DREaM, British Library, July 2011

…And Into The Zone Of Quasi-Rationality

…And Into The Zone Of Quasi-Rationality

Blaise CroninRudy Professor of Information Science, Indiana University

Honorary Visiting Professor, City University London Visiting Professor, Edinburgh Napier University

Blaise CroninRudy Professor of Information Science, Indiana University

Honorary Visiting Professor, City University London Visiting Professor, Edinburgh Napier University

“the assembly hall of a secret police

academy”

“the assembly hall of a secret police

academy”

“This necessary library science” Pierce Butler, 1933

“This necessary library science” Pierce Butler, 1933

• Scientific knowledge

• Sociological study

• Historical consciousness

• Scientific knowledge

• Sociological study

• Historical consciousness

From Ideology to (Pseudo)-Science

From Ideology to (Pseudo)-Science

“A secular priesthood, administering a sacrament of cultural communion to individual souls”

Butler, 1933

“A secular priesthood, administering a sacrament of cultural communion to individual souls”

Butler, 1933

Aux Armes Citoyens!Aux Armes Citoyens!

• Direct action• Lobbying

• Libraries and democracy

• Direct action• Lobbying

• Libraries and democracy

British Empiricism British Empiricism

The scattering of articles on a given subject

Bradford, S. C. Documentation. 1948. First formulation: 1934M. Bates’ Fig.

The scattering of articles on a given subject

Bradford, S. C. Documentation. 1948. First formulation: 1934M. Bates’ Fig.

Plus ça change…Plus ça change…

“Too much…research…is of marginal interest … an interesting hobby rather than a rigorous pursuit of new insights.”

UGC & National Advisory Board

on Higher Education, 1986

“Too much…research…is of marginal interest … an interesting hobby rather than a rigorous pursuit of new insights.”

UGC & National Advisory Board

on Higher Education, 1986

plus c’est la même chose

plus c’est la même chose

“Often poorly funded, poorly conducted, poorly recognised”

Oppenheim, 2010

“Often poorly funded, poorly conducted, poorly recognised”

Oppenheim, 2010

The Golden Years?The Golden Years?

OSTI & BLR&DD (~£30M, 1965-1990)

Aslib -- LondonCRUS -- SheffieldLMU -- LoughboroughPCRC -- LeicesterCCR -- Bath

et al.

OSTI & BLR&DD (~£30M, 1965-1990)

Aslib -- LondonCRUS -- SheffieldLMU -- LoughboroughPCRC -- LeicesterCCR -- Bath

et al.

What Ails Thee?What Ails Thee?

• Theoretical bricolage• Lack of meta-analysis• Weak experimental design• Redundancy & lack of cumulation

• Culture wars

• Theoretical bricolage• Lack of meta-analysis• Weak experimental design• Redundancy & lack of cumulation

• Culture wars

False Antinomies?False Antinomies?

Humanistic ScientificValues-based Evidential Qualitative Quantitative

Relativism RealismConstructivism Objectivism

Emic Etic

Humanistic ScientificValues-based Evidential Qualitative Quantitative

Relativism RealismConstructivism Objectivism

Emic Etic

“Critical chill”?“Critical chill”?

Latour, Bruno 315 Foucault, Michel 322 Bourdieu, Pierre 188 Barthes, Roland 67 Derrida, Jacques 73 Lyotard, Jean- Francois 37 Levi-Strauss, Claude 34 Baudrillard, Jean 29 Ricoeur, Paul 44 Deleuze, Gilles 35 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice 19 Guattari, Felix 18 Kristeva, Julia 8 Althusser, Louis 7 Bataille, Georges 4 Lacan, Jacques 2

Total cites = 1,202 (~1% of articles)

Latour, Bruno 315 Foucault, Michel 322 Bourdieu, Pierre 188 Barthes, Roland 67 Derrida, Jacques 73 Lyotard, Jean- Francois 37 Levi-Strauss, Claude 34 Baudrillard, Jean 29 Ricoeur, Paul 44 Deleuze, Gilles 35 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice 19 Guattari, Felix 18 Kristeva, Julia 8 Althusser, Louis 7 Bataille, Georges 4 Lacan, Jacques 2

Total cites = 1,202 (~1% of articles)

Cookie Cutter ResearchCookie Cutter Research

• Information Needs of ___

• Authorship Trends in ___

• A Citation Profile of ___

• __ Library Use Study

• Information Needs of ___

• Authorship Trends in ___

• A Citation Profile of ___

• __ Library Use Study

Cogito ergo … HummCogito ergo … Humm

“…it is time for the information behavior community to question its academic relevance and credibility….”

Fisher & Julien ARIST, 2009

“…it is time for the information behavior community to question its academic relevance and credibility….”

Fisher & Julien ARIST, 2009

Critique of “Confessional Methods” in LIS

Critique of “Confessional Methods” in LIS

• Critical incident technique• Focus groups• Micro-moment

time-line interviews

Davenport (2010)

• Critical incident technique• Focus groups• Micro-moment

time-line interviews

Davenport (2010)

Old Wine, New Bottle?

Old Wine, New Bottle?

“Evidence-based librarianship seeks to integrate the ‘science’ back into library science”Eldredge (2000)

“Evidence-based librarianship seeks to integrate the ‘science’ back into library science”Eldredge (2000)

“Saving the Theory”“Saving the Theory”

“…when social scientists are right, they too often confirm the obvious. When they don’t confirm the obvious, they’re too often wrong.”

John Lewis Gaddis (2002)

“…when social scientists are right, they too often confirm the obvious. When they don’t confirm the obvious, they’re too often wrong.”

