Information Science: The Territory and Relations to Computing ...

Information Science: The Territory and Relations to Computing Disciplines Bing Wang StarNet, L.L.P, U.S.A E-mail: [email protected]

〦⼫⥱ņKeywordsŇŘInformation Science; Library and Information Science; Computer Science; Information Systems; Information Technology; Disciplinary Relationship

μAbstractν The nature of information science (IS) as a discipline has been a matter of dispute almost since the day it was created. What is less controversial is the interdisciplinary nature of the IS field, which has close relationships with such fields as librarianship/library science, computing disciplines, communication, and cognitive science. Since 1990s, with the rapid development and widespread application of computing and information technologies, especially the Internet and WWW, the nature, territory and education of the IS field has been constantly changing, and is increasingly tied to Internet-based technologies and connected to knowledge management and data mining. The relationships between IS and computing disciplines are becoming more complicated than ever. In this paper the similarities and differences between IS, computer science, information systems, and information technology field are examined in terms of their definitions, major research topics, primary foci, practice areas for

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Journal of Library and Information Science

professionals, and educations. The purpose of this paper is to provide some insights into the essence and roles of IS in contemporary academic community.

INTRODUCTION Though problems relating to information and information processing have existed for any society in any historical period, information science! (IS)! as a discipline is essentially a creation of the second half of the 20th century. In his sensational article “As We May Think”, Vannevar Bush imagined a machine called Memex, whose capabilities would make possible the association of ideas and duplication of mental processes artificially (Bush, 1945). Saracevic argued that the idea behind Memex is a prescient anticipation of IS and artificial intelligence (Saracevic, 1999). A thorough overview on Bush and his Memex by Houston & Harmon (2007) revealed that Bush’s voice has been widely heard and echoed in many fields including computer science. Microsoft computer scientist Jim Gray, a Turing Award winner, mentioned in his address a personal and world Memex as long-term goals for his database area and computer science in general (Gray, 2003). It is interesting to note

35ņ1ŇΚ4 – 22ΰApril, 2009α

that the IS and computer science to some extent share

Internet-based

the same knowledge root and idea source.

knowledge management and data mining. As a result

Since its birth, the nature, definition and knowledge domain of IS has been a matter of dispute. Researchers

technologies

and

connected

to

the boundary between IS and related fields, especially the computing disciplines, has further blurred.

like Kochen (1983) and Saracevic (1999) clearly felt

The relationships between IS and library science,

the pain of many and they argued that it is fruitless to

communication studies, and cognitive science have

engage in semantic disputes over the ‘proper’

been extensively reviewed by some authors (e.g.,

definition of information science. There have been

Ingwersen, 1992; Vakkari, 1994; Saracevic, 1994,

numerous valiant IS definers and new definitions

1999). However, the relations of IS to computing

continue to appear even though they are often fiercely

disciplines has not been well discussed and understood

criticized and even denied. This is evidenced in the

in IS community. Rather sparse researches on this

recent review on a wide variety of IS definitions and

aspect include Saracevic’s cursory comparison on IS

knowledge boundary by Zins, where he summarized:

and computer science (1999), Croft’s (2003) historical

Apparently, there is not a uniform conception of information science. The field seems to follow different approaches and traditions: for example, objective approaches versus cognitive approaches, and the library tradition versus the documentation tradition

depiction of the evolving relationship between information retrieval and computer science, Ellis et al. (1999)’s and Sawyer et al. (2007)’s comparisons on the information science and information systems. This article attempts to systematically discuss the

versus the computation tradition. The concept has

disciplinary

different meanings, which imply different knowledge

science and three major fields of the general

domains (Zins, 2007a, p. 335).

computing

relationships disciplines

between

(i.e.,

information

computer

science,

Part of the difficulties in defining IS and delineating

information systems, and information technology as a

its territory stems from the ambiguousness and

field of study). Information science’s relation to each

misleading

“information”.

of them is examined carefully in terms of their

Information is interpreted radically differently in

commonly accepted definitions, major research topics,

different fields and contexts. Its infamous versatility

primary foci, practice areas for professionals, and

and vastness make it nearly impossible to fully define

educations. The purpose is not to provide a new or

the various aspects of information science in a simple

“better” definition for IS. Instead this paper aims at

and succinct statement. On the other hand, it is less

providing helpful information for delineating the

controversial

an

knowledge territory of IS, and deepening the

interdisciplinary field that has close relations to such

understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of IS.

areas as librarianship/library science, computing

Understanding the complex relationships between IS

disciplines, communication, and cognitive science and

and computing disciplines is more important than

others. It is this interdisciplinary nature that adds to the

ever because computing and information technologies

increasing

and

are reshaping the academic foundation and domain of

potentially causes more difficulties in defining IS.

IS. The exploration in this article is no doubt an

Since 1990s, with the rapid development and

important step on the road to better understanding the

widespread application of information technologies,

essence and roles of IS in contemporary academic

especially the Internet, WWW and search engines, the

community.

nature

that

of

in

complexities

the

term

nature

of

IS

the

IS

is

landscape,

term information science is increasingly tied to the

ߧሬ㈀ણ⎞⫏⤻Ấણ 35ņ1Ň Ř4 – 22ņᖁʪ֓Ҝ౺߈ሶŇ 5

It is worth noting that computing disciplines include

of

information,

and

the

means

of

processing

software engineering and computer engineering as well,

information for optimum accessibility and usability. It

but these are not closely related to IS in the author’s

is concerned with that body of knowledge relating to

viewpoint:

primarily

the origination, collection, organization, storage,

concerned with the design and construction of

retrieval, interpretation, transmission, transformation,

computers and computer-based systems. Since it

and utilization of information. It has both a pure

primarily involves the study of hardware and related

science component, which inquires into the subject

low-level

the

without regard to its application, and an applied

interactions among them, the relationship between IS

science component, which develops services and

and computer engineering is arguably distant. Software

products.”(Borko, 1968, p. 3). As one of the most

engineering as a discipline primarily focuses on

frequently referred definitions, this definition receives

developing systematic models and reliable techniques

widespread assent and has had enormous impacts on

for producing high-quality software on time and within

the ensuing researches and experiments in IS field. As

budget. Although software engineering models and

Bates commented “[Borko’s] definition has been quite

methodologies are extensively used in information

stable and unvarying over at least the last 30 years”

storage and retrieval system construction and digital

(Bates, 1999, p. 1044), this influential IS definition

libraries developments, as two separate fields, IS and

could cover the major IS areas of research and

software engineering are not very closely related.

