Epistemological Challenges for Information Science: Constructing Information

Abstract

All disciplines must sustain their claims to be part of the general academic and intellectual enquiry. There must be objects or processes to investigate, a set of problems, and distinctive stances, theories, and methods. Successful disciplines gain general acceptance and recognition. Information Science faces problems in attaining that status. First, many disciplines have their own technical understanding of, and definition of, information. Information Science must either generate a universal understanding of information, or produce a generic way of handling information. Second, Information Science has to develop distinctive ways of producing knowledge. This chapter shows how conventional approaches to these problems can be enhanced by a constructivist analysis of the role of Information Science in the academic community. The chapter examines claims that Information Science can make, how those claims can contribute to the development of other disciplines, and what problems must be faced to sustain those claims.