Towards establishing an epistemological position for library and information science

Bibliography: leaves 497-531.This study examines the need for and value of a theory of knowledge for library and information science that would account for the 'Ways in which given philosophical assumptions lead to certain modes of professional practice and styles of academic research. Since given theoretical standpoints influence the nature of library practice and tend to structure the way in which library and information science research is conducted, this investigation focuses on an analysis of the fundamental conceptions of knowledge, information, truth and reality in the context of the unique complex of functions of this profession. The main method applied in this study is a representative consultation and review of the literatures of library and information science, and of a few cognate or classical fields of study. A special focus is the examination and analysis of the writings of more than 40 selected library and information science theorists, as well as those of non-librarians. The inductively-derived results of this examination are reflected in analytical typologies. The holistic intellectual tradition that underlies the presumed continuities and commonalities in the typologies is developed as a framework for developing suitable criteria to establish and evaluate an appropriate epistemological position for library and information science. An epistemological position called holistic perspectivism is proposed as one which satisfies the postulated criteria. A graphic model of this position is explained as a means of demonstrating the application of holistic perspectivism in given areas of the knowledge-transfer role of library and information science

Reading authors of the Enlightenment at the Cape of Good Hope from the late 1780s to the mid 1830s

With few exceptions, the study of intellectual traditions in South Africa generally ignores their material traces. The embodiment of ideas and languages in books, pamphlets, newspapers and other media does, however, matter. An analysis of the inventories and catalogues of private book collections, subscription libraries and book sales, of minutes of a reading society, and of newspaper articles and advertisements reveals that Enlightenment authors were not unknown at the Cape in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This article explains how their works were collected, circulated and read, unearthing the material traces of Enlightenment ideas, so that it becomes possible to source some of the Enlightenment print culture origins of Cape liberalism.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjss232019-10-16hj2019Information Scienc

African librarianship rising!

The two African Library Summits are reviewed. Sources for the review are analyses of plenary presentations and discussions, formal feedback from the drill-down session coordinators, and personal observation.http://idv.sagepub.com/hb201

Information histories, information geographies

Information history, a promising new area of research, will benefit from a transnational perspective that makes it sensitive to the idea of place and that complicates issues of national information development and underdevelopment.http://idv.sagepub.com/content/28/2/9

The notebook of Johannes Smiesing (1697-1734), writing and reading master in the Cape slave lodge

No abstract available.http://www.nlsa.ac.za

Reacting to Timbuktu

Comments posted on the website of the Library and Information Association of South Africa regarding the destruction of a library in Timbuktu are analyzed to reveal how we talk about the preservation and destruction of libraries, books, and manuscripts.http://idv.sagepub.com/hb201

Charting the transformation of library and information services

A charter cannot transform library and information services without political champions, public pressure, norms and standards, legislation, and a transformed mind-set.http://idv.sagepub.comhb201

What we don’t (but should) teach young researchers

Emotions in research remain largely unaddressed. One reason is that we are beholden to a narrow social scientific conception of LIS (library and information science). By teaching young researchers where and how emotions operate in all phases of the research process we will discover some unexpected insights.http://idv.sagepub.com/hb201

Librarians and crises in the ‘old’ and ‘new’ South Africa

This article reviews the responses of librarians to crises in the ‘old’ and ‘new’ South Africa. It draws on primary and secondary sources to tell the stories of librarians during personal, political and professional crises. States of emergency, censorship legislation, political and xenophobic violence in South Africa since the 1960s are some of the sources for these crises. Librarians and the wider library-caring community have adapted their strategies to champion the freedom of access to information and freedom of expression.http://ifl.sagepub.comInformation Scienc