Wissenskluefte. Von (Null) Mengen und (Un) Summen - Leerstand und Fülle in der Informationsgesellschaft

The article is based on a presentation on the occasion of a public lecture at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences within a series of lecture dealing with the theme “emptiness and abundance” in day-to-day live in the state of Brandenburg . In this text empty stacks in university libraries are confronted with the prosperity of the so called information society. We never had more scientific publications than today and information resources as well as information technology never was so widespread than now. Nevertheless recent studies not only prove the existence of a digital divide between Eastern and Western Germany but also show the increased need for information literacy amongst students and professors throughout the whole country. But neither national information policy nor local strategies from university libraries remedy to the problem of the divide between information abundance and increasing lack of information literacy. It is shown that most students and academics learn in an autodidactic way by trial and error. The article therefore argues for national licences for qualitative information resources instead of scarce individual user training

LIS education in germany: recent achievements and new trends

The author gives an overview on recent changes in Library and Information Science education in Germany in terms of changes in degrees delivered and with regard to changes in curricula.Some smaller schools have been closed in recent years in Germany too, many other changes their names by dropping the L-word. But on the other hand there are some very positive developments.There is a substantive trend to a diversification of basic degrees. The new mode of basic (dual) three-year instruction at the apprenticeship (non-university) level (called “FAMI”) is reaching a wide spread success despite some technical problems. This causes some self consciousness problems for the university (Fachhochschul-) Diploma which are about to enter the European arena by changing from a four year Diploma to a three year Bachelor. The still existing differences between University degrees and Fachhochschuldiploma on the other hand tend to vanish when most of the educational programmes will offer their own Masters’ with quite distinctive profiles.The apprenticeship courses offered at the non-university undergraduate level are quite integrative: combining to a large extend contents and competencies for libraries, information centres, archives and image archives. At the bachelor level some “ABD”-integrative trends have been lost during recent years while others are gained. There seems to be either a strong concentration on management and IT topics whereas classical themes like library history or children literature are getting out of sight. At some schools this is seen as a certain loss of contact between educators and traditional LIS practitioners.In addition to the stress laid upon management themes there is a new possibility to train social and personal competenciesThe overwhelming attention is given to the structural changes involved with the Bologna process. In some parts of Germany this process has been forced by the local governments while in others there seem to be a more hesitant feeling about the new modes of university life.The flourishing new Masters’ degrees are justified in a good demand for continuing education especially on the management level. In addition to that the only university chair for Library Science in Germany (at the traditional Humboldt University in Berlin) is gaining new standing by delivering a continuing number of PhD’s thus contributing to the enlargement of the stock of knowledge necessary for our complex field

Can digital libraries generate knowledge?

"This paper argues that the information processing paradigm which is still fundamental to digital library engineering is not adequate for the way in which information and informational objects - as stored in Digital Library systems - should be treated. The recent move within information science towards emancipation from the Shannon/ Weaver information theory concept provides some indications of how Digital Libraries could be conceptualized in a way that has not yet been implemented in standardized formal frameworks such as the DELOS or the 5S-Framework. A deeper understanding of information processes beyond the concepts and usage of such systems could help to make better use of the enormous potential and resources in the field of Digital Library engineering. Resulting effects could be the way in which knowledge transfer and acquisition processes are supported by adequate interfaces and, subsequently, by new ways of embedding collections in communities of information practice, such as research teams or learning groups." (author's abstract

Hermann Rösch: Informationsethik und Bibliotheksethik. Grundlagen und Praxis. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Saur, 2021 (Bibliotheks- und Informationspraxis: 68). XVI + 584 S., 10 Tabellen. ISBN 978-3-11-051959-4, 69,95 €

Peer Reviewe

Hermann Rösch: Informationsethik und Bibliotheksethik. Grundlagen und Praxis. Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter Saur, 2021

Peer Reviewe

Historia ex machina: der EDV-Einsatz in der Geschichtswissenschaft und eine Erinnerung an seine Voraussetzungen

Der Beitrag stellt das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen der "Rigorosität der Maschinen" und den Unschärfen des historisch-philologischen Erkenntnisprozesses in den Mittelpunkt. Die geisteswissenschaftlichen Traditionen des Subjektivismus und Methodenpluralismus stehen quer zu den Kodifikations- und Stringenzerfordernissen einer "automatisierten Argumentation" in Expertensystemen oder der formalen Modellierung komplexer Strukturen und Prozesse. Allerdings scheinen neuere Entwicklungen im Bereich der Mathematik und deren Adaptionen in der Informatik, wie etwa die Theorie der unscharfen Mengen, die Theorie der fraktalen Objekte sowie Katastrophen- und Chaostheorien eine Annäherung zwischen geisteswissenschaftlichen Orientierungen und dem naturwissenschaftlichen Paradigma bewirken zu können. (pmb