1985), and "an historically significant book" (Harmon, 1987). Against this backdrop our panel reflects upon the intervening years and asks: How has the "interdisciplinary" study of information changed? To begin, Jenna Hartel will introduce The Study of Information: Interdisciplinary Messages (Machlup & Mansfield, 1983) and in a succinct manner outline its structure, content, and interdisciplinary thesis. Next, as the keynote of the session, Steve Fuller, an internationally renowned public intellectual and sociologist of science, will consider the text in terms of what it means to study information today, especially given the increased centrality of information to both personal and public life and the rise of the iSchool movement. Specifically, he will examine these trends in relation to two foundational works from his field that mark their anniversary this year: Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (50th) and Bruno Latour's Science in Action (25th). Laurie Bonnici, lead author of a forthcoming book on the panel's topic, will report findings from a study of the disciplinary structures of library and information science and the iSchool movement utilizing Abbott's (2001) Chaos of Disciplines. Discussion will center upon the internal and external factors that contributed to the disciplinary evolution of the iSchools. Then, Rick Szostak, Professor of Economics and Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Alberta, and the author of several articles in information science, will explore how information science can best serve the needs of interdisciplinary scholarship. Drawing on the presentations of other panelists, he will explore recent developments in both information science and the scholarship of interdisciplinarity. Each presentation will be timed to keep the agenda on schedule. Upon completion of the formal talks there will be a conversation with the audience, hosted by Steve Fuller.