Library and Information Sciences
Some people use "Library and Information Science" (LIS) in the singular, other use it in the plural.
For example, by the announcement of the 3rd edition of Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences (ELIS), (Dekker Encyclopedias, Taylor and Francis Group) to be published 2007ff. the decision was made to change the title to the plural. The following argument was given:
"The encyclopedia title is now plural: The Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences. We have engaged in this small act of renaming in order to signal an important change in the content of the encyclopedia. We believe that the time has come to recognize the plurality of information sciences that are emerging today, and to produce an encyclopedia that reflects both the broad scope and interrelatedness of the several information disciplines that are now maturing. To that end, we are completely re-visioning the content and organization of the encyclopedia, developing parallel topical categorizations across the disciplines, and rigorously defining what is and is not to be included.
To further these objectives, we have set about to create an Editorial Advisory Board that draws from several fields . . . "
Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) has always used the plural form since the shift of the name of class 20 from Library Science to Library and Information Sciences in 18.edition, 1971 (and subsequently: 19th ed., 1979, 20th ed., 1989; 21st ed., 1996 and 22nd ed., 2003). Thus, ELIS cannot claim that the idea to use the plural is new, and whether the trend is increasingly interdisciplinary is an open question.
Tengström (1993 p. 12) emphases that cross-disciplinary research is a process, not a state or structure. He differentiates three levels of ambition regarding cross-disciplinary research:
The ”Pluridisciplinarity” or ”multidisciplinarity” level
The genuine cross-disciplinary level: ”interdisciplinarity”
The discipline-forming level ”trans disciplinarity”
What is described here is a view of social fields as dynamic and changing. Library and information science is viewed as a field that started as a multidisciplinary field based on literature, psychology, sociology, management, computer science etc., which is developing towards a discipline in its own right. If this was the case, the title of ELIS has developed in the wrong direction!
Concerning the disciplinary status of fields related to LIS, we may consider research related to the Internet. When is Internet research a part of LIS, and when is it a part of other disciplines? Some people suggest that it is becoming a new discipline itself! (C.f., Disciplinarity/interdisciplinarity: The example of Internet research).
Literature:
Tengström, E. (1993). Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskapen - ett fler- eller tvär-vetenskapligt område? Svensk Biblioteksforskning,(1), 9-20.
Birger Hjørland
Last edited: 13-06-2006