Das Fach „Information History“

Nun hat die Informationsgeschichte auch ihre erste Monografie über das Fach selbst. Gerade erschienen ist:

Toni Weller: Information history : an introduction ; exploring an emergent field. Oxford: Chandos, 2008.

Das Buch

… explores how the contemporary values and concerns of our own information society have helped lead to a reconsideration of our history, and of what constitutes our historical understanding of information in the twenty-first century. … It takes a forward looking approach to the emergence of further LIS departments embracing it in their curriculum, and historians exploring the concept of information an explicit part of their research.

Content:

  • Introducing information history – The Information Age; information history in the 2000s; defining information; studying information
  • The relevance of information history – specific skills; general skills; contextualisation; development of the information profession
  • Key schools of thought in information history:
    • library and book history
    • the history of information systems and infrastructures
    • the history of information disciplines
    • cultural and social explorations of information
    • origins of the information society
  • Information history in practice – research; teaching
  • Looking forward – the next ten years