practices, given its broadness.

computer

software,

engineering

is

communications,

and

INFORMATION SCIENCE: DEFINITIONS and TERRITORIES Information is an ambiguous concept and there is no uniformly accepted definition. It can be viewed as a) a

Since 1990s, peoples’ interests in defining the IS to some extent seemed to have waned. In 2001 Hawkins drafted a “working definition” of IS to serve as the coverage statement for the Information Science Abstracts (ISA):

quality of message that a sender sends to one or more

Information science is an interdisciplinary field

receivers, b) any represented pattern, any type of

concerned with the theoretical and practical concepts,

pattern that influences the formation or transformation

as well as the technologies, laws, and industry dealing

of other patterns, c) a type of input to an organism or

with knowledge transfer and the sources, generation,

designed device, d) a property in physics or a measure

organization, representation, processing, distribution,

of physical organization, e) a form of control and

communication, and uses of information, as well as

feedback, f) the content of a cognitive state, g) records

communications among users and their behavior as

or documents, h) the change of some sort of

they seek to satisfy their information needs (Dawkins,

knowledge structure, or i) simply that which reduces

2001, p. 49).

uncertainty. Some of the above understandings are certainly familiar to IS community. It is this huge difference in interpreting ‘information’ that causes differing definitions for IS and differing perspectives on research problems and methods.

This definition is the most comprehensive one we have seen from the literatures. It absorbs and integrates many useful elements from previous definitions, such as the systems and processes, users and their needs. Compared

to

some

older

documentation-centric

About forty years ago, Borko defined the IS as “a

definitions, this one reflects the progress of IS to

discipline that investigates the properties and behavior

welcome and accommodate new Internet dominated

of information, the forces that govern the flow and use

technologies. It also reflects the increasing complexity

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Journal of Library and Information Science

35ņ1ŇΚ4 – 22ΰApril, 2009α

of contemporary IS landscape, and the trend of focusing

on

the

interactions

between

people,

technology and information. In this article this definition forms the basis of understanding IS when comparing with computing disciplines. Another angle of understanding the nature of IS is to look at the major themes that IS has addressed over

7) Scientific communication (social system of science, communication in science and R&D) 8) OPACs

(design

9) Imported

ideas

identified five basic areas of concern for IS. In their

11) Citation theory

sub-disciplines or specialties of IS. Saracevic (1999) praised their achievement for providing a fairly accurate picture of problem areas in which information

cognitive

science,

13) Interaction studies 14) Internet searching 15) Multimedia IR

emphases and specialties within IS are not permanent

16) Multilanguage IR

areas that were emerged in 1990s should make into the

(e.g.

12) Communication theory

scientists work over past decades. Recognizing that and shift over time, Saracevic noted that some new

library

computer science, information theory) 10) Indexing theory

analysis, White and McCain (1998) identified 12

computerized

catalogs)

time. Both Belkin (1978) and Ingwerson (1992) outstanding quantitative study on IS author co-citations

of

17) Digital libraries

list of themes as well. The following is a consolidated

The first 12 items in above list come from White and

list of IS problem areas based on White and McCain

McCain and the last 5 from Saracevic. Obviously this

(1998) and Saracevic (1999):

is not an exhaustive list and there are some overlaps

1) Experimental retrieval (design and evaluation of document retrieval systems) 2) Citation

analysis

of

understand that in this list all three were listed in parallel. In addition, the relationship between citation

3) Practical retrieval (information retrieval in real

analysis and citation theory is not clear. They also identified the “communication theory” (#12) as a

world databases) 4) Bibliometrics (mathematically modeling certain regularities in textual or bibliographic statistical distributions)

specialty, can we just make it a part of the category “Imported ideas”? While one could raise many questions regarding the list, and it is possible to aggregate

5) General library system theory (library automation, operations

category bibliometrics (#4) contains citation analysis (#2) and citation theory (#11), but it is hard to

(interconnectedness

scientific and scholarly literature)

library

and issues as well. For instances, normally the bigger

research,

library

some

specialties

upward

into

larger

categories (e.g., combine all information retrieval

and

related specialties into one bigger name), there is no

information service policy, retrieval system

doubt that this list depicts the general problem areas

evaluation, and many other interconnected topics)

that IS has been addressing over the decades. Of

6) User theory (information needs and uses, question

formulation,

search

strategies,

information-seeking styles, relevance judgments, and the like)

course these problem areas remain in the IS research agenda in the new century. What are changing are the emphasis of research efforts and the shift of resources and interests among problem areas.

ߧሬ㈀ણ⎞⫏⤻Ấણ 35ņ1Ň Ř4 – 22ņᖁʪ֓Ҝ౺߈ሶŇ 7

Recently Dawkins et al. conducted a thorough

services;

customized

information

systems,

investigation on a new taxonomy for IS based on his

alerting, current awareness; document delivery

comprehensive IS definition (Dawkins et al., 2003).

systems and services; geographic information

Below is the excerpt of top level headings from his

systems.

taxonomy:

9) Subject-specific

1) Information science research: basic concepts, definitions,

theories,

methodologies,

and

applications; properties, needs, quality, and value of information; statistics, measurement; information retrieval research, including search process, searching techniques/models; user behavior,

uses

human-computer

of

information

interface;

systems;

communication;

operations research/mathematics; history of

natural

sources

sciences,

social

and

applications:

sciences

and

humanities. 10) Libraries

and

library

services:

library

descriptions and types, services, library automation, operations, strategic planning, library consortia and networks, digital and virtual libraries, hybrid libraries. 11) Government and legal information and issues: intellectual property protection; legislation,

information science, biographies. 2) Knowledge organization: thesauri, authority lists; cataloging and classification; abstracting, indexing, reviewing; standards and protocols. 3) Information profession: information professionals and their skills and competencies; organizations and society.

laws, and regulations; information policies and studies; systems and infrastructure. The comprehensiveness of this list is quite impressive. But that does not mean that it does not have any problems. One apparent issue is that the information technologies category attempts to cover too many topics that would legitimately appear in any

4) Society issues: information ethics, information

knowledge map of computing disciplines. Certainly

literacy, lifelong learning, and information society.

there are some common interests and overlapped topics

5) Information industry: information and knowledge management, markets and players, economics and pricing, marketing, and e-commerce.

secondary

publishing,

really capable of dealing with that many areas of information technologies, especially the software and hardware? It can be ascertained that the knowledge

6) Publishing and Distribution: print, e-journals, e-books,

between computing disciplines and IS. But, is the IS

scholarly

communication.

territory of IS is quickly enlarging and becoming more complicated due to the penetration and widespread use of computing and information technologies. As such,

7) Information technologies: Internet technologies

while some computer scientists and educators are

including WWW, search engine, intranets, Web

amazed to see the ambition of IS field, others go even

conferencing, software, hardware, multimedia,

further to claim that the IS is a newly found branch of

document management, AI, expert systems,

computer science.

intelligent agents, telecommunications, security, access control, authentication, and encryption and others.

8

INFORMATION SCIENCE vs. COMPUTER SCIENCE

8) Electronic information systems and services:

Both IS and computer science are essentially

information searching and retrieval systems and

creations of the second half of the 20th century. Like

Journal of Library and Information Science

35ņ1ŇΚ4 – 22ΰApril, 2009α

IS, computer science also takes as its long-term goals

their implementation and application in computer

the personal and world Memex envisioned by Bush.

systems (Computer Science.

In its development process, especially in 1970s, there

org/wiki/Computer_science).

was

considerable

controversy

about

whether

http://en.wikipedia.

Ɣ The discipline of computing is the systematic

computer science is a legitimate academic discipline.

study of algorithmic processes that describe and

Proponents assert that it is a legitimate discipline with

transform information: their theory, analysis,

its own identity, while critics dismiss it as a

design,

vocational specialty for technicians, a research

efficiency,

application.

platform for mathematicians, or a pseudo-discipline

The

implementation, fundamental

and

question

underlying all of computing is, “What can be

for computer programmers (ACM et al., 2005).

(efficiently) automated?” (Denning et al., 1989,

During the same period IS experienced a similar

p. 3).

ordeal with many people inside and outside this field denying its status of a true science. Webber

Purely viewed from the definitions, we can see the

documented in length the controversy over the status

differences immediately. Both fields are interested in

and identity of IS as a field (Webber, 2003). The

information phenomena but this similarity is nominal

debate continues today. On the contrary, by the 1990s,

and superficial. Computer science is concerned with

computer science had developed a considerable body

the

of research, knowledge, and innovation that spanned

transforming

the range from theory to practice; as a result the

understood by computer scientist is more about the

debate about its status waned and died eventually.

signal, symbol and message in Shannon’s sense. To IS,

Peter Denning, the past president of ACM, claimed

information is more about something (e.g. recorded

that “computer science meets every criterion for

knowledge) that involves human being. “Information

being a science” (Denning, 2005, p. 27).

as

In previous section we reviewed the conceptual definitions and knowledge territories of IS. Although debates exist, many tend to agree that IS field is primarily concerned with the collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information. There exist lots of computer science definitions in literatures as well. Below are some representative definitions:

algorithmic

methods

information.

process”,

“information

for

representing

The

as

information

knowledge”,

and as

and

“information as thing” are typical examples of how information is perceived in IS field (Buckland, 1991). It seems that computer scientists have little interests in defining or clarifying the information concept.

The

algorithm concept is quite well understood by computer scientists since Alan Turing and Alonzo Church, while the information concept is still lacking a complete understanding. Indeed this reflects the tradition of computer science since its birth: it

Ɣ Computer science is the study of computers and

predominantly focuses on the theoretical basis of

what they can do – the inherent powers and

computing

limitations of abstract computers, the design and

development of efficient data structures and algorithms.

characteristics

the

IS, on the other hand, has been largely interested in the

innumerable applications of computers to solving

human side of information, including the creation,

problems (Diaz-Herrera, 2005).

storage, retrieval, dissemination and use of information.

of

real

computers,

and

Ɣ Compute science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and

and

the

algorithms,

especially

the

The difference in primary concerns between these two is apparent.

ߧሬ㈀ણ⎞⫏⤻Ấણ 35ņ1Ň Ř4 – 22ņᖁʪ֓Ҝ౺߈ሶŇ 9

Table 1! Comparison on activities of IS professional and computer professional Ɣ Ɣ Ɣ Ɣ Ɣ Ɣ Ɣ Ɣ Ɣ

Activities of IS Professional Activities of Computer Professional Ɣ Designing and implementing software, including Preparing data and information for use by others. challenging programming jobs. Analyzing data and information on behalf of others. Ɣ Devising new ways to use computers, e.g., the Searching data and information on behalf of others. progress of such areas as networking, database, and Performing other operational information functions, human-computer interface enabled the development e.g., storing, ordering, etc. of the WWW. They also use computers to help Managing information operations, programs, services decipher human being’s DNA, or create more or databases. intelligent robots. Conducting system analysis. Ɣ Developing effective ways to solve computing Designing information systems. problems, for example, developing best possible ways Performing research and development related to to store information in databases, send data over information. networks, and display complex images. Educating and training information workers. Source:

Source: Adapted from Griffiths (2000)

We can also identify their differences by comparing

Adapted from ACM et al. (2005)

and software engineering methodologies. Zins put it

the work and activities of IS professionals and

correctly,

computer professionals. The above table 1 shows the

technological-based fields, such as computer science,

difference.

by focusing on the contribution of these technologies

As we can see from the table, computer scientists have extensive interests in a plethora of activities surrounding the design, implementation, and use of computing machinery. Their activities span a wide

“information

science

differs

from

to a better dissemination of knowledge” (Zins, 2007b, p. 531). To information professionals, computing technologies are the means but never the ends of their field.

