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Library science is an interdisciplinary science incorporating the humanities,
law and applied science to study topics related to library, the collection, organization, Preservation: Library and Archival Science and dissemination of information resources, and the political economy of information. Historically, library science has also included archival science. "The distinction between a library and an archive is relatively modern" Harris, Michael H.
History of Libraries in the Western World. 4th ed. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow, 1995. 3. This includes how information resources are organized to serve the needs of select user groups, how people interact with classification systems and technology, how information is acquired, evaluated and applied by people in and outside of libraries as well as cross-culturally, how people are trained and educated for careers in libraries, the ethics that guide library service and organization, the legal status of libraries and information resources, and the applied science of computer technology used in
documentation and
records management. Academic courses in library science typically include Librarian#Librarian roles and duties, Information Systems and Technology,
Library catalog and
library classification, Preservation: Library and Archival Science, Librarian#Librarian roles and duties, Statistics and Management. Library science is constantly evolving, incorporating new topics like
Database management system,
Information Architecture and Knowledge Management, for example.
There is no generally agreed distinction between
library science,
library and information science, and
librarianship. To a certain extent they can be considered interchangable, perhaps adopted to increase the "science" aspect, or improve the popular image of librarians.
The term
library and information science (LIS) is sometimes used; most librarians consider it as only a terminological variation, intended to emphasize the scientific and technical foundations of the subject, and its relationship with information science. LIS should not be confused with
information theory, the mathematical study of the concept of information, or
information science, a field related to computer science and cognitive science.
One operational view, implied by some textbooks, is that librarianship means the professional aspects of work as a librarian, such as certification, in-service training, and issues of gender equality.
History
Library and information science, it may be argued, began with the first effort to organize a collection of information and provide access to that information.
Early history
At
Ugarit in Syria excavations have revealed a palace library, temple library, and two private libraries which date back to around 1200 BCE, containing diplomatic texts as well as poetry and other literary forms. In the 7th century, King
Ashurbanipal of Assyria assembled what is considered "the first systematically collected library" at Nineveh; previous collections functioned more as passive
archives. The legendary
Library of Alexandria is perhaps the best known example of an early library, flourishing in the 3rd century BC and possibly inspired by
Demetrius Phalereus.
Ancient information retrieval
One of the curators of the imperial library in the
Han Dynasty is believed to have been the first to establish a library classification system and the first book notation system. At this time the library catalog was written on scrolls of fine silk and stored in silk bags.
Jefferson's method
Thomas Jefferson, whose library at Monticello consisted of thousands of books, devised a classification system inspired by the Baconian method which grouped books more or less by subject rather than alphabetically, as it was previously done. Jefferson's collection became the nucleus of the first national collection of the United States when it was transferred to Congress after a fire destroyed the Congressional Library during the
War of 1812. The Jefferson collection was the start of what we now know as the Library of Congress.
20th century
The term "library science" first appeared in the early 1930's, in the title of S. R. Ranganathan's
The Five Laws of Library Science, published in 1931, and in the title of
Lee Pierce Butler's 1933 book,
An introduction to library science (University of Chicago Press). Butler's new approach advocated research using quantitative research and ideas in the social sciences with the aim of using librarianship to address society's information needs. This research agenda went against the more procedure-based approach of "library economy," which was mostly confined to practical problems in the administration of libraries. While Ranganathan's approach was philosophical it was tied more to the day-to-day business of running a library.
In more recent years, with the growth of digital technology, the field has been greatly influenced by information science concepts. Although a basic understanding is critical to both library research and practical work, the area of information science has remained largely distinct both in training and in research interests.
Training in librarianship
Most professional library jobs require a professional post-
Bachelor's degree degree in
library science, or one of its equivalent terms,
library and information science as a basic credential. In the United States and Canada the certification usually comes from a master's degree granted by an
American Library Association -accredited institution, so even non-scholarly librarians have an originally academic background. In the United Kingdom, however, there have been moves to broaden the entry requirements to professional library posts, such that qualifications in, or experience of, a number of other disciplines have become more acceptable.For the main discussion of this topic, see Education for librarianship
Subdisciplines
Subdisciplines of library science include the study of:
- Human Information Behaviors (information-seeking, search strategies, and use)
- Knowledge Organization (which includes bibliographies, cataloging, classification, indexing & abstracting, metadata, semantic & syntactic analysis (controlled vocabularies, etc.))
- Digital library
- Collection development
- Preservation: Library and Archival Science
- Public reference and other services
- Scholarly communication (includes bibliometrics, informetrics, scientometrics, webmetrics)
Types of library science professionals
Librarians in different types of libraries
Public
The study of librarianship for
Public library covers issues such as cataloging;
Library collection development for a diverse community; Information literacy; community standards; public services-focused librarianship; serving a diverse community of adults, children, and teens; intellectual freedom; censorship; and legal and budgeting issues.
School
The study of school librarianship covers library services for children in schools up until (including) university. In some regions, the local government may have stricter standards for the education and certification of school librarians (who are often considered a special case of teacher), than for other librarians, and the educational program will include those local standards. School librarianship may also include issues of intellectual freedom;
pedagogy; and how to build a cooperative
curriculum with the teaching staff.
