T. Weller
Many writings on the history of Information Science are criticised as being ahistorical for ignoring the context of time, and the different ways in which things were viewed by contemporaries – a fundamental issue for the Historian. Often these ‘histories’ of Information Science focus on the development of a particular technology, or the rise of the internet, or place modern day assumptions on why and how things developed as they did – a dangerous teleological position in itself. However, criticisms can also be made of Historians who write on Information Science themes. History as a discipline is centred around evidence and information – how it is used, who it is used by, what can be discovered from all aspects of it – and yet historical accounts invariably skim over concepts such as ‘the information society’, the commoditization of information, and most significantly, the role and impact of the actual information itself, all of which have their own literatures within the Information Science discipline.
In recent years there has been an emerging trend of academics from both disciplines looking at what are fundamentally similar concepts, but from such different approaches that there is an increasing grey area of missed opportunity for research. Coming from a background in both History and Information Science, this paper will attempt a start at redressing the balance by examining the historiography of the topic and exploring the potential of ‘Informational History’. It will conclude with a look at the interdisciplinary possibilities for History and Information Science.
|
