The French Conception of Information science. "Une exception française"?

International audienceThe French conception of Information science is often contrasted to the Anglophone one, which is perceived as different and rooted mainly in Shannon's mathematical theory of communication. While there is such thing as a French conception of information science, this conception is not totally divorced from the Anglophone one. Unbeknownst to researchers from the two geographical and cultural regions, they share similar conceptions of the field and invoke similar theoretical foundations, in particular the socio-constructivist theory. There is also a convergence of viewpoints on the dual nature of information science, i.e., the fact that it is torn between two competing paradigms - objectivist and subjectivist. Technology is another area where a convergence of viewpoints is noticeable: scholars from both geographic and cultural zones display the same suspicion towards the role of technology and of computer science. It would therefore be misleading to uphold the view that Anglophone information science is essentially objectivist and technicist while the French conception is essentially social and rooted in the humanities. This paper highlights converging analyses from authors based in both linguistic and geographical regions with the aim to foster a better understanding of the challenges that information science is facing worldwide and to help trace a path to how the global information science community can try to meet them

Theoretical Backbone of Library and Information Science: A Quest

This study primarily aims to identify unique theories and specific uses of theories in the library and information science (LIS) domain. It provides a comprehensive list of the theories used in LIS journal articles indexed by Scopus (an abstract and citation database) from 1970–2021. It expands on the most common theories and highlights the areas and purposes for which used theories in the LIS domain. Our goal is to demonstrate the usages and applications of various borrowed theories from complementary disciplines in the LIS domain. A systematical methodology is applied, following a few open-source AI-based software packages (such as ASReview, and OpenRefine), to analyse the theories against different parameters, keeping in mind the drawbacks of the previous studies. The study's findings show that the LIS domain's theoretical foundations are understudied. Researchers mainly borrowed theories from social sciences such as sociology, psychology, and management studies to solidify their domain. The paper provides a clear road map for the theoretical development of LIS research. And the resulting outputs may help policymakers, academicians, and researchers, irrespective of disciplines in general and information science in particular, understand the foundations and theoretical and methodological trends of theories that may lead to a better understanding of the theories before their selection and applications

Children in outdoor contexts : affordances and independent mobility in the assessment of environmental child friendliness

According to James J. Gibson, the concept of the affordance refers to the functionally significant properties of the environment, and provides a psychologically relevant means to analyze evolving child-environment relationships. Affordances operationalize the transactional approach. Thus the concept allows researchers to bring the material environment back into the realm of environmental psychology. The framework of ecological perceptual psychology, and in particular the concept of the affordance, was utilized in determining the criteria for child-friendly environments. An assessment model for a child-friendly environment was constructed, which comprises two central criteria for environmental child friendliness: children's possibilities for independent mobility and their opportunities to actualize affordances. By combining various degrees of these two criteria, four hypothetical types of environment were distinguished, Bullerby, Wasteland, Cell, and Glasshouse. The Bullerby type represents a child-friendly environment, as it allows a positive interactive cycle to develop between a child and the environment. In the Bullerby type sufficient possibilities for independent mobility enables to a child to discover environmental affordances. Actualized affordances for their part motivate the child to move around more in the environment, which creates more possibilities for new affordances to become actualized. The empirical results from the study of eight- and nine-year-old children indicated that the developed model was sensitive enough to assess the child friendliness of different communities in Finland and Belarus (Belorussia). All hypothesized environmental types appeared in the data. Each neighborhood had a unique combination of affordances and independent mobility in terms of the model. The Bullerby type of setting abounded in the Finnish communities. The Cell, Wasteland, and Glasshouse types of environment were the most common in the Belorussian data. In general, the proportion of Bullerby-type settings decreased and that of Glasshouse-type settings increased as the degree of urbanization rose. The two-dimensional assessment model presented here could be further developed so that it includes a third dimension such as, for example, the emotional value of affordances for children. At the same time an essential future challenge for ecological perceptual psychology, that of studying the motivational basis of affordances, could be met. As the transactional approach of environmental psychology allows for the integration of children's experiences with the material world, it provides information that can be used in the design and planning of child-friendly environments.reviewe

An investigation into the effect of corporate philanthropy on staff wellbeing at a small company in the South African marketing industry

