The aim of the research was to investigate the formation of the information management discipline, propose a framework by which it is presently understood, and test that framework within a particular area of application, namely the provision of scientific and technological information (STI) services.
The work is presented as a PhD by Publication which comprises a narrative that encompasses the series of published papers, and includes excerpts from the book written to illustrate the province of the discipline.
In thee book the disciplinary context is detailed and exemplified based upon information management domains. The book consolidates information management principles within a framework defined by these operational, analytical and administrative domains. It was created by a redaction of prior epistemological proposals; an analysis of the understanding of practice that has been shaped by professional, institutional and information science influences; and demonstration of practice within the domain framework.
The disciplinary framework was then used in a series of STI case studies where it was found to provide an effective description of information management. Together, the book and subsequent case studies provided illustration of the principles utilised in information management and the way that they are practiced within different domains, along with an explanation of the manner in which the information management discipline has been formed. These should assist with direction of future research and scholarship particularly with respect to factors relevant to information services and indicators for their successful application in future.
It is anticipated that this generalised description of the practices across the range of interpretations of information management should enable practicing information professionals to appreciate the relationship of their own work to disciplines that are converging towards similar purpose, such as through a clearer indication of the extent to which technical and management standards may be applied, and performance analysis undertaken.
Complementary outcomes that were achieved during the course of the work were: a comparative analysis of thesauri in the information field which shows that in this field, the ways that information professionals represent themselves remains unreconciled; an historical examination of Australian STI services that provides pointers to their effective continuation; and a reconsideration of the relationship between librarianship and information management.
The work is presented as a compilation of papers that comprise firstly extracts from the book to exemplify its consolidation of information management principles, then a number of published and submitted papers that examine how principles have been applied in practice. This is in the context of six case studies of Australian STI services including interviews with creators and developers, and analysis of historical information.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/265297 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Middleton, Michael Robert |
| Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Michael Robert Middleton |
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