PATRICK WILSON

AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF INFORMATION SCIENCE

BEFORE THE TECHNICAL STUFF

PATRICK WILSON WAS BORN IN 1927

DIED IN 2003 OF HEART FAILURE
EDUCATION:
A.B. PHILOSOPHY 1949
BACHELORS LIBRARY SCIENCE 1953
P.H.D PHILOSOPHY 1960
JUST A LITTLE MORE TO GO

WAS A LIBRARIAN AND BIBLIOGRAPHER OF SOUTH ASIA STUDIES 1959-

1960
TAUGHT PHILOSOPHY AT UCLA 1960
JOINED THE FACULTY OF UC BERKELEYS SCHOOL OF LIBRARIANSHIP IN
1965
DEAN OF SCHOOL OF LIBRARIANSHIP DURING THE 1970S AND FROM
1989-1991
RETIRED IN 1991
 I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT THE
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PHILOSOPHY, BECAUSE STUDENTS OF
PHILOSOPHY DON'T USE THE PRINTED BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
APPARATUS OF PHILOSOPHY. WE'D NEVER HEARD OF
ANY OF THE THINGS THAT WERE BEING TAUGHT AND
TALKED ABOUT IN THE LIBRARY SCHOOL.

PATRICK WILSON
FROM HIS INTERVIEW WITH LAURA MCCREERY
THE DEFINING WORKS

TWO KINDS OF POWER: ESSAY ON BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CONTROL (1968)

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, PRIVATE IGNORANCE: TOWARD A LIBRARY AND
INFORMATION POLICY (1977)
SECOND-HAND KNOWLEDGE: AN INQUIRY INTO COGNITIVE AUTHORITY
(1983)
 TWO KINDS OF POWER: ESSAY
ON BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CONTROL
IDEAS FROM THE MONOGRAPH
 TO HAVE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CONTROL OVER A
COLLECTION OF THINGS IS TO HAVE A CERTAIN
SORT OF POWER OVER THOSE THINGS: WHAT
THINGS, AND WHAT SORT OF POWER, IT IS
OUR BUSINESS TO DISCOVER OR DECIDE.
PATRICK WILSON, TWO KINDS OF POWER, 6.

 USES IS PHILOSOPHICAL UNDERPINNINGS TO DISCUSS BIBLIOGRAPHIC
CONTROL
TWO KINDS OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC POWER
DESCRIPTIVE POWER
THINK OF SUBJECT HEADINGS, CLASSIFICATIONS, INDEXING AND CATALOGING
REQUIRES ORGANIZATION
EXPLOITIVE POWER
MAKE THE BEST USE OF A BODY OF WRITINGS
BEST DESCRIBED AS IN SAYING WHAT IT IS, ONE ALSO SHOWS WHY ONE SHOULD
WANT IT
WHAT IS RELEVANCE?
AGAIN TWO KINDS
LOGICAL RELEVANCE
TEXTUAL MEANS TO AN END
PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, PRIVATE IGNORANCE:
TOWARD A LIBRARY AND INFORMATION
POLICY

WHAT HAVE LIBRARIES TO DO WITH
UTILIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE? WHAT IS,
AND WHAT MIGHT BE, THEIR ROLE IN
HELPING TO MAKE THE RESULTS OF INQUIRY
USEFUL IN AIDING THE INFORMED
CONDUCT OF OUR LIVES?
PREFACE OF PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE, PRIVATE IGNORANCE

 WHAT IS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE?
OUR COMMON STOCK OF ARTICULATE KNOWLEDGE
WHAT IS PRIVATE IGNORANCE?
INVOLVES GAINING INFORMATION THROUGH WHAT WILSON CALLS THE
MONITOR SYSTEM
IGNORANCE IS SOMETIMES A PROBLEM CALLING FOR SOLUTION, BUT
CERTAINLY NOT ALWAYS SO.
THE USES OF LIBRARIES
THE FINAL SECTION DEALS WITH WHAT THE PURPOSE OF LIBRARIES SHOULD
BE
INFORMATION EXPERTS
INFORMATION EXPERTS SHOULD NOT JUST BE TIED TO A LIBRARY
 SECOND-HAND KNOWLEDGE: AN
INQUIRY INTO COGNITIVE AUTHORITY
 THIS BOOK HAD ITS ORIGIN IN A NAGGING CONCERN ABOUT THE
APPARENT UNCONCERN OF LIBRARIANS AND INFORMATION
SCIENTISTS FOR THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INFORMATION AND
MISINFORMATION, JOINED WITH THE APPARENT ASSUMPTION THAT
LIBRARIES ARE SIMPLY STOREHOUSES OF KNOWLEDGE, AND THE
LITERATURE OF SCIENCE AND SCHOLARSHIP SIMPLY THE WRITTEN
RECORD OF THE CONTINUAL PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE.

