Information Science Practice in a Historical Perspective: Preliminary Findings of an Oral History Project
Ellen Pozzi Department of Library and Information Science, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University, 4 Huntington Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. Email: epozzi@scils.rutgers.edu. Marija Dalbello Department of Library and Information Science, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University, 4 Huntington Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. Email: dalbello@scils.rutgers.edu.
Oral history is a phenomenological method of historical inquiry. It is applied to the study of the organizational field of information science through interviews with members of the New Jersey chapter of the national information science organization (ASIST). Their views on the identity of the chapter and their own professional identity in that context, and on the development and maturation of information science field over the past thirty years are considered in the sociology of culture framework. This approach can open new directions for historical inquiry of information science in the national context, understanding the research / practice dynamics, and the institutionalization of information science field.