TIMELINESReflections on the future of iSchools from inspired junior faculty

ABSTRACT

Editor's Note: New fields, such as computer science, cognitive science, neuroscience, human-computer interaction, and now information, have multidisciplinary origins. To overcome communication difficulties as they worked to define the field and set priorities, pioneers developed a pidgin language. Soon came a generation of scholars, who staked their careers on the new field, creolizing the language and shaping a coherent framework relatively free of the legacy disciplines. In this article three research faculty members from the Information School of the University of Washington, discuss the tensions and opportunities in this 21st-century discipline that could become the most influential of all. ---Jonathan Grudin

REFERENCES

• 1: Stokes, D. E. Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1997.
• 2: Olson, G. and Grudin, J. "The Information School Phenomenon." interactions 16, no. 2 (2009): 15--19.
• 3: Science, technology, and society (STS) programs exist at many major research universities. They are typically "social studies of technology" endeavors that do not invent new technologies.
• 4: Snow, C.P. The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution. London: Cambridge University Press, 1959.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.1 Computer Uses in Education

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.7 THE COMPUTING PROFESSION
      K.7.1 Occupations