range from research on its theoretical and algorithmic

From above comparison we can also find that IS

foundations to system infrastructure (e.g., operating

field emphasizes more on the data and information.

systems, communications) to exciting applications

This includes not only the database management, but

such as web browsers, databases, search engines,

also the storage and retrieval of data and information,

robotics, computer vision and graphics, intelligent

the seeking, needs and uses of information users for

systems, bioinformatics and others. Though they create

goal-directed action, the data quality, and the ability to

these possibilities and capabilities, they are normally

use technologies to derive meanings out of data and

neither concerned with the data and information

make sense of the information collected and processed.

contents, nor deal with the individual/organization/

Additionally, the social, cultural, economic, historic,

society contexts that make use of the information

legal and political contexts in which the information

enabled by computing. Information scientists or

systems are employed, and their impacts on individuals,

information professionals in general, on the other hand,

social groups and institutions, are also examined

rely heavily on computer and information technologies

carefully by information scientists. To some extent this

to perform their roles. Designing and developing

could explain why information scientists, among others,

software systems are not of primary concerns for

show their keen interests in such areas as data mining

information professionals, even though developing

and knowledge discovery when they emerged in 1990s.

large scale information storage and retrieval systems

With the rapid development of computing and

require good knowledge and skills in computer science

information technologies, the information professionals

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Journal of Library and Information Science

35ņ1ŇΚ4 – 22ΰApril, 2009α

today have owned and built more advanced tools such

IS itself has many unique areas that don’t overlap

as the software packages built to perform database

interests from computer science, such as information

operations, statistical analysis, search engines and

users and behavior, quantitative studies on recorded

information retrieval, information visualization for

knowledge (bibliometrics and informetrics) and their

decision support, and information modeling (Mitchell,

social contexts, communication between people and

2001). However their focus on the purposeful

literature, information policy, etc.

extraction collections,

of

relevant

and

their

information motivation

from to

data

facilitate

information user’s goal remain the same. Griffiths identified four new roles that information professionals will play in the new millennium: a) Guidebook publisher, b) knowledge prospector, c) expedition guide, and d) knowledge interpreter (Griffiths, 2000). These roles are of course different from those of computer scientists since information scientists have a firm tradition of caring about the recorded knowledge and the people as information producer and consumer.

It is worth pointing out that, even though we could theoretically differentiate these two disciplines, in education the boundary between them is really becoming blurred. In recent years there has been another wave of renaming and restructuring of IS education, i.e., the movement toward the so-called “Information Schools” (I-schools) (Zhang & Benjamin, 2007). These IS education institutions were formerly considered library and information science schools just a decade ago. There are also some other newly created information science degree programs either under

Certainly there are some areas of common interests

computer

science

department/school

(e.g.,

the

between them. Information retrieval (IR) is the core

University of California at Irvine, the University of

sub-field of IS and since its birth has attracted some

Arkansas at Little Rock), or as a result of the merging

prominent computer scientists. Saracevic argued that

and

the application of computers and computing in IR is

computing and information (e.g., the State University

the basis of relation between IS and computer science

of New York at Albany, and Cornell University).

(Saracevic, 1999). He also indicated that this relation

Regardless of their original names and affiliations,

involves the digital libraries. Other areas of overlap

these information science programs all share similar

include human-computer interaction, data mining and

contents and attempt to cover as widely as any

knowledge

computer science program could (cf. Mitchell, 2003).

recovery,

information

systems,

and

integration

between

disciplines

related

to

database. The database and information systems

What

specialty area involve fundamental and cutting-edging

encompasses a wide range of topics, including

work in databases, data mining and data integration,

database systems, HCI, multimedia systems, artificial

web mining, information retrieval, and natural

intelligence, distributed systems and Web information

language processing. The human-computer interface

systems, networking, information retrieval, searching

research involves user interface tools that better

technologies, digital libraries, bioinformatics, project

support design tasks, systems and environments that

management,

help users maintain information awareness, tools for

languages, data structures, computer architecture,

multimedia authoring and design, interface that fosters

geographical

social interaction, and more generally, human-

technologies, system analysis and design, e-commerce,

computer interaction. Nonetheless, the interests of IS

telecommunications,

on the technical and computing side only cover a very

management. Of course not all IS programs offer full

small portion of the complete computer science

range of all these courses. But one could argue that

is

being

taught

at

these

IS

software engineering, information

systems,

information

programs

programming information

resources,

and

spectrum, as the latter is a vast field. On the other hand, ߧሬ㈀ણ⎞⫏⤻Ấણ 35ņ1Ň Ř4 – 22ņᖁʪ֓Ҝ౺߈ሶŇ 11

even computer science might not be able to cover all

information science, information systems discipline

these technical themes.

can also be characterized as primarily interdisciplinary

It is apparent that computer science courses are at the core of many IS programs. However, the depth of computer science courses offered by IS programs has been questioned not only by computer science faculties, but also by students taking these courses. For example, computer science students at Cornell University take core courses in algorithms, data structures, logic, programming languages, scientific computing, systems, and computing theory, but Cornell Information Science students are exempted from courses like computer architecture, operating systems and numerical analysis, which caused wide disputes among students regarding whether the IS at Cornell is simply the easier alternative to computer science, or whether it is just a watered-down version of computer science (cf. http://cornell.elliottback.com/archives/2007/03/31/com puter-science-vs-information-science/).

Perhaps

in

some aspects computer science courses are harder as they require stronger mathematics background and emphasize more on the abstract thinking and theory of computing. However, the IS education primarily shares the applied computing courses, such as database, data mining, and information management. The IS program

and pluralistic in its approaches.

