UC Berkeley

Society is being transformed into an "information society ". Universities were effective in the nineteenth century in responding to important societal needs by developing new departments expected to add knowledge through research, to prepare specialists, to assist industry, and to contribute to general education. Modern universities have, however, been slow to respond programmatically to the challenge of the transition to an information society. New academic programs - "information schools " - are now emerging, many, not all, evolved from programs in library science. The relevance of library science as a foundation for information schools is reviewed. A critique citing Emanuel Goldberg, Adolf von Hamack, Fritz Milkau and Martin Schrettinger.