John Lewis Gaddis (2002)

The Economic Value of Elephants (Bilgnaut, de Wit & Barnes, 2008)

The Economic Value of Elephants (Bilgnaut, de Wit & Barnes, 2008)

• Charismatic species

• Keystone species

• Economic value generators

• Charismatic species

• Keystone species

• Economic value generators

ROI ReduxROI Redux

• The BL generates value 4.4 times the level of its public funding

• Don King’s research: 1970s

onwards

• U. of Colorado study 2011

• The BL generates value 4.4 times the level of its public funding

• Don King’s research: 1970s

onwards

• U. of Colorado study 2011

Contingent Valuation of LibrariesContingent Valuation of Libraries

• Valuation of non-market resources

• Stated vs revealed preference model

• Willingness to pay for non-use• Survey-based technique

• Valuation of non-market resources

• Stated vs revealed preference model

• Willingness to pay for non-use• Survey-based technique

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Martyn, J. & Cronin, B. (1983). Assessing the impact and benefits of information and library research. Journal of Documentation, 39, 171-191.

Craghill, D. & Wilson, T.D. (1987). The impact of information research. London: British Library.

Martyn, J. & Cronin, B. (1983). Assessing the impact and benefits of information and library research. Journal of Documentation, 39, 171-191.

Craghill, D. & Wilson, T.D. (1987). The impact of information research. London: British Library.

Who Cites the IS literature?

Cronin & Meho (2008)

Who Cites the IS literature?

Cronin & Meho (2008)

0

2 , 0 0 0

4 , 0 0 0

6 , 0 0 0

8 , 0 0 0

1 0 , 0 0 0

1 2 , 0 0 0

1 4 , 0 0 0

1 6 , 0 0 0

1 8 , 0 0 0

2 0 , 0 0 0

1 9 7 7 - 1 9 8 6 1 9 8 7 - 1 9 9 6 1 9 9 7 - 2 0 0 6

T i m e P e r i o d

No. of Citing Papers

I S

N o n - I S

Citations to the IS Literature

Cronin & Meho (2008)

Citations to the IS Literature

Cronin & Meho (2008)

C h a n g e s i n E x p o r t s b y F i e l d

0

1 , 0 0 0

2 , 0 0 0

3 , 0 0 0

4 , 0 0 0

5 , 0 0 0

6 , 0 0 0

7 , 0 0 0

COMPUTER

SCIENCE

BUSINESS ANDMANAGEMENT

HEALTH/MEDICAL

SCIENCES

EDUCATION

LITERATURE

ENGINEERING

HISTORY

PSYCHOLOGY

LAW

ARTS &

HUMANITIES

No. of Citations

1 9 7 7 - 1 9 8 6

1 9 8 7 - 1 9 9 6

1 9 9 7 - 2 0 0 6

Main Disciplines Citing Information Studies, 1956-2008(Larivière, 2010)

Main Disciplines Citing Information Studies, 1956-2008(Larivière, 2010)

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Information Science & Library Science

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

1956 1961 1966 1971 1976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001Publication Year

Management

Computers

General & Internal MedicineHealth Policy & Services

Education

Average No. of Authors per IS Paper, 1966-2008(Larivière, 2010)

Average No. of Authors per IS Paper, 1966-2008(Larivière, 2010)

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Publication Year

Hyperauthorship: Growth of Massively Multi-authored

Papers ( ISI)

Hyperauthorship: Growth of Massively Multi-authored

Papers ( ISI)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

year

papers

> 50 > 100 > 200 > 500

Epistemic Drift? Sugimoto (2011)

Epistemic Drift? Sugimoto (2011)

Tipping Point? Sugimoto (2011)

Tipping Point? Sugimoto (2011)

i-Schools Projecti-Schools Project

Relationship between information, technology, and people.

Ontologically-challenged? Scope creep?

Relationship between information, technology, and people.

Ontologically-challenged? Scope creep?

Connectedness MattersConnectedness Matters

Invisible colleges

Networks of trusted assessors

Communities of practice

In-groups / Gate-keeping elites

Invisible colleges

Networks of trusted assessors

Communities of practice

In-groups / Gate-keeping elites

Gina Czarnecki

The ZeitgeistThe Zeitgeist

• Social media

• Wisdom of the crowds

• Folksonomies

• Open access

• Open peer review

• Creative Commons

• Social media

• Wisdom of the crowds

• Folksonomies

• Open access

• Open peer review

• Creative Commons

Many Digital FootprintsMany Digital Footprints

Usage bibliometrics

Socio-scientometrics

Bio-bibliometrics

altmetricshttp://altmetrics.org/manifesto

Usage bibliometrics

Socio-scientometrics

Bio-bibliometrics

altmetricshttp://altmetrics.org/manifesto

A Common Pool ResourceA Common Pool Resource

OpenWetWareShare your science

the sharing of information, know-how, and wisdom …in biology & biological engineering.http://openwetware.org/

OpenWetWareShare your science

the sharing of information, know-how, and wisdom …in biology & biological engineering.http://openwetware.org/

From LIRG to LIS 2.0 ?From LIRG to LIS 2.0 ?

• Communication• Collaboration• Participation• Publication

• Communication• Collaboration• Participation• Publication

The (Tom) Allen CurveThe (Tom) Allen Curve

The Importance of Place(Cronin & Shaw)

The Importance of Place(Cronin & Shaw)

Establishing a Stronger PresenceEstablishing a Stronger Presence

Major Player Middling Player

Minor Player

Scholarly Communication

X

Digital Curation

X

IR / Search X

Usage Metrics

X

HCI / CSCW X

Information Architecture

X

Strategic Investment/Positioning Matrix

Strategic Investment/Positioning Matrix

High OpportunityHigh Capability

Invest

High OpportunityLow Capability

? Develop

Low OpportunityHigh Capability

? Maintain

Low OpportunityLow Capability

X Exit

DREaM on!DREaM on!