As a young and

diverse field, there have been many years of debate on its nature and scope. Numerous researchers have discussed the characteristics of information systems field, which could be summarized as follows: a) there is often debate on what information systems is, b) this field has many foundations or a wide range of reference disciplines, which leads some authors to see it as a fragmented adhocracy, c) this field is located in different university faculties, d) it is perceived as weak on theory and as practice oriented, and e) it uses many different

research

methodologies,

models

or

frameworks (Lamp & Milton, 2005; Furneaux et al., 2007). It is somewhat surprising to see that these statements could be equally used to depict the status of information science. That authors from information systems academia and practices keep questioning its fundamental

tenets,

philosophical

underpinnings,

contents, methodologies, and practice relevance, renders people believe that this field is undergoing a “crisis of identity” (Khazanchi & Munkvold, 2000, p. 24), a phrase that is certainly familiar to information science researchers.

has its own educational goal and research agenda. As

It is not an easy task to draw boundary between

Cardie, the director of Cornell Information Science

information science and information systems field.

program, put it clearly, “the focus of Information

Adding to their confusing relation is the prevalent use

Science at Cornell is on systems and their use, rather

of a variety of phrases, including information science

than

communication

itself, to label the information systems field. Ellis et al.

technologies that underlie and sustain them” (Cardie,

(1999) used information retrieval and user studies to

2007, p. 18).

represent information science field, then compared

on

the

computing

and

with information systems based on co-citation analysis.

INFORMATION SCIENCE vs. INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Their results showed that there exists little evidence of linkage between these two since there is almost no

Information systems field has a relatively brief epistemological history: emerging roughly in the late 1940s, the really rapid development of information systems as a field of academic study starts in the mid-1960s (Checkland & Holwell, 1998). Like

12

Journal of Library and Information Science

overlap in relation to the disciplinary fields of the most highly cited authors. They concluded that “information science and information systems are conjunct subjects, in terms of their focus of interests, but remain disjunct disciplines in terms of their disciplinary recognitions” (Ellis et al., 1999, p. 1100). Ellis et al.’s conclusion

35ņ1ŇΚ4 – 22ΰApril, 2009α

was confirmed and supported by another investigation

Khazanchi and Munkvold (2000) considered the

by Monarch (2000), who utilized co-word analysis and

definition of information systems in the context of

“leximaps” (term relationship network) to analyze the

other closely related disciplines (computer science,

common interests and disparities of the two fields.

information science, and software engineering). They

Viewing

and

attempted to delineate the key contributions of each

Communication Technology (ICT), and people as three

field. Information science is defined as the science

central constructs in information systems research,

devoted to the structure and properties of information

Sawyer and Huang (2007) believed that information

and communication, as well as theories and methods for

science also shares the same set of concepts and these

transmitting,

the

information,

Information

become their point of departure in their comparative analysis of researches published in both fields. Khazanchi and Munkvold (2000) touched a little on the disciplinary relationship between the two fields but their emphasis was to discuss the nature of information systems field and prove that it is a science. Beeson and Chelin (2006) examined two key concepts in information science—classification and search—from the information systems perspective.

distributing

storing,

retrieving,

information.

The

evaluating

primary

and

reference

disciplines for information science are communication, computer science, linguistics, mathematics, psychology, and sociology.

The contributions of information

science lie in the information retrieval, organization and representation management.

of In

knowledge, contrast,

the

and

information

contributions

of

information systems field include: a) the impact of information systems on the organization, b) effective management and use of IT in organizations, c) relational

There are certain degrees of resemblance between the

databases, and d) diffusion of IT within organizations.

definitions of the two disciplines. An information system

Its primary reference disciplines are also different from

is a collection of interrelated components (hardware,

those of information science: computer science,

software, procedures, people, databases) that work

management science, organizational science, cognitive

together to “collect (or retrieve), process, store, and

science, economics (Khazanchi & Munkvold, 2000). It

distribute information to support decision-making,

is also interesting to note that they actually treated

coordination, and control in an organization” (Laudon &

information science as a secondary reference discipline

Laudon, 2003, p. 7). This technical definition is quite

of information systems field.

similar to the one given by the U.K. Academy for

Other than the differences in primary reference

Information Systems: “Information systems are the

disciplines and contributions, we could also find the

means by which organizations and people, utilizing

linkages and differences by comparing the scope and

information technologies, gather, process, store, use and

domain of the two fields. The following table 2 lists

disseminate information” (Beeson and Chelin, 2006).

the knowledge maps of both information science and

At about the same time the U.K. Institute for

information systems field. From the table we can see

Information Scientists defined “information science

that the knowledge map for information systems is

covers broad concepts and theories of information

much more specific than the one for information

systems

communication

science. Simply comparing the knowledge maps, we

technologies insofar as they apply to the principles and

can identify some concepts and topics of potential

practices of information management” (Ellis et al., 1999,

common interests, for example, information,

p. 1095). Conclusion could be easily drawn from these

economics of information, user, information

definitions that there seems to be a considerable

technology in general, human-computer interface,

potential common interests between the two, hence the

e x p e r t s y s t e m s , k n o w l e d ge a c q u i s i t i o n a n d

and

information

and

“conjunct subjects” in Ellis et al.’s terms. ߧሬ㈀ણ⎞⫏⤻Ấણ 35ņ1Ň Ř4 – 22ņᖁʪ֓Ҝ౺߈ሶŇ 13

Table 2! Comparison on knowledge maps of Information Science and Information Systems Knowledge Map of Information Science Foundations (theory, research, education, and history of information science) 2) Resources (various issues and types related to knowledge resources) 3) Knowledge Workers (their personality traits and value orientation, theoretical knowledge, applied knowledge, experience) 4) Contents (issues related to the content of the mediated knowledge) 5) Applications (issues related to the development of application oriented systems) 6) Operations and Processes (issues related to the various operations and processes involved in mediating human knowledge) 7) Technologies (addresses issues related to information and knowledge technologies) 8) Environment (social issues, information policy and accessibility, technical and cultural issues, legal and ethical issues) 9) Organizations (issues related to the organizational aspects of information provision) 10) Users (user related issues, information needs, user behavior, user search strategy) 1)

1)

2)

3) 4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

Knowledge Map of Information Systems Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (asynchronous and synchronous collaboration, workflow, Group Support Systems) System projects (system development process, system project estimation, user involvement, requirements analysis and modeling, data modeling and database design, software maintenance) Information and interface: Information economics, information and managerial decision making, HCI. Evaluation and control: Information systems performance evaluation, data management, computer resource allocation, information systems security and control, ethics and personnel. Decision support and knowledge-based systems: DSS, expert systems, knowledge acquisition, knowledge management, data warehouses. Users: Information systems-user relationships, user perceptions and attitudes, user information evaluation and satisfaction, end user computing. Economics and strategy: Information systems economics, information systems, strategic management and business outcomes, IOS, e-commerce. Introduction and impact: Information systems implementation, IT diffusion, organizational outcomes. Information systems research: Information systems typologies, research perspectives and methodologies.

