Information Science in German-speaking countries
| Pages | 306-309 |
| Date | 20 May 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-05-2019-312 |
| Published date | 20 May 2019 |
| Author | Joachim Griesbaum,Dirk Lewandowski,Isabella Peters |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
Guest editorial
Information Science in German-speaking countries
This special issue of ASLIB Journal of Information Management serves as a forum for an
international discussion of showcases from Information Science research stemming from
German-speaking countries, i.e., Austria, Germany and Switzerland –also often abbreviated
as DACH. Along with that, the Special Issue aims at bringing such research to broader
attention by particularly highlighting the specialities that the various local Information
Science research centres expose, e.g., in terms of methodology. We were able to collect seven
papers from authors from Germany and Austria. In this way, the Special Issue provides a
glimpse into Information Science research in DACH.
To better understand the motivation underlying the publication of this Special Issue, a
brief description of the information science landscape seems necessary. In German-
speaking countries, Information Science is a rather small scientific discipline –which is
also why IS’s exotic status is often emphasised among the more well-known and,
presumably, more popular subjects, such as Medicine or Management. Information
Science is established in only a few institutes at universities: the Humboldt-Universität zu
Berlin, the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, the Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, the
Universität Hildesheim, the University of Konstanz, the Universität Regensburg and
Donau-Universität Krems. In addition to that, Information Science is more widely spread
in technical colleges or universities of applied sciences: Fachhochschule Potsdam,
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW), Hochschule Darmstadt, Hochschule der
Medien Stuttgart, Hochschule für den öffentlichen Dienst (HföD) München, Hochschule
Hannover, HTWK Leipzig, SBZ Kyffhäuserkreis Sondershausen, TH Köln Technology Arts
Sciences, Wildau Institute of Technology and HTW Chur. Students encounter topics that
relate to Information Science in a wide variety of study programs. Such study programs are
often rather interdisciplinary, bringing together diverse disciplines such as Media Studies,
Intercultural Communication (Computer) Linguistics, Computer Science and Library Science.
As a result, study programs are often entitled Information Management (e.g., Hochschule
Hannover), International Information Management (e.g., Universität Hildesheim), Information
Science and Language Technology (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf) and similar
designations. Although many study programs qualify students for occupations in libraries,
typically the diversity of information science related curricula prepare students for a wide
variety of jobs in research and industry.
The Information Science community organises primarily within two associations. The
Conference of Information and Library Science Education and Study Programs (in German:
Konferenz der informations- und bibliothekswissenschaftlichen Ausbild ungs- und
Studiengänge, short KIBA) and the Higher Education Association for Information
Science (in German: Hochschulverband Informationswissenschaft, short HI). The KIBA
serves as a forum that connects fourteen educational institutes and study programs in
German-speaking countries. The KIBA represents its institutions in other professional
associations and towards politics and professional practice. In a yearly conference,
education-related topics, e.g., the development of study programs, or further education are
discussed. The HI has a more research-oriented focus. It organises the International
Symposium of Information Science (ISI), which is a conference series that started in 1990 in
Konstanz. In 2017, the 15th ISI conference was held at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
For a long time, the ISI conference was seen as the most important exchange forum of the
research community in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Hence, many publications were
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 71 No. 3, 2019
pp. 306-309
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-05-2019-312
306
AJIM
71,3
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