Series: Foundations of the Information Sciences

"I believe this book is the best introduction to information science available at present. It tackles both the philosophical basis and the most important branches, and it is based on solid knowledge about the contemporary literature of the field. If students have the knowledge provided by this introduction, this would be a fine basis on which to go further with specific problems."
- Birger Hjørland, Royal School of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark

"I have no doubts that, for many years to come, this wonderful book will serve as one of the very best places for people to start to make a difference."
- Jonathan Furner, Department of Information Studies, UCLA, USA

This landmark textbook takes a whole subject approach to Information Science as a discipline. Introduced by leading international scholars and offering a global perspective on the discipline, this is designed to be the standard text for students worldwide. The authors’ expert narrative guides you through each of the essential building blocks of information science offering a concise introduction and expertly chosen further reading and resources.

Critical topics covered include:

• foundations including the information society, historical perspectives and concepts
• organising and retrieving Information
• information behaviour and digital literacies
• technologies and digital libraries
• information research and methods
• changing contexts including publishing, e-science and digital humanities
• the future of the profession.

Readership: Students of information science, information and knowledge management, librarianship, archives and records management worldwide. Students of other information-related disciplines such as museum studies, publishing, and information systems and practitioners in all of these disciplines.

2012; 224pp; paperback; 978-1-85604-810-1; £49.95

Look inside this book

• Table of contents
• Chapter 1