"A Brilliant Mind": Margaret Egan and Social Epistemology

Margaret Egan (1905???59) taught at the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago (1946???55) and at the School of Library Science at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio (1955???59). With her colleague Jesse Shera, Egan wrote ???Foundations of a Theory of Bibliography??? for Library Quarterly in 1952; this article marked the fi rst appearance of the term ???social epistemology.??? After Egan???s death, Shera has often been credited for the idea of social epistemology. However, there is ample evidence to show that it was Egan who originated the concept???one that is commonly viewed as fundamental to the theoretical foundations of library and information science.published or submitted for publicatio

Information science is neither

Information science is not a science, nor is it primarily about information. In this paper, an argument is developed in support of the latter claim. A working definition of information is proposed, and doubts are raised about the extent to which each of five core subfields of information science/studies (information behavior, information retrieval, infometrics, information organization, and information ethics) has to do with information as defined. Several alternative candidates for the primary phenomenon of interest shared by those working in all five subfields are considered: these include data studies; knowledge studies; metadata studies; representation studies; relevance studies; and (as a branch of cultural studies) collection, preservation, and access studies. A prime candidate is identified, and some implications of such a reading for the application of philosophical approaches to information science/studies are highlighted

The Ontology of Documents, Revisited

Three contributions are made to understanding the nature of documents. A survey of definitions of document from the last century shows that those definitions which most accurately reflect the ways in which the term document is used in practice are typically compound definitions, consisting of two or three elements that each refer to a different function of documents: medium, message, and meaning. Locating documents in E. J. Lowe\u27s four-category ontology results in consideration of documents as universals rather than as particulars. Analysis of B. Smith\u27s theory of document acts suggest that all documents, not just the ones that are involved in declarations, are creative in the special sense that they are generative of quasi-abstract entities of the kind that collectively comprise social reality

User-interface issues for browsing digital video

In this paper we examine a suite of systems for content-based indexing and browsing of digital video and we identify a superset of features and functions which are provided by these systems. From our classification of these we have identified that common to all is the fact of being predominantly technology-based, with little attention paid to actual user requirements. As part of our work we are developing an application for content-based browsing of digital video which will incorporate the most desirable but achievable of the functions of other systems. This will be achieved via a series of continuously refined demonstrator systems from Spring 1999 onwards which will be subjected to analysis of performance in terms of user

Information and Design: Book Symposium on Luciano Floridi’s The Logic of Information

Purpose – To review and discuss Luciano Floridi’s 2019 book The Logic of Information: A Theory of Philosophy as Conceptual Design, the latest instalment in his philosophy of information (PI) tetralogy, particularly with respect to its implications for library and information studies (LIS). Design/methodology/approach – Nine scholars with research interests in philosophy and LIS read and responded to the book, raising critical and heuristic questions in the spirit of scholarly dialogue. Floridi responded to these questions. Findings – Floridi’s PI, including this latest publication, is of interest to LIS scholars, and much insight can be gained by exploring this connection. It seems also that LIS has the potential to contribute to PI’s further development in some respects. Research implications – Floridi’s PI work is technical philosophy for which many LIS scholars do not have the training or patience to engage with, yet doing so is rewarding. This suggests a role for translational work between philosophy and LIS. Originality/value – The book symposium format, not yet seen in LIS, provides forum for sustained, multifaceted and generative dialogue around ideas