Article,
The Challenges of Being a Fox – Library and Information Science as an Applied Discipline
(2015)
DOI: 10.1515/bfp-2015-0015
Abstract
This article examines what is an applied discipline and how does it matter to library and information science that it is an applied, not a basic, discipline. To use the distinction made popular by the philosopher Isaiah Berlin applied disciplines tend to attract foxes and basic disciplines tend to attract hedgehogs. Michael Seadle has always identified himself as a fox, and his scholarship confirms this self-identification, as it has dealt with a broad array of approaches to library and information science problems, ranging from highly technical issues in long‐term digital archiving to ethnographic studies of the cultures of information users. This article identifies some hazards that successful foxes in applied disciplines must overcome, with respect to both individual scholarship and the management of groups of scholars in academic institutions.
