Conflicts of jurisdiction: An exploratory study of academic, professional, and epistemological norms in library and information science

Cronin, Blaise; Davenport, Elisabeth

Abstract

Library and information science (LIS) faculty, like their peers in other professional schools, are subject to the demands of at times conflicting jurisdictions: research productivity may clash with professional service, theory building with the development of craft skills. This paper takes one sub-field in library and information science, "Children and School" (C&S) and uses it as a probe to frame certain questions about academic, professional, and epistemological (A-P-E) norms. We suggest that compliance with norms in these three areas is a criterion of membership of a vocational academic discipline. Non-compliance with all three, however, appears to be the criterion set for a "new librarianship", recently advocated in the professional literature. By suggesting that "women and children first" should be the underlying philosophy of this new discipline, its proponents demand a rejection of existing A-P-E norms. We argue that the call for a "new librarianship" is a response to conflicts in jurisdiction which may be resolved by other means.

Citation

Cronin, B., & Davenport, E. (2009). Conflicts of jurisdiction: An exploratory study of academic, professional, and epistemological norms in library and information science. Libri, 46, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1515/libr.1996.46.1.1

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2009-10
• Deposit Date: Sep 15, 2010
• Print ISSN: 0024-2667
• Electronic ISSN: 1865-8423
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 46
• Pages: 1-15
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/libr.1996.46.1.1
• Keywords: LIS; "Children and school"; norms; new librarianship
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/3126
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1515/libr.1996.46.1.1,