The Information School at the University of Sheffield, 1963-2013
ISSN: 0022-0418
Article publication date: 7 October 2014
Issue publication date: 7 October 2014
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the historical development of library and information science (LIS) teaching and research in the University of Sheffield's Information School since its founding in 1963.
Design/methodology/approach
The history is based on published materials, unpublished school records, and semi-structured interviews with 19 current or ex-members of staff.
Findings
The School has grown steadily over its first half-century, extending the range of its teaching from conventional programmes in librarianship and information science to include cognate programmes in areas such as health informatics, information systems and multi-lingual information management.
Originality/value
There are very few published accounts of the history of LIS departments.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the colleagues, past and present, for participating in the interviews that provided much of the information discussed in this paper.
Citation
Benson, M.T. and Willett, P. (2014), "The Information School at the University of Sheffield, 1963-2013", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 70 No. 6, pp. 1141-1158. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2013-0040
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited