Domain analysis in information science: a chinese scholar’s View

Resumo

The conditions that domain analysis becomes an academic school of Information Science (IS) are mature. Domain analysis can be defined as community epistemology that reflects community is the new focus of IS research and epistemology is the most important foundation of IS. Being community epistemology, domain analysis may also form a new horizon of philosophy. Domain analysis is interpreted from the perspective of community epistemology. Although domain analysis centers on the domain and community, theoretical concerns on the social and individual dimensions of IS are inherent in it by its using sociology as its important approach and socio-cognitive viewpoint. For these reasons domain analysis can integrate social-community-individual levels of IS discipline as a whole. Domain analysis can get strong support from Chinese library and information science scholars’ research. The relation of Tsien Hsue-shen’s thought to domain analysis is mainly discussed. The importance of epistemology and modern architecture of science & technology to information science and professional, social noetic study that Tsien Hsue-shen elucidated echoes domain analysis and provides mighty evidence. Some other Chinese scholars such as Zhang Xuecheng, Liu Guojun and Du Dingyou are also mentioned as far as their arguments embodied the spirit of domain analysis is concerned. The development of information science in China had experienced a stage of attaching attention to subject knowledge especially in professional education and practice field. But the role of subject knowledge has been marginalized since 1990’s. Nowadays the situation is changing and subject knowledge becomes an inseparable part of IS research in China again, which proves the validity of the domain analytic theory. Finally, realistic pragmatism that forms the philosophical foundation of domain analysis is argued and the implications of these theories to IS are presented.