Digital Commons Network^™

Critical Theory, Libraries And Culture, Jenny Bossaller, Denice Adkins, Kim M. Thompson

Faculty Publications

There are disparate notions among people within the broad field of information and library science regarding exactly what comprises information science. One broad definition is provided by Tefko Saracevic: “Information science is a field of professional practice and scientific inquiry addressing the problem of effective communication of knowledge records – ʻliteratureʼ – among humans in the context of social, organizational, and individual need for and use of information” (1055- 1056). At its most basic, it seems that information science could be a neutral science if, indeed, it studies everything that is communicated, in any form. However, as noted in the …