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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Library and information science (LIS) is the study of issues
related to libraries. This includes
academic studies (most often surveys) about how library resources are used and
how people interact with library systems. These studies tend to be specific to
certain libraries at certain times. The organization of knowledge for efficient
retrieval of relevant information is also a major research goal of LIS. Basic
topics in LIS include the acquisition, cataloging, classification,
and preservation of library materials. In a more present-day view, a fervent
outgrowth of LIS is information architecture. LIS should not be confused with information theory,
the mathematical study of the concept of information.
LIS is distinct from librarianship, which is the
practical services rendered by librarians in their day-to-day attempt
to meet the needs of library patrons. Librarianship tends not to create new LIS
knowledge, nor to strive to advance any field or discipline. Librarians only
rarely engage in LIS research, and then usually outside their jobs as
librarians. But the study of LIS is part of the requisite training of
librarians. This difference between LIS and librarianship creates tension
between academics and practitioners in that the academicians stress original
research and the publishing of that research while the people hiring librarians
want someone who can run a library efficiently. The balance of theory and
practice differs from one educational institution to the next.
The term library and information science should not be broken into
these separate pieces. LIS is a hybrid academic field that grew from library
schools' fight for survival in the electronic age. The politics of academia,
issues of status and prestige, issues of perceived obsolescence and other forces
created these programs. Programs in LIS are interdisciplinary,
overlapping with the fields of computer science,
various social sciences, statistics,
and systems' analysis.
The field of LIS is not defined by its output of information specialists
(usually librarians), but by the "information specialists" who remain in
academia teaching and doing research, by its literature, its journals and all
the other ways in which an academic discipline is defined, the study of which,
by the way, falls within the scope of LIS.
Important LIS institutions and resources:
- American
Library Association, http://www.ala.org/
- OCLC (Online
Computer Library Center), http://www.oclc.org/
- Library of
Congress, http://www.loc.gov/
- International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA),
http://www.ifla.org/
- Council on Library and Information Resources, http://www.clir.org/
- University
of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science, http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/
- Long Island
University Palmer School of Library and Information Science, http://palmer.cwpost.liu.edu/
- University of
Alberta School of Library and Information Studies, http://www.slis.ualberta.ca/
- University
of Texas at Austin School of Information, http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/
- Digital
Library of Information Science and Technology http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/
- The National Information Standards
Organization (http://www.niso.org)
- Indiana
University School of Library and Information Science (SLIS), http://www.slis.indiana.edu/
- McGill University
Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, http://www.gslis.mcgill.ca/
- Syracuse
University School of Information Studies, http://www.ist.syr.edu/
- University of
Michigan School of Information, http://www.si.umich.edu/
- University of
Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences, http://www2.sis.pitt.edu/
- Clarion University of Pennsylvania Department of Library Science, http://www.clarion.edu/libsci/
- University
of California, Berkeley School
of Information Management and Systems, http://sims.berkeley.edu/
- University of
Washington Information School, http://www.ischool.washington.edu/
- University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Information and Library
Science, http://www.ils.unc.edu/
- University of
North Texas School of Library and Information Sciences, http://www.unt.edu/slis/
- Dominican University (River Forest, IL) Graduate School of Library and
Information Science, http://www.dom.edu/gslis/
- University of
Rhode Island Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, http://www.uri.edu/artsci/lsc/
- Simmons College
Graduate School of Library & Information Science, http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/
- University of
Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science, http://www.sir.arizona.edu/
- Emporia State
University (KS) School of Library and Information Management, http://slim.emporia.edu/
- University at
Albany, State
University of New York School of Information Science & Policy, http://www.albany.edu/sisp/
- University of
Toronto, Faculty of Information Studies http://www.fis.utoronto.ca/index_MSIE.htm
- Canadian Library Association, http://www.cla.ca/
- Australian Library and Information Association, http://www.alia.org.au/
- American Society for Information Science and Technology, http://www.asis.org/
Some current LIS issues:
See also
External links
