The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to information science:

Information science – interdisciplinary field primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information.[1] Practitioners within the field study the application and usage of knowledge in organizations, along with the interaction between people, organizations and any existing information systems, with the aim of creating, replacing, improving or understanding information systems.

What type of thing is information science?

Information science can be described as all of the following:

Sub-disciplines of information science

Contributing fields

As an interdisciplinary field, information science draws upon and incorporates concepts and methodologies from:

History of information science

Research methods of information science

  • Archival research – facts or factual evidences from a variety of records are compiled.
  • Computational complexity and structure – algorithmic and graphic methods are used to explore the complexity of information systems, retrieval and storage.
  • Content analysis – studies how people communicate by analyzing the contents of books and mass media as well as the messages people talk or write about.
  • Case study – specific set of circumstances or a group (the 'case') is analyzed according to a specific goal of study. Generally, case studies are used to characterize a trend or development; they have weak generalizability.
  • Discourse analysis – analyzing written, oral, and sign language use
  • Historical method – involves a continuous and systematic search for the information and knowledge about past events related to the life of a person, a group, society, or the world.
  • Interviews – researchers obtain data by interviewing people. If the interview is non-structured, the researcher leaves it to the interviewee (also referred to as the respondent or the informant) to guide the conversation.
  • Life history – study of the personal life of a person. Through a series of interviews, the researcher can probe into the decisive moments in their life or the various influences on their life.
  • Longitudinal study – extensive examination of a specific group over a long period of time.
  • Observation – using data from the senses, one records information about a social phenomenon or behavior. Qualitative research relies heavily on observation, although it is in a highly disciplined form.
  • Participant observation – involves researchers going into the field (usually a community), living with the people for some time, and participating in their activities in order to know and feel their culture.

General information science concepts

There are many fields which claim to be "sciences" or "disciplines" which are difficult to distinguish from each other and from information science. Some of them are:

Information science organizations

Educational institutions

Information science awards

Information science publications

Information science journals

Persons influential in information science

See also

References

  1. ↑ Merriam-Webster and American Heritage Dictionary.
  2. ↑ Chu, Heting (2010). Information Representation and Retrieval in the Digital Age, Second Edition. Medford, NJ: Information Today
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