In many service industries, the source of a company’s value has shifted from capital to knowledge and ideas, the quality of which is dependent on its employees (Wooldridge, 2006). In fact, human resources can be considered part of factor conditions which can positively impact on a firm’s competitive context. This impact can ultimately translate into improved financial results (Porter and Kramer, 2002). There is therefore a growing interest in ways to attract and retain talent. According to the managers of many big companies, well communicated corporate responsibility practices can improve staff attraction as well as retention rates by improving morale (CSRwire, 2002). To explore this, a small, creative company in Johannesburg which engages in charity work was selected as a case study, with the goal being to understand whether their culture of good deeds has a positive impact on staff wellbeing. While the owner of the company actively attempts to make the company an enjoyable place to work at, he appears to have initiated the philanthropic activities in a true spirit of giving, rather than with the motive of engaging staff in order to make more money. Nevertheless, the researcher’s investigative stance is that of an enlightened egoist, and the study focuses on the business case of giving being beneficial to the giver (ultimately the company) in the long term, as well as to the recipient. While the danger of suggesting that philanthropy could be instrumentalised is acknowledged (Morton, 2004), the investigation explores the possibility because such evidence could persuade other companies to become more socially concerned. Through a qualitative approach involving interviews, observation and analysis of video footage, it becomes apparent that there is clearly value for the staff in the charity work they do. Unfortunately the multiple initiatives undertaken to keep staff morale high at the company make it impossible to establish a clear link between the philanthropy and overall wellbeing, but as the study was conducted in the phenomenological paradigm the main concern was with understanding the experience of participants. However, an unexpected finding was that the employees derive great satisfaction from using their professional skills for charity work rather than just donating money to the charity. They feel that their skills uniquely position them to make significant changes to the lives of others, which gives them a sense of pride and achievement that they don’t necessarily experience in their ordinary activities at work. On the basis of this, it is recommended that companies look to involve staff with projects that require their specific expertise when evaluating philanthropic initiatives.Thesis (MBA) -- Faculty of Commerce, Rhodes Investec Business School, 200

A sociological analysis of the provision of extended studies as a means of addressing transformation at a historically white university

Foundation provisioning has a long history in South Africa, and is central to the transformation agenda, particularly the broadening of successful participation in higher education (HE). As access initiatives underpinned by various conceptualisations, foundation programmes evolved from peripheral, to semi-integrated and finally fully integrated curricular models in the form of current Extended Studies Programmes (ESPs). Underpinning the provision of Extended Studies is the acknowledgment that students who enter institutions are essentially ill equipped to cope with the demands of higher education studies, “leaving institutions themselves free of the responsibility of student failure” (Akoojee & Nkomo, 2007:391). This under-preparedness has been attributed to the ‘articulation gap’ between secondary and higher education, which in turn contributes to low retention and graduation rates (CHE, 2013:17). Situated within an overarching commitment to access and success, the Extended Studies Programme attempts to systematically address the ‘articulation gap’. This study evaluated the extent to which the Rhodes University Humanities Extended Studies Programme is achieving its objectives from a transformation perspective, specifically the broadening of successful participation in higher education. The majority of previous works on the evaluation of foundation programmes focused on measurable dimensions of student access and success – that is retention and graduation rates. This thesis considered both the measurable outcomes of the programme as well as the actual teaching and learning process. Given the shifts that have taken place in foundation provisioning, the evaluation of the current model of foundation provisioning necessitated their location in history. Therefore, the evaluation of the Rhodes University Humanities Extended Studies Programme was undertaken in view of the shifts, achievements, challenges and critics of its predecessor programmes. Specifically, the following dimensions were considered in the evaluation of the programme: i) assumptions underpinning the design and purpose of the programme, ii) teaching and learning practices in the programme, iii) student and staff perceptions of the programme, iv) students’ experiences of the programme, v) the validity of the programme in the broader institution, and vi) the measurable outcomes of the programme − that is retention and graduation rates of students enrolled in the programme. The triangulation of qualitative data collection techniques provided access into the different layers of institutional relations, processes and structures, which not only affect teaching and learning in the programme, but also determine students’ engagement with different academic and social aspects of the broader university. The theoretical insights of Pierre Bourdieu and Amartya Sen were integrated in order to provide analytical tools for both understanding the causes of inequalities in higher education, and evaluating institutional processes and structures that perpetuate or transform inequalities. Whilst Bourdieu’s social reproduction thesis exposed the ways in which social structures shape educational processes and outcomes, Sen’s capability approach provided tools for evaluating both institutional arrangements and individual capabilities – that is, the freedom to achieve desired educational outcomes (Sen, 1992:48)