Information Science Abstracts: Tracking the Literature of Information Science. Part 1: Definition and Map

Information Science Abstracts (ISA) is the oldest abstracting and indexing (A&I) publication covering the field of information science. A&I publications play a valuable “gatekeeping” role in identifying changes in a discipline by tracking its literature. This article briefly reviews the history of ISA as well as the history of attempts to define “information science” because the American Documentation Institute changed its name to ASIS in 1970. A new working definition of the term for ISA is derived from both the historical review and current technological advances. The definition departs from the previous document-centric definitions and concentrates on the Internet-dominated industry of today. Information science is a discipline drawing on important concepts from a number of closely related disciplines that become a cohesive whole focusing on information. The relationships between these interrelated disciplines are portrayed on a “map” of the field, in which the basic subjects are shown as a central “core” with related areas surrounding it.

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