Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

Various definitions of information are used in the service o library and information science, a discipline that currently is in a state of flux. The discipline of Science and Technology Studies examines the production of scientific knowledge, and its methods are best used during times of instability in scientific disciplines. Arguments from Bruno Latour’s Pandora’s Hope are used with historical context to explain the coevolution of librarianship and information science in the 20th century. Latour’s circulating chains of reference model illustrates how real-world phenomena are gradually abstracted into scientific ideas and artifacts. The information thus produced becomes the chief actant in library and information science. These chains have five main components: links and knots, public representation, alliances, autonomization, mobilization of the world. Illustrative examples are given relating each component to library and information science, and an alternative definition of information is developed from this model.