Information History

摘要

This chapter attempts to offer a definition of "information history," although the pervasiveness of information makes this a difficult task. By means of reference to a healthy sample of recent work and an economical selection of seminal studies, the chapter offers a tentative agenda for a new field. The history of information can be broken down into a number of component parts. These include the history of print and written culture, including the history of libraries and librarianship, and the history of more recent information disciplines and practices, namely information management, information systems, and information science. Contiguous areas like the history of the information society, surveillance, and the information infrastructure are also considered. Beyond these fairly predictable areas, however, an effort is made to advertise work in which social historians have highlighted the existence of past informal information networks. The chapter's conclusion includes brief comments on the importance of historical perspectives to education for information work.