Theoretical foundation of Knowledge Organization: “Positivism” versus “pragmatism”. Invited speech Sunday Oct 28, 2007 VIII ENANCIB in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
(2007) Theoretical foundation of Knowledge Organization: “Positivism” versus “pragmatism”. Invited speech Sunday Oct 28, 2007 VIII ENANCIB in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
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Abstract
Consider the theoretical problems and developments in the field of Knowledge Organization. The dominant tendency within LIS has always been “positivist”, understood as a tendency (or an ideal) to rely on observations and logic only, disregarding context, values, interests, historical development and socio-cultural issues. It is argued that the opposite view, pragmatism, provides a much more fruitful basis. The pragmatic theory of knowledge seeks the criteria for selecting and describing informative objects in the goals that they are intended to support. The widespread ideology of objectivity and neutrality and universal solutions may be counterproductive in developing our field.
| EPrint Type: | Presentation |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Knowledge Organization |
| ID Code: | 2149 |
| Deposited On: | 04 January 2008 |
| Eprint Statistics: | View statistics for this eprint |
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