Source: Adapted from Khazanchi & Munkvold (2000)

Source: Adapted from Zins (2007b)

management, data warehousing and data mining, etc.

evidenced by its emphasis on IT system construction

However, the library and library services, one of the

and related business implications.

core interests for information science, leaves no trace in information systems map. Information retrieval, another core subfield of information science, is not in scope either. On the other hand, information systems, IT

diffusion

and

business

impact,

and

the

organizational context associated with information technology utilization, do not stand out in information science map either. In addition, it seems that the information systems field is more IT-oriented, as

It also appears that some same named concepts and topics have different interpretation and focus in both fields. To both fields, information is both a central construct and a vague concept. There are excellent reviews and active researches on the information concept in information science field (e.g., Buckland, 1991; Capurro & Hjorland, 2003; Case, 2006). In contrast, information systems field is under-theorized in terms of the number of publications devoted to information concept, even though there are a few

14

Journal of Library and Information Science

35ņ1ŇΚ4 – 22ΰApril, 2009α

reviews on information and its related concepts (e.g.,

include people using and interacting with the physical

Checkland & Holwell, 1998). Obviously, information

artifacts. However, there is a big difference in the focus

science researchers pay more attention to the

of user studies between these two disciplines. User

information concept and view the nature and properties

studies under information science has a long tradition of

of information itself as one of their key interests.

focusing on library uses, library services, reference

Information science researchers study the properties of

database uses, use of information retrieval system, user

information as a thing, or as a process, or as the

population surveys, user information needs, information

recorded knowledge, or a change in knowledge

seeking and behavior, search strategy, etc. Nowadays

state/structure. While debates still pervade, many

information seeking and behavior has become a highly

information

their

active area in information science. Viewing the

information concept is primarily associated with and

science

authors

attribution of meaning to data to create information as a

implies literature and recorded knowledge in all forms

uniquely human and often a social act, information

and media. This is consistent with the history and

systems community focuses on user perceptions,

tradition of information science. On the other hand, the

attitudes and values, individual as a decision-maker,

concept of information in information systems field

user requirement analysis, user/stakeholder engagement

appears to incur relatively less controversy, and there

in system design and delivery, human-factor and

seems to be more debates surrounding another central

usability design, and user information evaluation and

concept “organization”, since “‘information’ is less

satisfaction. User studies in information systems field

complex a concept than ‘organization’” in the minds of

seems to aim to inform the design of computer-based

some information systems scholars (Checkland &

technical systems. In recent years, there is some

Holwell, 1998, p. 86). Checkland and Holwell accepted

movement from a purely technical approach concerned

this view and restated information as “selected data (or

with hardware and software only to a user-centered

capta) to which meaning has been attributed in a

approach that considers the human activities of design

particular context” (p. 98-99). Simply put, information

and use of information systems as central concern (e.g.,

is “meaningfully processed data, where meaningful

Eason, 2004; Bannon, 2006). Nonetheless, the focus is

implies revelance to a consumer (user) of information

still on the information system design and development.

and data implies raw symbols or facts” (Khazanchi &

It is also interesting to note that, similar to the

Munkvold, 2000, p. 31). Therefore, even both fields are

technical-centered versus user-centered approaches in

interested in the chain of data-information-knowledge,

information

it appears that information science emphasizes more on

research also has two significantly differing approaches

the

relatively

or camps: system-centered and user-centered. There are

speaking, information systems field pay more attention

very little communications between these two camps.

to the data-information part of the chain.

The

information-knowledge

agree

part,

and

that

It is indisputable that both fields have serious interests in user studies. Early information science definitions do not stress the importance of user (e.g., Borko’s definition) but all recent definitions and knowledge maps emphasize user’s centrality to the field. Information systems exist to serve and support people

systems

user-centered

field,

camp

information

often

retrieval

criticizes

the

system-centered camp for totally ignoring user and their uses. But the system camp normally ignores the user camp since in their eyes the user studies can not inform their design decisions. In this regard, information science might be able to learn from the information systems field.

taking purposeful action. Such systems will always

ߧሬ㈀ણ⎞⫏⤻Ấણ 35ņ1Ň Ř4 – 22ņᖁʪ֓Ҝ౺߈ሶŇ 15

Information technology and organizational context

information systems and computer information systems

are the two most important key elements for

(ACM et al., 2005, p. 37). It is also estimated that

information systems. “An information system enabled

hundreds of information systems programs exist

by information technology within an organizational

elsewhere in the world. Most of these programs are

context is the focal point of the information systems

either within business schools or under computer

field”, argued Khazanchi & Munkvold (2000, p. 33).

science departments. In contrast, information science

Information technology is also the key enabling

has only a small number of programs in the United

technology of information science. Both fields’

States (possibly less than one hundred). Traditionally

perspectives on the information technology emphasize

information systems degree programs prepare students

information

to

aspects,

and

view

technologies

as

work

with

functionally

oriented

business

instruments for generating, processing and distributing

applications such as payroll, accounting, inventory

information. Information science professionals focus

management, accounts receivables, decision support

on the structure, organization, management, search and

systems, etc. Saracevic (1999) pointed out correctly

retrieval of information in all formats and media.

that information science does not deal with great many

Providing efficient and effective information service to

information systems like those mentioned above.

special communities and general public is always the

Therefore, historically, information science has a

central subject matter of interest.

different set of education goals than information

information

systems

On the other hand, primarily

systems field. By the end of 1990s, networked

concerned with the information that computer systems

computers had become basic commodities, and

can supply to help define and achieve an enterprise’s

computers and information technologies had become

goals, and the processes that an enterprise can

integral parts of working environment used by people

implement

or

professionals

information

at all levels of the organization. Information systems

technologies. As a result, in addition to the general

are expanding across and beyond organizational limits.

