There is no doubting the credentials of David Bawden and Lyn Robinson to write this new Introduction to Information Science set in a UK context supplemented by viewpoints from international specialists. As eminent researchers and teachers in information science working at City University London they have first-hand experience of the nature of the discipline and have set a very clear aim of providing a textbook for students studying all of the information and information-related disciplines and a sourcebook for practitioners in those disciplines.
The fact that it is a textbook informs its structure with each chapter beginning with an introduction of what is to be covered and what excluded, followed by clear expositions of the topic and concluding with a list of summary points and key readings as well as a list of references.
The book comprises 15 chapters as follows:
What is information science? Disciplines and professions.
History of information: the story of documents.
Philosophies and paradigms of information science.
Basic concepts of information science.
Domain analysis.
Information organization.
Information technologies: creation, dissemination and retrieval.
Informetrics.
Information behaviour.
Communicating information: changing contexts.
Information society.
Information management and policy.
Digital literacy.
Information research: what and how?
The future of information sciences.
As can be seen from the range of topics covered the authors have set themselves an ambitious task but together the chapters provide a comprehensive and extensive introduction to information science. Inevitably it was impossible to provide detailed coverage of each topic. The authors have determined the level of detail they provide depending on the extent of relevant comprehensive material in other sources.
Throughout the authors strive to demonstrate and explore the scientific foundations of information science and argue the case well. They explain that there is no base of theory specific to information science so focus on the philosophies and paradigms which have been adopted by those working in information science. I was particularly interested in the chapters on Domain Analysis and Informetrics which not only provided very clear explanations but also extensive references. The final chapter on the future of the information sciences is both thoughtful and optimistic for the discipline(s).
One very interesting element is the series of forewords from international authors in the field of information science. I particularly liked the one from Andrew Dillon with his “call to arms for better, serious, theoretically strong scholarship on information and its role in our world” recognising that information study and theory is not exclusive to any discipline nor restricted to what he calls “traditional collections”. He also emphasizes the need for research into the role of information in whatever is happening in the world today.
Throughout the book the extent of the references is both a positive and a negative as at times their quantity interferes with the flow of the exposition. This means that it is not a book to read from cover to cover but that is not surprising given it is a textbook.
Despite the publisher's claims I'm not sure how useful the book will be for practitioners as I suspect that not all of them would have ready access to the sources referenced. I also doubt its value as a core text for students in the other information and information-related disciplines such as museum studies, archives and records management and publishing. Despite these reservations and its price of £49.95, which seems to be the norm for textbooks today, this book, I'm sure, will become and merits to be the standard introduction for students of information science in the English-speaking world.
