Uma reflexão histórico-epistemológica da perspectiva social no campo da ciência da informação

Abstract

This paper offers a historical-epistemological reflection of the social perspective in the field of Information Science and provides an analysis of the social configuration of the diverse disciplines influencing its theoretical development. The reflection is constructed through an analysis of Otlet’s contributions to the field of documentation field and Bush’s work in information retrieval in the United States, while attempting to discern associations with contemporary social perspective of knowledge theory. The study confirms that there is more evidence for the social development of Information Science occurring through interdisciplinary relationships with the documentation and, to a lesser degree in the post-war period, through multidisciplinary relationships in the exact and natural sciences We conclude that the social environment, of the field of Information Science is characterized by the existence of inter-disciplinary and multi- disciplinary relationships, the latter of which is most common; though such relationships retain the potential for becoming interdisciplinary in nature over time, since the field of Information Science is elastic and conducive to the production of new knowledge.