information technology and application technologies

Digital

(especially

technologies not only provide the infrastructure for

the

improve

are

database

utilizing

management and data

technologies

and

Web-based

distributed

extraction), information systems professionals must

globally

have a solid and sound understanding of the

foundations for digital firms and virtual enterprises. All

organizational principles, contexts and practices in

these changes have caused modern information

order for them to act as an effective bridge between the

systems education to emphasize more on the broader

technical and management communities within an

role of information technology enabled information

organization.

utilization and business processes in a wide range of

Integrating

information

technology

connected

organizations,

but

also

lay

solutions and business processes of organizations is

enterprises.

always the central activity to the information systems

educations are reevaluating their goals and core

field.

constituents,

Information systems education has much more degree programs than information science. The two

While modern information systems they

are

still

maintaining

close

association with business and computing coursework. On the other hand, information science education

disciplines have different education goals as well. In

does

the United States, as of mid-2005, there are about 1000

business/organization courses, but does have common

information systems programs under a wide variety of

interests in the computing courses. Although it is

labels such as information systems, management

difficult to tell the difference by simply looking at the

16

Journal of Library and Information Science

not

share

35ņ1ŇΚ4 – 22ΰApril, 2009α

much

of

the

interests

on

computing courses offered by programs in both fields,

the relationship between information science and

information systems field has a clearer focus on

information technology as an emerging field of study.

technologies related to the requirements, design, and implementation of information systems, database modeling and design (e.g., Entity Relationship Diagram,

UML),

database

products

selection,

configuration, management, training and support. In addition,

information

systems

programs

also

emphasize the use of application software such as word

processor

and

spreadsheet.

In

contrast,

computing courses offered by information science programs are more general and not necessarily business-oriented.

Although

there

are

some

differences in terms of education goals and number of programs, Ellis et al. (1999) argued that both disciplines are “subordinate faculties” due to their lack of power in the university system. They criticized the lack of contact between the two fields as they felt that there was little conflict between them. We concur that these two fields lack dialogues and there are opportunities for researchers from both ends to conduct collaborative works and this should be encouraged.

As a relatively new and rapidly growing field, information technology discipline began to emerge in the late 1990s when networked computer systems became the information backbone of organizations and were essential working tools for virtually every one within

any

type

of

organizations.

Information

technology field has a very close relationship with computer science and information systems. Pioneers in this field opine that computer science is too narrow, mathematical and physical-science oriented, and computer science is more about the theory and algorithms of computing and pays less attention to professional practices. On the other hand, information systems field is insufficiently deep in technical contents and too focused on traditional business contexts. Since today’s organizations of every kind, not just businesses, depend heavily on information technologies, there are great needs for understanding deeply organizations’ IT infrastructures and the people who utilize them. Existing computing disciplines have not addressed these issues sufficiently and there appears to be an intellectual gap. It is this niche that

INFORMATION SCIENCE vs. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FIELD Information

technology

Some people feel that it is just a passing fad, while others question if it is too technical in nature to deserve

“information science is inexorably connected to

the status of an academic discipline. Some researchers

information technology. A technological imperative is

define information technology field as “the study of

compelling

of

information technology use and impact from a

information science” (Saracevic, 1999, p. 1052).

scientific perspective” (Finkelstein & Hafner, 2002).

Information technology itself is a vague concept and

No doubt information technology has a great impact on

often refers to all of computing in the broadest sense,

the evolution of information science, and in the

including hardware, software, applications, infrastructure,

meanwhile the latter also has a keen interest in

services, and resources. While recognizing that

understanding the meaning and impact of information

information technology plays a critical role in shaping

technology. However information science focuses on

many

and

the information aspects of information technology and

information systems, our primary concern is to discuss

always sees information technology as an instrument to

fields such

as

the

information

key

There are different attitudes towards this new field.

technology of the information science discipline, since

constraining

the

discipline.

enabling

and

is

information technology field can fill in as a computing

evolution

science

ߧሬ㈀ણ⎞⫏⤻Ấણ 35ņ1Ň Ř4 – 22ņᖁʪ֓Ҝ౺߈ሶŇ 17

its goal of providing better information services.

infrastructure. Information contents and meaning

Information technology field is the complement of

extraction from data are not of their primary concerns.

information science’s perspective with its emphasis on the technology itself more than on the information contents it conveys. These two fields share some areas of common interests. The study of information, for example, including

its acquisition,

organization,

structure, communication, management and use, is one of the primary interests of the information technology field as well. These areas have been studied extensively in information science. In this respect the information technology field focuses more on how information technology changes and reshapes the flow of information within broader contexts of organizations. Another area of common interests includes the study of the positive and negative impacts of information technology on human beings, organizations, and the society as a whole.

Other research areas such as

knowledge management, data warehousing and data mining, information visualization, and collaborative computing that are currently actively studied by information science and information systems fields, are also considered parts of the territory of information technology field. Even though there are many overlaps in terms of research interests, information technology field is unique in emphasizing the techniques and tools for designing, developing and deploying large complex systems and for managing information technology infrastructure for all kinds of organizations. Information

technology

professionals

a

expected to assume the responsibilities for selecting hardware and software applications appropriate for integrating

relevant

products

and

services with organizational needs and infrastructure. They are also responsible for installing, tailoring and maintaining hardware and software products for computing users within organizations. As we indicated before, their primary interests are to properly plan, implement

18

and

maintain

an

In this paper we have reviewed and discussed the questions of (a) what information science is about and what its territory looks like, and (b) what relations IS has with computing disciplines, specifically, the computer science,

information

systems,

and

information

technology field. This has been done through discussing some representative IS definitions and examining the major problem areas that IS has addressed over time. We have also examined the similarities and differences among IS, computer science, information systems, and information technology field in terms of their definitions, major research topics, primary foci, practice areas for professionals, and educations. The interdisciplinary nature of IS is commonly acknowledged, but the relations of IS to computing disciplines are not well understood and only discussed sparsely and cursorily. Our detailed discussions on the disciplinary relations in this paper will bridge the knowledge gap in this respect. It will also help clarify the roles that IS has been playing in human being’s pursuit of understanding the nature of information phenomena. It is also our hope that this study can help IS educators better define their positions and goals in the complicated networks of disciplinary relations,

where

computing

and

information

technologies are playing a dominant role, and to some play

different role in the organization and society. They are

organizations,

CONCLUSIONS

organization’s

Journal of Library and Information Science

IT

extent, are colonizing many related disciplines. Information is a basic characteristic of our modern age. It has been used in both everyday languages as well as in scientific parlance. There are many disciplines dealing with some certain aspects of information. Historically, IS used to play a lead role in the exploration of information phenomena. But nowadays it has more and stronger competitors. Within IS there are different schools/traditions as well. Researchers that have no backgrounds or interests in documentation/library and information studies see and define IS significantly

