[Siguse-l] Newsflash: Bates & Hjørland Debate

Sun Sep 4 07:40:41 EDT 2011

Dear SIG-USErs,

I interrupt the previously scheduled message on "The Literature" of 
information behavior to draw attention to a debate unfolding in the 
broader realm of information science. [For new readers: my posts to the 
SIG-USE mailing list (archived on my website 
<http://www.jennahartel.com/1/post/2011/08/message-1-stay-tuned.html>) 
are written with students of information behavior foremost in mind.]

Recently Marcia J. Bates and Birger Hjørland have had an exchange in the 
pages of /JASIS&T/ that continues a long-running public conversation 
between the two. It is exciting to witness senior scholars championing 
their ideas, which serve as excellent fodder for students to discuss 
late into the night.

Below is an introduction to the situation and then remarks on a few 
implications for the information behavior research community. While I am 
an admirer and former student of Professors Bates and Hjørland, this 
statement does not take sides, has been approved by both participants as 
accurate, and cannot substitute for careful reading of the original 
papers (to that end references and hyperlinks are provided).

Marcia J. Bates <http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/>, professor 
emerita in the Department of Information Studies at the University of 
California, Los Angeles (USA), is the source of many breakthroughs in 
information science and information behavior specifically, in concepts 
such as /information search tactics/ (1979) and /berrypicking/ (1989); 
studies of the information behavior of humanists (1996); and as an 
editor and author of the /Encyclopedia of Library and Information 
Sciences/ (Bates & Maack, 2010). In her work, she seeks to illuminate 
information behavior in ways that integrate the biological, behavioral, 
and social elements of human interaction with information in he world.

Birger Hjørland 
<http://pure.iva.dk/en/persons/birger-hjoerland%283713cca6-7e15-4a2f-8938-680a776029d2%29.html>, 
professor at the Royal School of Library and Information Science 
(Copenhagen, Denmark), is the architect of a socio-cognitive or /domain 
analytic/ (Hjørland& Albrechtsen, 1995) perspective on information 
science. In this view information behavior is socially, culturally, and 
historically constructed (Hjørland, 2000). Hjørland's writings of late 
(2011a, 2011b), as a series entitled "The Importance of Theories of 
Knowledge," have sought to illuminate, critique, and strengthen the 
metatheoretical foundations of the field.

The debate between Bates and Hjørland is philosophical and 
multi-faceted. It concerns the nature of information (as objective 
and/or social -- see Bates, 2005, 2006 and Hjørland, 2007, 2009); the 
role of information science metatheories (as competing or complementary 
devices); and the merits of two major metatheories (empirical behavioral 
research and socio-cognitivism/domain analysis). The most recent volley 
has explored these issues within the concept of /browsing /(see Bates, 
2007, in press; Hjørland, 2011b, in press).

How is the public conversation between Bates and Hjørland relevant to 
the information behavior research community?

Foremost, followers of this debate are reminded of the importance of 
metatheory in information research and are exposed to two metatheories 
that may be used to orient scholarship. (The metatheories, empirical 
behavioral research and socio-cognitivism/domain analysis, are both 
influential approaches within the information behavior specialty.) And, 
readers are shown possible conceptions of "information" as physical, 
biological, social, objective, or subjective. These various renderings 
can deepen philosophical understanding of our central phenomenon and/or 
be used to operationalize a definition of information within empirical 
information behavior research. Further, these exchanges demonstrate how 
one concept -- browsing -- can be an epistemological and ontological hot 
spot, as can /any /information behavior notion. Finally, as observers of 
a public collision of minds we can refine our own communication and 
argumentation strategies.

Thanks to Professors Bates and Hjørland for these significant learning 
opportunities!

Other comments are welcome from members of the SIG-USE mailing list and 
beyond, especially remarks that engage these contested issues 
substantively (which was not the point here).

The next post, later in September, returns to the theme of "The 
Literature" of information behavior and features Donald Case's textbook 
/Looking for Information: Survey of Research on Information Seeking, 
Needs, and Behavior, 2nd ed/ 
<http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Information-Research-Seeking-Behavior/dp/012150381X>. 

Jenna Hartel

_References
_[The reference list is in chronological (not alphabetical) order to 
better reflect the back-and-forth between the two authors]

Bates, M. J. (1979). Information search tactics 
<http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/articles/Information%20Search%20Tactics.html>. 
/Journal of the American Society for Information Science/, 30, 205-214.

Bates, M. J. (1989). The Design of browsing and berrypicking techniques 
for the online search interface 
<http://gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/bates/berrypicking.html>. /Online Review, 
13/, 407-424.

Hjørland, B., and Albrechtsen, H. (1995). Toward a new horizon in 
information science: domain analysis 
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-4571%28199507%2946:6%3C400::AID-ASI2%3E3.0.CO;2-Y/abstract>. 
/Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 46/(6), 400-425.

Bates, M. J. (1996). The Getty end-user online searching project in the 
humanities: Report no. 6: Overview and conclusions. /College & Research 
Libraries, 57/, 514-523.

Hjørland, B. (2000). Information seeking behaviour: What should a 
general theory look like? 
<http://pure.iva.dk/en/publications/information-seeking-behavior%28c4579dca-a6ea-4ad4-98ba-2f6f1f45fa5e%29.html>. 
/New Review of Information Behaviour Research/,/1/, 19--33.

Bates, M. J. (2005). Information and knowledge: An Evolutionary 
framework for information Science. /Information Research/, /10/(4)
[available at http://InformationR.net/ir/10-4/paper239.html 
<http://informationr.net/ir/10-4/paper239.html>].

Bates, M. J. (2006). Fundamental forms of information 
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.20369/abstract>. 
/Journal of the American Society for Information Science and 
Technology/, /57/(8), 1033-1045.

Bates, M. J. (2007). What is browsing -- really? A model drawing from 
behavioural science research. /Information Research/, /12/(4) [Available 
at http://InformationR.net/ir/12-4/paper330.html 
<http://informationr.net/ir/12-4/paper330.html>].

Hjørland, B. (2007). Information: Objective or subjective/situational? 
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.20620/abstract>. 
/Journal of the American Society for Information Science and 
Technology,58/(10), 1448--1456.

Hjørland, B. (2009). The controversy over the concept of "information": 
A rejoinder to Professor Bates <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asi.20972>. 
/Journal of the American Society for Information Science and 
Technology/, /60/(3), 643.

Bates, M. J. & Maack, M. N. (Eds.). (2010). /Encyclopedia of library and 
information sciences, 3rd Ed/ 
<http://www.worldcat.org/title/encyclopedia-of-library-and-information-sciences/oclc/454373558>/. 
/New York, NY: CRC Press.

Hjørland, B. (2011a). The importance of theories of knowledge: Indexing 
and information retrieval as an example 
<http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asi.21451>. /Journal of the American Society 
for Information Science and Technology/,/62/(1), 72--77.

Hjørland, B. (2011b). The importance of theories of knowledge: Browsing 
as an example <http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asi.21480>. /Journal of the 
American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62/(3), 594-603.

Bates, M. J. (in press). Birger Hjørland's Manichean misconstruction of 
Marcia Bates' work 
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.21594/abstract>. 
/Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 
/Currently available in early view online.

Hjørland, B. (in press). Theoretical clarity is not "Manicheanism": A 
reply to Marcia Bates 
<http://pure.iva.dk/files/31053333/JIS_1568_v3.pdf>. /Journal of 
Information Science/. Currently available in early view online.

-- 
Jenna Hartel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Faculty of Information
University of Toronto
140 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G6
website: www.jennahartel.com

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