PREFACE SECOND-HAND KNOWLEDGE

 WHAT IS COGNITIVE AUTHORITY?
IT IS THE INFLUENCE THAT WE SEE AS BEING PROPER BECAUSE WE BELIEVE
IT TO BE PROPER AND CREDIBLE.
INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
THE AUTHORITY ON AUTHORITIES
SOMEONE WHO CAN BE TRUSTED TO KNOW WHO CAN BE TRUSTED
LIBRARIANS AS DELEGATES
WE DELEGATE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWING WHAT MATERIALS CAN BE
TRUSTED
SO WHATS THE BIG DEAL?
WHY PATRICK WILSON IS IMPORTANT?

PATRICK WILSON HELPED US THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT HOW WE THINK

ABOUT BIBLIOGRAPHIC POWER, KNOWLEDGE, IGNORANCE AND
AUTHORITY. THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO ALL ASPECTS OF
OUR FIELD.

 THIS PAPER FALLS WELL WITHIN THE

CONFERENCE THEME OF MANAGEMENT,
ANALYSIS, AND ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION.
WILSONS WORK INFLUENCED ALL THREE, AND
LAID ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FOUNDATION
STONES FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE THEORY
RICHARD P. SMIRAGLIA IN TWO KINDS OF POWER: INSIGHT INTO THE LEGACY OF PATRICK WILSON

 I MEAN, FOR A GUY WITH A PHD IN
PHILOSOPHY FROM BERKELEY, ITS
SURPRISING HOW PHILOSOPHICALLY SLOPPY
AND UNDER- RESEARCHED HIS ARGUMENTS
ARE.
FROM THE BLOG POST LIBRARIANS AS DELEGATES, LANE WILKINSON

 SOCIAL EPISTEMOLOGY WITH A FOCUS ON TEXTUAL
OBJECTS AND WITH AN EYE ON THE ACTUAL AND POSSIBLE
ROLES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS IS A PRODUCTIVE
APPROACH TO OUR FIELD. THERE IS A HUGE AND RICH
SUPPLY OF REAL PROBLEMS OUT THERE STILL AWAITING

EXPLORATION, OF REAL IMPORTANCE AND ENDLESS
FASCINATION, AND I URGE OTHERS TO TAKE THEM ON.
PATRICK WILSON, ON ACCEPTING ASIS&T AWARD OF MERIT
Works Consulted:
Maclay, K. (2003, September 24). Professor emeritus Patrick Wilson, librarian and philosopher, dies at 75. Retrieved November 01, 2016,
from http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/09/24_wilson.shtml
Smiraglia, Richard P. (2007). Two Kinds of Power: Insight Into The Legacy Of Patrick Wilson. IN: CAIS 2007. Information Sharing in a
Fragmented World: Crossing Boundaries.McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. May 10 - 12, 2007. Proceedings Editors: Clment
Arsenault and Kimiz Dalkir . http://www.cais-acsi.ca/proceedings/2007/smiraglia_2007.pdf
Wilkinson, L. (2014, August 27). Librarians as delegates [Web log post]. Retrieved from
https://senseandreference.wordpress.com/2014/08/27/librarians-as-delegates/
Wilson, P. (1993) Communication Efficiency in Research and Development. Journal of the American Society for Information Science,
44(7), 376-382.
Wilson, P.; White, H. D. & Bates, M. J. (1992). For Information Specialists. Interpretations of Reference and Bibliographic Work.
Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publ. Corp.
Wilson, P. (n.d.). On Accepting the ASIST Award of Merit. Speech. Retrieved from http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Jan-02/wilson.html
Wilson, P. (2000). Philosopher of Information: An Eclectic Imprint on Berkeley's School of Librarianship, 1965-1991 [Interview by L.
McCreery]. In Online Archive of California. Retrieved from http://oac.cdlib.org/view?
docId=kt958006vr&brand=oac4&doc.view=entire_text
Wilson, P. (1977). Public Knowledge, Private Ignorance: Toward a Library and Information Policy. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Wilson, P. (1983a). Second-hand knowledge: An Inquiry into Cognitive Authority. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Wilson, P. (1968). Two Kinds of Power. An Essay on Bibliographical Control. Berkley: University of California Press.
Wilson, P. (1995). Unused relevant information in research and development. Journal Of The American Society For Information Science,
46, 45-51.