Volume 51, Issue 3

Various definitions of information are used in the service of library and information science, a discipline that currently is in a state of flux. The discipline of Science and Technology Studies examines the production of scientific knowledge, and its methods are best used during times of instability in scientific disciplines. Arguments from Bruno Latour's Pandora's Hope are used with historical context to explain the co-evolution of librarianship and information science in the 20 th century. Latour's circulating chains of reference model illustrates how real-world phenomena are gradually abstracted into scientific ideas and artifacts. The information thus produced becomes the chief actant in library and information science. These chains have five main components: links and knots, public representation, alliances, autonomisation, mobilisation of the world. Illustrative examples are given relating each component to library and information science, and an alternative definition of information is developed from this model.

This paper creates a taxonomic model for visual information displays looking at three levels: information design (based on Edward Tufte's work), information architecture, and information spaces. Special attention is paid to the use of spatial and navigational metaphors in visual systems as they affect the user's experience. Especially interesting is how a user creates an “information space” – a mental model of what he has seen, how she keeps track of where she is within a system, and how these activities fit together with the data that is being sought. Mathematics is one area that holds promise for better understanding how people visualise information spaces. Vague terms like space, shape, and distance (all implied by the navigation metaphor) have far more refined conceptualisations within mathematics. By harnessing the descriptive powers of mathematics, we can more aptly describe and understand the process of metaphor creation. Secondly, studying comic books and how they are read (McCloud 1993) holds much promise for understanding how people navigate electronic systems. Comics are 2-D sequentially arranged (or at least juxtaposed) combinations of images and text, much like computer screens. People used to reading such visual constructions are better able to navigate through complex information systems. Finally, the use of spatial or navigational metaphors necessarily implies a temporal dimension as well, which leads to certain subtle, but important differences when comparing navigation through electronic environments as opposed to real world ones.

Digital libraries, to fulfil their true potential, must display features and exploit skills more readily associated with traditional library service. To an extent this has already happened: collection management has become the process of Internet resource discovery, while document cataloguing skills have been applied to the creation of Internet resource metadata repositories. This paper argues that there are certain areas of traditional classification, knowledge management and physical library arrangement that have special applicability to electronic collection building. However, librarians have often failed to appreciate this relevance. In particular, they have not recognised the significance of browsing in the traditional library, and have replicated this failure in their approach to electronic collection building. Concentrating on British academic libraries, this paper explores knowledge management at the level of the local library, the Metropolitan Area Network and the United Kingdom's Distributed National Electronic Resource. The principle of ownership of intellectual property is examined in terms of its relationship with interface design. Positive future trends are described.

A relationship might be expected to occur between the kind of search people say they are undertaking and the information they actually find. For example those with a longstanding illness will have particular information needs and we would expect those needs to be reflected in what they view and what they are interested in. The research reported here uses questionnaire data to establish links between the reason for a user's search and what they actually found. The research confirms that, indeed, people do act rationally and with motivation and that the reason for their visit does have an impact on their information seeking behaviour. This was true for touch screen health information kiosks and for the Internet – the two information platforms featured in the research. The research also pinpoints and evaluates curious and general users as a consumer health information group and examines their information behaviour. Further, four types of Internet users were derived as identified by their topic of interest: ‘Alternative remedy’ user; ‘I want to stay healthy’ user; ‘Keep up to date’ user; and ‘I'm ill but want to know’ user.

Over the last half a century, North American universities have become diverse institutions with multicultural students and programmes in Women's studies, Black/African studies, regional studies and gay/lesbian/transgender studies. Academic libraries have responded to these changes and today most have policies or programmes in place to support diversity goals. Despite this good start, a closer examination of common collection, service and cataloguing practices reveals that libraries still have a significant way to go before becoming fully inclusive institutions. Using African studies as a case example this article considers current academic library practices which are problematic, or lacking, in terms of moving beyond whiteness. Top down commitment and an allocation of financial and staff resources are needed for academic libraries to shed lingering vestiges of eurocentricism and move forward towards meaningful cultural inclusivity.

This study was conducted to analyze the bio-bibliographic profile of faculty members of six library schools in the six member nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council in the Arabian Peninsula. Data were collected through a mailed instrument as well as from the resumes of these faculty members. Forty-nine out of sixty-five faculty members (75.4%) provided data. It was found that the mean age of these faculty members was 48.5. Most of them got their doctoral degrees from Western countries during the 1980s and the 1990s. The majority of them had considerable professional and managerial experience. Their instructional assignments have primarily been in the traditional areas of library operations and service. It was found that most of them have weak research and publication records. They are also quite inactive in professional service as few of them are engaged in continuing professional education activities and none of them is reported to be active in any national or regional professional forum.