I.

Introduction

Information Science, interdisciplinary academic field that deals with the generation, collection, organization, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of recorded knowledge. People sometimes mistakenly use information science as a synonym for library science. Although it is related to library science, information science is a separate discipline.

II.

Library Science and Information Science

Library science, more accurately labeled librarianship, is a professional area of study designed to prepare individuals for careers as librarians. Librarians are primarily concerned with such tasks as evaluating, processing, storing, and retrieving information. Librarians also help library patrons use collections, software, and online public access catalogs (OPACs). Most graduate school programs in library science incorporate the study of information science in the curriculum. See also Library.

Information science combines elements of librarianship with ideas and technologies from many other fields, including social sciences, computer science, mathematics, electrical engineering, linguistics, management, neuroscience, and information systems theory. Within the field of information science, information may be defined as the knowledge contained in the human brain and in all electronic and written records. Information science is the scientific study of that information: how it is created, transmitted, encoded, transformed, retrieved, measured, used, and valued.

Information scientists analyze the many and various phenomena that affect any aspect of information. They are interested in studying such questions as the following: What is the effect of information on individuals and groups when it is presented in various formats? How do publication dates, frequency of citation, productivity and prominence of authors affect the relevance of literature on a given subject? (This field of study is known as bibliometrics.) How do humans and computers interact? What is the reliability of retrieving information from online databases and the Internet?

For the information scientist, therefore, the library is only one of several sites for information storage and usage. Information scientists may study information stored in archives, switching centers (systems that establish connections between electronic communications, such as e-mail), or institutions such as schools and businesses. Information scientists work in such places as medical centers, computing companies, university and corporate research institutes, and indexing companies. They are concerned with a wide range of activities, from creation of computer file structures to experimental tests of interactive communication between computers and humans.

III.

Education in Information Science

Educational programs in information science typically include the study of such academic fields as computer science, electrical engineering, linguistics, and mathematics. Most academic programs in information science are at the graduate level of higher education. A master's degree in information science requires training in such fields as mathematics and information theory combined with practical skills in areas such as management and computer programming. Doctoral studies in information science include interdisciplinary work in the psychology of human information processing and decision-making, and in theories of knowledge organization and information processing. Academic programs in information science also require a firm grounding in the liberal arts and in the social sciences or life sciences.

IV.

History

The roots of information science are the field of documentation that emerged when digital computers were developed during the 1940s and early 1950s. During World War II (1939-1945) scientists involved in the war effort urgently required increased precision and thoroughness in their bibliographic searches of scientific journals. They developed more efficient searching methods by changing traditional kinds of classification, such as the Dewey Decimal Classification system, into information systems that could take advantage of the speed and accuracy of computers. In the 1940s and 1950s scientists introduced automated searching of files, advanced indexing techniques, and a standardized vocabulary for conducting searches. They later developed automated abstracts (summaries) of documents to further simplify access to research findings.

In the 1960s members of the scientific, legal, and business communities made extensive use of new, highly efficient computerized information systems. For example, lawyers transferred massive collections of their printed documents to computer databases so they could conduct searches quickly and accurately by computer. By 1980 nearly all professional and academic fields were relying on computerized information systems to perform a wide variety of tasks. As a result, information science had become a thoroughly interdisciplinary field, used in such diverse areas as computer science, linguistics, and sociology.

V.

Artificial Intelligence

Since the 1980s artificial intelligence (AI) has been the primary focus of research activity for information scientists. Artificial intelligence refers to a machine's capacity to mimic human thought and behavior. Using findings of information science research, scientists have created machines with AI that can understand spoken language and can make logical decisions. These machines can perform such diverse functions as playing chess, devising investment strategies, or helping physicians diagnose disease. In the 1990s information scientists developed an AI computer program that allows nonexperts to use their own natural language to retrieve information from databases that use more complicated programming languages. This allowed more people to find information—such as business data or medical records—that previously only a few computer experts could retrieve.

VI.

Challenges of the Future

Information scientists are working on better ways to manage massive databases containing not only text, but also numerical data; sound; and fixed, moving, and three-dimensional images. A major challenge for information scientists is to determine the extent to which information access systems can be made easy for nonspecialists to understand and use. Information scientists are also working to further their understanding of human thought processes.