Classification schemes of Information Science: Twenty-eight scholars map the field

The study, " Knowledge Map of Information Science, " was aimed at exploring the foundations of information science. The international panel was composed of 57 leading scholars from 16 countries who represent nearly all the major subfields and important aspects of the field. This particular article documents 28 classification schemes of Information Science that were compiled by leading scholars in the academic community. This unique collection of 28 classification schemes portrays and documents the profile of contemporary Information Science at the beginning of the 21st century. Context The field of Information Science (IS) is constantly changing. Therefore, information scientists are required to regularly review—and if necessary—redefine its fundamental building blocks. This article is part of a group of four articles, which resulted from a Critical Delphi study conducted in 2003–2005. The study, Knowledge Map of Information Science, explores the theoretical foundations of information science. It maps the conceptual approaches for defining data, information, and knowledge (Zins, 2007b), as well as the major conceptions of Information Science (Zins, 2007a). It portrays the profile of contemporary Information Science by documenting 28 classification schemes compiled by leading scholars over the course of the study, which are presented here; and culminates in developing a scientifically based and theoretically grounded knowledge map (Zins, 2007c). Formulating a knowledge map—which is equivalent here to a subject classification scheme—means to set the boundaries of the field and define its main parts. This article is focused on exploring how leading scholars and practitioners in the academic milieu map the field. This exploration is an important step on the road to understanding the essence of contemporary information science and to ground the mapping of the field on empirical data. Knowledge Mapping Knowledge mapping plays an essential role in the construction , learning, and dissemination of knowledge (Zins, 2004). How do information scientists structure the field of Information Science? The literature provides thousands of knowledge maps; not all of them are comprehensive and systematic. In fact, most of them are partial, incomplete, and inconsistent. Knowledge maps of the field can be found in Abstract [ISA] and Library and Information Science Abstract [LISA]), thesauri Annual Meeting), course syllabi, introductory texts, and encyclopedia entries. Nearly every book on information science explicitly or implicitly presents a knowledge map of the relevant body of knowledge in its table of contents. Still the structuring has to be systematic. Formulating a systematic knowledge map should be based …