Domain analytical information and knowledge organization: investigating the externalist and internalist conception of information
| Date | 11 April 2022 |
| Pages | 21-35 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2021-0126 |
| Published date | 11 April 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Martin Muderspach Thellefsen |
Domain analytical information and
knowledge organization:
investigating the externalist and
internalist conception
of information
Martin Muderspach Thellefsen
Department of Communication, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen,
Copenhagen, Denmark
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to discuss and clarify a possible realist foundationof domain analysis
and knowledge organization, and in this vein, investigate into how the concept of information is to be
understood at a lower but necessary conceptual level in domain analysis.
Design/methodology/approach –The paper investigates into the foundation of domain analysis as
formulated by Birger Hjørland, and develops a realist framework for domain analytical information and
knowledge organization based on critical realism.
Findings –Information can meaningfully be considered as the prerequisite for domain analysis, and critical
realism may provide for a realist ontological framework for domain analysis and knowledge organization.
Originality/value –The paper includes newinsights into the foundation of information and domain analysis.
Keywords Domain analysis, Information studies, Critical realism, Semiotic object, Knowledge organization,
Internal-external information
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
Domain Analysis as a theoretical framework for information science (IS) was originally
formulated by Hjørland and Albrechtsen (1995) as a new approach to IS, emphasizing of the
collective ecology and content-oriented nature of knowledge and knowledge production. It
was a programmatic article that argued that “the best way to understand information in IS is
to study the knowledge-domains as thought or discurse communities”(Hjørland and
Albrechtsen, 1995, p. 400). In 2002, Hjørland suggested eleven approaches for the information
specialist (Hjørland, 2002a). Even though domain analysis and the select approaches emanate
from the scope of IS, the ambition of the theoretical foundation of domain analysis is not
isolated to the trivialities of library management, but rather a view based in epistemology and
documentation; thus, the overall ambition of domain analysis is to seek out the very
foundation of knowledge as it shows itself in social discourse. Therefore, rather than
providing for a set of explicit tools for conducting domain analysis, domain analysis is a
theory and a systematic way of thinking about knowledge domains. Domain analysis
accentuates the focus on epistemology and investigates the foundation and practices of
communities thus raising philosophical questions about knowledge and information.
Consequently, the domain-oriented view will not reduce the concept of information to
objective representations and data structures, nor to subjective, personal information needs;
rather, in terms of information, a possible viable information concept should be defined
pragmatically and collectively, and include interpretive aspects such as situation, context and
knowledge interests that is formulated within a discourse community. In this case, neither
information nor relevance judgment is considered objective.
Domain
analysis and
knowledge
organization
21
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 1 July 2021
Revised 15 March 2022
Accepted 17 March 2022
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 79 No. 1, 2023
pp. 21-35
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-07-2021-0126
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