Academic
The study of academic librarianship covers library services for colleges and
University. Issues of special importance to the field may include
copyright; technology,
digital libraries, and digital repositories; academic freedom; open access to scholarly works; as well as specialized knowledge of subject areas important to the institution and the relevant reference works.
Some academic librarians are considered Faculty (university), and hold similar academic ranks as professors, while others are not. In either case, the minimal qualification is a Master's degree in Library Studies or Library Science, and, in some cases, a Master's degree in another field.
Archives
The study of archives covers the training of archivists, librarians specially trained to maintain and build
archives of
documents intended for history
preservation. Special issues include physical preservation of materials and
mass deacidification; specialist catalogs; solo work; access; and appraisal. Many archivists are also trained historians specializing in the period covered by the archive.
Special
Special librarians include almost any other form of librarianship, including those who serve in medical libraries (and
hospitals or
medical schools),
corporations,
news agency libraries, or other
Research library. The issues at these libraries will be specific to the industries they inhabit, but may include solo work; corporate financing; specialized collection development; and extensive self-promotion to potential patrons.
Preservation
Preservation librarians most often work in academic libraries. Their focus is on the management of preservation activities that seek to maintain access to content within books, manuscripts, archival materials, and other library resources. Examples of activities managed by preservation librarians include binding, conservation, digital and analog reformatting,
digital preservation, and environmental monitoring.
Theory and practice
Many practicing librarians do not contribute to LIS
scholarship but focus on daily operations of their own library systems. Other practicing librarians, particularly in academic libraries, do perform original scholarly LIS research and contribute to the academic end of the field.
On this basis, it has sometimes been proposed that LIS is distinct from librarianship, in a way analogous to the difference between
medicine and Physician. In this view, librarianship, the application of library science, would comprise the practical
services rendered by librarians in their day-to-day attempts to meet the needs of library patrons.
Other uses of these terms do not make the distinction and treat them as synonyms.
Powell's widely used introductory textbook does not make a formal distinction, but its bibliography uses the word
librarianship as the heading for articles about the library profession.
Current issues in LIS
- Education for librarianship
- Information policy
- Information communication technologies (ICT's)
- Information Society
- Equity of Access
- Sustainability and ICT's
- Children's Internet Protection Act
- Censorship
- Information explosion
- Information literacy
- Government Information
- Decreased funding for established libraries
- Copyright
- Intellectual property rights
- Intellectual freedom
- Digital divide
- Open access
- Patriot Act
- Public lending right
- Slow fires
- Serials crisis
- Current digital/scanning technologies
- Remote access
Notes
See also
External links
- dLIST dLIST: Digital Library of Information Science and Technology, an open access archive of Information Sciences materials
- DL-Harvest DL-Harvest, an open access aggregator for Information Sciences
- LISNews.org Librarian and Information Science News
- Open Directory Project category Library and Information Science listings
- Education Schools and Library Schools: A Comparison of Their Perceptions by Academia
- ASC Online: Mentoring weblog for LIS students
- LibLinks.org - Directory of library links organized by US states
- ERIC Digests on Libraries. Annotated list with links to public domain ERIC Digests dealing with library science and libraries
- Information Science Today - Voluntary information development organization
- Open Journals Gateway to 3000+ Journals
- The Nitecki Trilogy
History
- Jefferson's Library - Exhibition including a sample page from "Catalog of Library of Thomas Jefferson"
- Chronology of information science and technology - From the XVII to the XX century
- Chronology of chemical information science
- Information science pioneers - Biographies of pioneers and famous information scientists
- A tour of information science through the pages of JASIS
Library related wikis
- Library and Information Science Wiki
- GSLIS at University of Illinois Wiki
- Library Front Desk Staff Training Wiki. Public Site, but private to edit, at Antioch New England Graduate School's Library in Keene, NH. USA.
University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information ...
Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
CILIP | Library and information science abstracts (LISA)
LISA is an international abstracting and indexing tool designed for library professionals and other information specialists.
University of Teesside » Library & Information Services » Library ...
University of Teesside - Providing Opportunities - Pursuing Excellence. The University of Teesside is a dynamic modern university dedicated to delivering quality programmes of ...
UNC School of Information and Library Science
School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 216 Lenoir Drive CB#3360, 100 Manning Hall Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3360 T: (919) 962-8366
Swansea University - Library & Information Services
Welcome to Swansea University - Library and Information Services Skip Navigation ... Swansea Wireless Internet Service Web of Science WNL Voyager Library Catalogue
Library and Information Science Library, University of Illinois at ...
Selected, new, and general Internet resources of interest to librarians, information specialists, and students. With library information and services for distance learning students ...
Library and Information Science Program - Welcome
Courses taught at Detroit, Farmington, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Saginaw, Michigan. Offers the MLIS, Ed.S. and a certificate in archival science.
School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University
School of Library and Information Science.
rclis: research in computing and library and information science
A project to create an open access archive to deposit preprints, postprints and other documents in the field of library and information science in electronic format. Eprints ...
Library science - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Library science is an interdisciplinary science incorporating the humanities, law and applied science to study topics related to libraries, the collection, organization ...