35ņ1ŇΚ4 – 22ΰApril, 2009α

differently from those working with schools/departments

fast-moving nature of the field and the changing

of library and information studies. For example, in his

expectations from society. The computing-oriented and

excellent

David

technologies-driven IS education also makes it more

Luenberger, an Engineering professor with Stanford

difficult to delineate the boundary between IS and

University, expressed his IS view by examining the five

computing disciplines.

textbook

Information

Science,

“Es” of IS: Entropy, Economics, Encryption, Extraction, and Emission (Luenberger, 2006). While people with backgrounds

in

computing

and

communication

disciplines are more familiar with Luenberger’s notion, scholars

with

library

and

information

science

background might criticize its lack of any attention to information users and use, and somewhat cursory discussions on information retrieval topic (Wilson, 2006).

In this paper we have addressed the relations of IS to three major fields of computing disciplines: computer science,

information

systems

and

information

technology field. IS and computer science share such common interest areas as information retrieval, search engines, digital libraries, human-computer interface, data mining, knowledge discovery, and databases. However the primary focus of computer science is on the theoretical basis and complexity of computing,

IS education has been constantly changing. We have

especially on the development of efficient algorithms

witnessed the introduction of IS contents into library

and data structures. Our analysis in this paper has

schools curricula and the subsequent renaming of

showed that the interests of IS on the technical ends of

library schools to become library and information

computing only cover a small portion of the complete

science schools. We have also observed another wave

computing spectrum. IS is regarded as one of the

of movement toward the so-called I-schools. We have

secondary reference disciplines by some information

seen some new approaches to IS education as well.

systems researchers. The focal points of information

Some institutions are attempting to build bridges to

systems discipline are on the information systems

connect information related fields by integrating

enabled

library and information studies with computing

organizational contexts. This field emphasizes the

disciplines. Several other universities have created new

design and development of information systems in the

IS programs that emphasize data and application

business contexts. Information technology as a field of

aspects

research and education is quite young. Its primary

of

computing

departments.

Cornell

under

computer

University

science

initiated

by

information

technologies

within

an

concern is the techniques and tools for developing and

interdisciplinary IS degree program and brought

maintaining large complex systems and for managing

together researchers and faculties from computer

information

science and other social sciences. This program

organizations of any kind.

claimed to concentrate on the areas where computer science and the social sciences overlap and reinforce each other. Regardless of the names and labels used by these programs, one thing in common is that computing and information technology related courses are dominating IS education agenda nowadays. IS research and education are inevitably affected by the pervasion

of

modern

information

technologies.

Changes in IS education naturally reflect the

technology

infrastructure

within

The application of computers and computing in information retrieval is traditionally seen as the basis of the relationship between computer science and IS. As the core of IS, information retrieval has a proud history, and, to some extent it is nearly the synonym of IS. From its early days, information retrieval as a research area has also attracted the attentions of some elite computer scientists. However, it has not been a mainstream area in computer science between 1960s

ߧሬ㈀ણ⎞⫏⤻Ấણ 35ņ1Ň Ř4 – 22ņᖁʪ֓Ҝ౺߈ሶŇ 19

and early 1990s. In his acceptance address for the 2003

their insightful comments and valuable input in

ACM SIGIR Gerald Salton Award, Croft (2003)

preparing the final form of this manuscript.

demonstrated

clearly

how

information

retrieval

evolved as a marginal area of computer science before 1990s. By the end of 1990s, with the rapid development of Internet, the boom of WWW, the advent of Web search engine, and the availability of large scale full text databases for information retrieval experiment, information retrieval “has gained a place with other technologies at the center of the stage” (Baeza-Yates & Ribeiro-Neto, 1999, p. 3). Croft (2003) argued convincingly that the advent of the Web search engine has validated the longstanding claims made by information retrieval researchers that simple queries and ranking were the right techniques for information access in a largely unstructured information world. There is little doubt that information retrieval has provided the basic research on the algorithms and data structures for the Web Search engine and continues to develop new capabilities. Croft further summarized what information retrieval as a field of computer science has accomplished. As such, more and more computer scientists tend to claim that information retrieval is a newly found territory of their empire, though admitting that it has a strong root in library and information science. Information science community is not unaware of this phenomenon. Ellis et al. pointed out that “information retrieval is now as much as a subfield of computer science as it is of information science---indeed, one might say ‘more’, rather than ‘as much’ ” (Ellis et al., 1999, p. 1101). An interesting question ensues from the dispute over the disciplinary identity issue: if information retrieval is more recognized as a subfield of computer science, then, what core components are still left in IS? What will the fate of IS look like in the future?

Computing Curricula 2005 (2005). Computing Curricula 2005: The Overview Report. Retrieved September 17, 2008 from the world wide web: http://www. acm.org/education/education/curric_vols/CC2005-M arch06Final.pdf. Baeza-Yates, R., & Ribeiro-Neto, B. (1999). Modern Information Retrieval. New York, NY: ACM Press. Bannon, L. J. (2004). ‘Human-centered’ computing: a new perspective? In Anderson and Vendelo (eds.). The past and future of information systems (pp.123-136). Oxford, England: Elsevier ButterHeinemann. Bates,

M.

(1999).

The

invisible

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And

Learning

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N.

(1978).

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The author wishes to acknowledge the two anonymous referees and the English editor of JLIS for

Journal of Library and Information Science

ACM, AIS, and IEEE-CS Joint Task Force for

176, 101-108.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

20

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