Information Science, academic discipline that deals with the generation,

collection, organization, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of recorded

knowledge. It is sometimes mistakenly used as a synonym for library science,
but though related, it is a separate discipline.
Library Science and Information Science
Library science, more accurately labeled “librarianship,” is a professional area
of study; it is not a science, even though most library schools incorporate
information science in the curriculum. Graduates of library schools are primarily
concerned with such tasks as evaluating, processing, storing, and retrieving
information, and with collection development and bibliographic processes and
products. In the mid-1980s they still deal mainly with written records such as
books, journals, and musical scores, and with such discrete nonprint items as
phonograph records and videotapes. Increasingly, though, librarians are being
called upon to learn audiovisual and computer technologies and applications.
They also help library patrons to use the materials and equipment. The librarian
is more concerned with the management of systems, the information scientist
with their creation.
Information may be defined as the knowledge that resides in the human brain,
in all electronic and written records, and potentially, in physical artifacts.
Information science is the scientific study of that information: how it is created,
transmitted, encoded, transformed, measured, used, and valued. Information
science may be called a megadiscipline, because it brings together ideas and
technologies from many other areas, including the social sciences, computer
science, cybernetics, linguistics, management, neuroscience, and systems
theory. Information scientists analyze the many and various phenomena that
affect any aspect of information. They are interested in determining such things
as (1) the life cycle and utility of literature on a given subject (bibliometrics), (2)
patterns of authorship (co-citation analysis), and (3) the impact of reading on
groups and societies (social epistemology).
For the information scientist, therefore, the library is only one of several
alternative sites for information storage and service; systems may be based in
information banks, archives, switching centers, or organizations such as
schools and businesses. Information scientists work not only in libraries, but
also in other organizations, such as medical centers, computing companies,
university research centers, and abstracting and indexing companies. They
cover a wide range of activities, from creation of file structures to simulations of
the processes of human thought.
History
The roots of information science are in documentation, a field that emerged
when digital computers were developed during the 1940s and early '50s.
During World War II the need arose to increase the precision and depth of
bibliographic searches, resulting in efforts to change traditional kinds of
classification into computer-compatible systems. Automated searching of files,
coordinate indexing, and controlled vocabularies were introduced in response
to the urgent need to create easy access to the contents of scientific journals.
Automated abstracts, or summaries, of documents were then developed to
further simplify access to research findings.
In the 1960s massive collections of documents were transferred to databases
or converted to nonprint forms; various searches could then be done by
computer. By 1980 information science had become a thoroughly
interdisciplinary field, and in the mid-1980s artificial intelligence was very
quickly becoming the center of research activity.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the machine's capacity to mimic intelligent
human behavior. Scientists are creating machines that can understand spoken
language, and that can make logical decisions; these machines can play chess,
devise investment strategy, help physicians diagnose disease. One important
product of AI is the front-end system mind, a program that allows nonexperts to
use their own natural language to retrieve information from databases.
Education in Information Science
Among the fields that offer a solid background for a career in information
science are mathematics, physics, and philosophy. The master's degree
requires both formal knowledge (mathematics, information theory) and practical
skills (computer programming, management), combined with a firm grounding
in the social or life sciences and the liberal arts. Doctoral studies include the
psychology of human information processing and decision making, and theories
of information processing that cut across disciplinary lines.
Challenges of the Future
The major challenges information scientists will face in the late 20th century are
the following: (1) determining the extent to which information systems can be
made easy for nonspecialists to understand and use; (2) devising ways in
which information systems can assist individuals and groups, including
governments, to solve problems; and (3) furthering understanding of human
thought processes in order to develop universal intellectual networks to serve
and advance both the individual and society.
See also Information Theory.

Contributed by:
Richard S. Halsey1

1"Information Science," Microsoft® Encarta® 97 Encyclopedia. © 1993-

1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.