Advanced students need to be exposed to the theoretical foundations of the information science discipline and profession, so that they understand the concepts, their applications, and problems that relate to their discipline. With this objective in mind, this course will be taught in such a way that by the end of the course the students who meaningfully engage with course material, actively participate in class discussions and successfully complete their required course work should have a good understanding of the:

1. Philosophical and theoretical foundations of information professionals’ work;
2. Role of information science in society;
3. Nature of information profession, its education and ethics
4. Theories, Models and Laws of information science

Course Description

Philosophical foundations of IS (Philosophy, epistemology); Purpose and role in society; Information society; Information sphere; Information theory; Communication theory; Information management; Knowledge management; Information systems and services; Information literacy; Information Behaviors; Information anxiety; Information Ethics; Information policy; Information governance; Informetric analysis; Informatics; Economics of Information; Information sociology; information politology; Information warfare; Future trends.

Teaching Methodology

A combination of lecturing, class presentations, and discussions will be used to conduct the course. Students will be expected to read extensively ahead of each class session and actively participate in class discussions.

Course Requirements and Evaluation

Performance of students will be evaluated on the following basis:

a)  Presentations and assignments                                                                   20 marks

Each student will be assigned a topic related to information science, prepare an assignment and present it in the class room following the guidelines provided in the class.

• Mid Term examination                30 marks
• Final examination                        50 marks

Text Books

There is no prescribed textbook for this course. Related chapters from various books, articles from encyclopedias and journal will be prescribed for each unit. Students' are encouraged to search related databases and the web for further material.

Suggested Readings

1. International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science. 2nd ed. Edited by John Feather and Paul Sturges. London: Routledge
2. Feather, John (1994). The Information Society. London: Library Association Publishing, p.1-8.
3. Weber, Frank (2003). Information society. Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, 2nd ed. Vol. 2, p. 1338-1356.
4. Rubin, Richard E. (2004). Foundations of Library and Information Science. 2nd ed. New York: Neal-Schuman, p. 259-322.
5. Baruchson-Arbib, Shifra & Bronstein, Jenny (2002). A view of the future of the Library and Information Science profession: A Delphi study. Journal of the American Society for Information and Technology, 53(5), 397-408.
6. Sandra Braman (2011). Defining information policy. Journal of Information Policy, 1, 1-5.
7. Braman, S. (2006). An introduction to information policy. In Change of state: Information, policy, and power, pp. 1-8. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
8. Ian Rowlands (1996). Understanding information policy: concepts, frameworks and research tools. Journal of Information Science, 22(1), 13-25.
9. Elizabeth Orna (2008). Information policies: Yesterday, today, tomorrow, Journal of Information Science, 34(4), 547-565.
10. Majid, S. (2018). Information Management. In Information education: Imperatives of the digital environment. 246-276. Mauritius: Noor Publishing.
11. Anwar, M. A. (2016). To information management and beyond. Pakistan Journal of Information Management & Libraries, 17, 30-38.
12. Anwar, M. A. (2009). What’s in a name? Information Outlook, 13(5). 23-26.