Course Description


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LIS 9100 (602) (Winter 2011)  Philosophy of Library and Information Science

Instructor: B. Frohmann

Relationship to the Goals and Objectives of the MLIS Program

Students who complete this course will be able to:

  1. begin to develop a philosophy of library and information science that demonstrates an awareness of professional values and standards and fosters intellectual and professional growth (from Goal 2, Obj. 1a);
  2. respond to change in a spirit of intellectual inquiry, forming sound opinions based on critical analysis of important issues in library and information science (from Goal 2, Obj. 1b).

Goals and Objectives of the MLIS Program

Course Description
Selected philosophical issues in library and information science. Development of a critical analysis of the social context of information, for continued intellectual and professional growth.

Course Objectives
  1. To distinguish and analyse selected important philosophical issues in library and information science.
  2. To develop insight and attitudes which foster continued intellectual and professional growth.
  3. To provide an opportunity for each student to formulate a philosophy of library and information science.

Sample Content (for information only)
  1. Philosophical approaches to the question, What is information?
  2. The relationship between documentation and social relations.
  3. The relationship between technology and information.
  4. Foucault on the fantasia of the library.
  5. Postmodern analyses of information
  6. The future of the book.
  7. Information in a globalized neo-liberal economy.
  8. Studies of information.
  9. The cognitive viewpoint in LIS.
  10. Discourse analysis in LIS.
  11. Philosophical issues in classification theory.


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