Information science in 2010: A Loughborough University view

Ron Summers, Charles Oppenheim, Jack Meadows, Cliff McKnight and Margaret Kinnell

Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 1999, vol. 50, issue 12, 1153-1162

Abstract: This article presents issues relating to the future direction of the information science discipline. A 10‐year time horizon is chosen so that predictions will not be influenced unduly by change in the information environment. To know where the discipline is going relies on knowledge of where it has been; this trajectory is investigated in terms of its historical development. The scientific basis of information science is addressed, together with issues relating to an all encompassing definition for the term “information.” Moving from theory into practice raises further issues, and an acknowledgment is made to the gradual change from its genesis as an academic discipline in the 1950s to its practitioner base in the 1990s. It is suggested that the wheel will turn full circle by 2010, during which time a lot of effort will be expended unifying methodologies that underpin different perspectives of the multifaceted term, information. Core activities are suggested, and indication made to exemplar application areas that allow the best practice to be identified. Management issues, such as performance measurement, are also alluded to. The conclusions drawn show that information science will make a significant contribution to other disciplines (e.g., manufacturing, business, healthcare), and that a number of opportunities and challenges will present themselves.

Date: 1999
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https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(1999)50:123.0.CO;2-H

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