The French conception of information science: “Une exception française”?

Abstract

The French conception of information science is often contrasted with the Anglophone one, which is perceived as different and rooted mainly in Shannon's mathematical theory of communication. While there is such a thing as a French conception of information science, this conception is not totally divorced from the Anglophone one. Unbeknownst to researchers from the two geographical and cultural regions, they share similar conceptions of the field and invoke similar theoretical foundations, in particular the socio‐constructivist theory. There is also a convergence of viewpoints on the dual nature of information science, i.e., the fact that it is torn between two competing paradigms—objectivist and subjectivist. Technology is another area where a convergence of viewpoints is noticeable: Scholars from both geographic and cultural zones display the same suspicion toward the role of technology and of computer science. It would therefore be misleading to uphold the view that Anglophone information science is essentially objectivist and technicist while the French conception is essentially social and rooted in the humanities. This paper highlights converging analyses from authors based in both linguistic and geographical regions with the aim to foster a better understanding of the challenges that information science is facing worldwide and to help trace a path to how the global information science community can try to meet them.

‘So wide and varied’: The origins and character of British information science

“…We will give here only a very brief account, focused on some major issues in the origins of British information science; more thorough reviews from different perspectives are available in the literature [2–12]. An interesting comparison of the French conception of information with the ‘Anglophone‘ approach is given by Ibekwe-SanJuan [13].…”

“…Gilchrist [45] wrote in 1979 that 'the subject still appears to be discussed predominantly on a national basis', and Larivière et al [6] show that the library/information literature still shows national distinctions. This is perhaps to be expected, since information science developed in an environment characterized by national scientific and information infrastructures that had developed since the nineteenth century; see MacDonald [46] and Ibekwe-SanJuan [13] for North American and French examples, respectively.…”

“…An interesting comparison of the French conception of information with the 'Anglophone' approach is given by Ibekwe-SanJuan [13].…”

Rethinking image indexing?

“…The scope of this text does not allow an in‐depth elaboration of Barthes' image theory; fortunately, Barthes is not unknown to information studies (see, e.g., Buckland, 1997; Cárcamo Ulloa, Marcos Mora, Cladellas Pros, & Castelló Tarrida, ; Cronin, ; Ibekwe‐SanJuan, ; Matines‐Avila, Smiraglia, Lee, & Fox, ; Murphy & Rafferty, ; Raber & Budd, ; Rafferty & Albinfalah, 2013). However, a semiotic turn might without further detail just be affirming a trajectory of indexing not entirely in accord with the reality of digital and analog picture collections.…”

Library and Information Science

“…The most consistent complaint has been that, while information is a valid discipline, "library science" is an oxymoron, since librarianship is a profession (see, for example, Cronin, 1995). There have also been distinct national variations in the ways in which the subject is understood; see, for example, Robinson & Bawden (2013) and Ibekwe-SanJuan (2012), for the British and French perspectives respectively. Despite these vicissitudes, LIS remains a recognized discipline, and is, if anything, undergoing something of a renaissance in recognition, associated with a revived interest in documents and documentation as a subject for study.…”