Journal article
Patrick Wilson
Knowledge organization, v 46(4), pp 279-307
01 Jan 2019
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
During 1965-2001, Patrick Wilson brought the acuity of a professional philosopher to library and information science (LIS) and became a major theorist in many aspects of knowledge organization (KO). This article, an extensive critical introduction to his thought, reflects the view that much of his work is of permanent value. He can be read for well-informed critiques of the instruments by which writings are organized for retrieval-the bibliographical side of KO. He can also be read for shrewd accounts of personal knowledge and behavior with respect to societal information systems-the social-epistemological side of KO. Indeed, in his work the two sides converge. One of his themes is the preferability of human consultants over bibliographies and catalogs for answering questions. He thus writes at length about the social organization of possible consultants and their degrees of cognitive authority in communicating what they know. Another theme is the desirability of indexing writings not only by subject but also by their possible utility in helping individuals. For that, however, he saw little hope. A third theme is ideal information systems. Broadly, he can be read for his clarifications of concepts on both sides of KO, such as bibliographical control, relevance, subject indeterminacy, information needs, information overload, librarians' roles, and LIS as a field.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Patrick Wilson
- Creators
- Howard D. White - Drexel Univ, Coll Comp & Informat, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- Publication Details
- Knowledge organization, v 46(4), pp 279-307
- Publisher
- Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Mbh & Co Kg
- Number of pages
- 29
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- [Retired Faculty]
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000480674900005
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85071928209
- Other Identifier
- 991019168870504721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Information Science & Library Science