Knowledge structures for information professionals

1. Knowledge structures for information professionals Lecture 6: disciplinary culture and information seeking, genre theory, and intro to faceted classification

2. From last week • Specialization-fragmentation-hybridization • Cognitivism (individual) vs. domain analysis (collective) approach to information science

3. Trust and knowledge • “I know very little about the codes of knowledge used by the architect and the builder in the design and construction of the home, but I nonetheless have “faith” in what they have done. My “faith” is not so much in them, although I have to trust their competence, as in the authenticity of the expert knowledge which they apply– something which I cannot usually check exhaustively myself” (Giddens, 1990, The consequence of Modernity)

4. The consequences of specialization • “Second-hand” knowledge (Wilson, 1983) • What are the sources of “cognitive authority”

5. Information flow across boundaries • Difference in motivation, channels, types of publication, genres, and information organization Channels within a specialty (e.g. conference, informal network, bibliographic database) Channels between different specialties (e.g. secondary literature, review articles, informal network, citation chaining?) Channels between laypersons and expert communities (media, textbooks…) e.g. Medline Plus, MeSH

6. Trail-and-error vs. systematic access • Information seeking as fundamentally a trial-and-error process. (Swanson, 1986) • Mutual dependence of a field • Degree of interdisciplinarity

7. Bibliographical vs. chain searching • Domain independent view (efficiency in information processing) e.g. Marcia Bates’ use of Bradford distribution • Domain dependent view (cultural differences) Disciplinary variations in adopting these methods

8. Conventional notion of genre • A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. In all art forms, genres are vague categories with no fixed boundaries. Genres are formed by sets of conventions, and many works cross into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions. (Wikipedia)

9. Genre identification and information access • From DDC English poetry 821 English drama 822 English fiction 823 English speeches 825 English humor and satire 827 • Important retrieval clue when searching a heterogeneous collection

10. Genre differences across domains • Legal materials: regulation, treaties, trial proceedings, affidavits, law review...genres in law • Medical literature: clinical trial, meta-analysis.. • Archival or manuscript collection: Letters diaries, photographs, scrapbooks, maps…finding aids by genre • Genres of organization communication: business letters, memos, email announcement, gossip

11. Genre as social action • Genres as “socially recognized types of communicative action habitually enacted by members of a community to realize particular communicative and collaborative purposes” (Yates & Orlikowski,1992, p.299)

12. Genre and discourse community • “Socialization or training in a discipline or specialty is as much training in the craft of maneuvering one’s way through the discursive spaces of the specialty as it is maneuvering through the laboratory—learning to formulate claims and arguments, learning to manipulate data, learning to write for publication in different forums, learning how to deliver conference papers, and learning to talk in the hallways with colleagues from different parts of the world” (Bazerman, 1997)

13. Genre analysis (Erickson, 1997) • The nature of the discourse community • The communicative purpose of the discourse • The regularities of from and content of the communication, and the underlying expectation and conventions • The properties of the recurrent situations in which the genre is employed, including the institutional, technological, and social forces that give rise to the regularities of the discourse

14. Genre and practice in medical domain • Clinical Trial • Randomized Controlled Trial • Meta-Analysis • Practice Guideline • Review • Editorial • Letter complete list of publication types in PubMed

15. Clinical Trail • By purposes (e.g. treatment trial, prevention trial, diagnostic trials, screening trials, quality of life trials) • By phrases (I, II, III, IV) • Genre institutionalization: e.g. structured abstract Consolidated Standards of methods of Report Trials

16. Enumerative vs. faceted (synthetic) classification • Enumerative classification: a classification that attempts to assign a designation for all the single and composite subject concepts required in the system. • In order to create a linear order where each book can find its rightful spot.

17. Citation order in library classification Significance order History – Teaching (main subject – subdivision) Teaching – History Citation order determines how documents are collocated for browsing on the shelf SOCCER – CUP COMPETITIONS SOCCER – FRIENDLY MATCHES SOCCER – LEAGUES OR CUP COMPETITIONS – GOLF CUP COMPETITIONS – SOCCER CUP COMPETITIONS – TENNIS

18. Example of enumerative classification: DDC 610 Medicine and health 611 Human anatomy, cytology, histology 612 Human Physiology 613 Personal health and safety 614 Forensic medicine: incidence of injuries, wounds… 615 Pharmacology and therapeutics 616 Diseases (.001-.009 standard subdivisions; .02-.09 general topics of diseases) 617 Miscellaneous branches of medicine, Surgery 618 Other branches of medicine Gynecology and obstetrics 616.1 Diseases of cardiovascular system 616.2 Diseases of respiratory system 616.3 Diseases of digestive system …. 616.9 other diseases 616.11 Diseases of endocardium and pericardium 616.12 Diseases of heart 612.122 Angina pectoris 612.123 Coronary diseases

19. Example of enumerative classification: LCC RA407.3 American Hospital Association Comparative statistics on health facilities and population: metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas… R Medicine (General) RA Public aspect of medicine 1-418.5 Medicine and the state 407-409.5 By region or country 407.3 United States. General works (from Taylor, 1992)

20. Subdivision in LCSH Topical main heading – Place – Topic – Time – Form Art criticism – France – Paris – History – 19th century Bibliography Topical main heading – Topic – Place – Time - Form Art – Censorship – Europe – 20th century – Exhibitions Geographic main heading – Topic – Time – Form France – Intellectual life – 16th century – Periodicals

21. Faceted classification • Faceted classification: A classification constructed from the combination of clearly defined, mutually exclusive, and collectively exhaustive aspects, properties, or characteristics of a class or specific subject. e.g. a faceted browsable classification of recipes

22. MLA thesaurus facets 1. Specific literature: e.g. English literature, American literature, Chicano literature, Puerto Rican literature 2. Performance media: Theater, Story-telling, Recitation 3. Language (if different from language of national literature): e.g. English, Spanish, Swahili 4. Period: e.g. 20th century, 19th century 5. Individual (real): e.g. Thomas Hardy, Emily Dickinson, Abraham Lincoln, James Baldwin 6. Anonymous works: e.g. Beowulf, Mother Goose, The Bible 7. Groups/movements: e.g. Avant Garde, Beat Generation, Hippies, lesbian poets, African American Writers 8. Genres: e.g. poetry, drama, novels 9. works: e.g. Alice in wonderland 10. Features: e.g. Dialogue, Poetic realism 11. Literary techniques: Visual metaphor, Symbolism 12. Themes/motifs/figures/characters: e.g. [treatment of] Love, Hate, War, Salvation 13. Influence (recipients): e.g. [influence on] Harlem Renaissance, 14. Source: e.g. [influence of] Harlem Renaissance, The Bible 15. Processes: e.g. Characterization, Translation 16. Theories: e.g. Freudian theory, Evolution theory 17. Devices/tools: e.g. Computers, Concordances