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In 1971 UNISIST proposed a model for scientific and technical communication. This model has been widely cited and additional models have been added to the literature. There is a need to bring this model to the focus of information science (IS) research as well as to update and revise it. There are both empirical and theoretical reasons for this need. On the empirical side much has happened in the developments of electronic communication that needs to be considered. From a theoretical point of view the domain‐analytic view has proposed that differences between different disciplines and domains should be emphasised. The original model only considered scientific and technical communication as a whole. There is a need both to compare with the humanities and social sciences and to regard internal differences in the sciences. There are also other reasons to reconsider and modify this model today. Offers not only a descriptive model, but also a theoretical perspective from which information systems may be understood and evaluated. In addition to this provides empirical exemplification and proposals for research initiatives.

As an emerging discipline, data science represents a vital new current of school of library and information science (LIS) education. However, it remains unclear how it relates to information science within LIS schools. The purpose of this paper is to clarify this issue.

Mission statement and nature of both data science and information science are analyzed by reviewing existing work in the two disciplines and drawing DIKW hierarchy. It looks at the ways in which information science theories bring new insights and shed new light on fundamentals of data science.

Data science and information science are twin disciplines by nature. The mission, task and nature of data science are consistent with those of information science. They greatly overlap and share similar concerns. Furthermore, they can complement each other. LIS school should integrate both sciences and develop organizational ambidexterity. Information science can make unique contributions to data science research, including conception of data, data quality control, data librarianship and theory dualism. Document theory, as a promising direction of unified information science, should be introduced to data science to solve the disciplinary divide.

The results of this paper may contribute to the integration of data science and information science within LIS schools and iSchools. It has particular value for LIS school development and reform in the age of big data.

Before documentation became his primary interest, Robert Fairthorne would conventionally have been described as an applied mathematician. Such a description, however, does not give a true indication of his special abilities. He is, in fact, dedicated to the task of bringing to science and engineering the benefits of mathematics in all its forms, and to him such classifications as ‘pure’ and ‘applied’ were mere irrelevancies.

The reciprocal relationship between bibliographic references and citations in the context of the scholarly communication system is examined. Semiotic analysis of referencing behaviours and citation counting reveals the complexity of prevailing sign systems and associated symbolic practices.

This paper discusses the status of information and communication technologies usage in Indian libraries with special reference to special libraries and the efforts made by various institutions to propagate e‐information products and services. This paper highlights the consortia efforts in India like JCCC Consortium, INDEST Consortium, CSIR E‐journal Consortia, and UGC Infonet. It further discusses digitisation efforts in India at NISCAIR, New Delhi, IIITM, Kerala, C‐DAC Pune, and the Digital Library of India. In addition it incorporates details on major information systems in India (such as NISSAT)and major library networks in India (such as INFLIBNET, DELNET, CALIBNET etc.). The paper concludes with challenges for library and information science professionals and an overview of initiatives taken by Government of India.

The Library System of China and the Information System of China are the two systems of information organisations in China. This paper discusses the types of information agencies in each, focusing on structural characteristics, and governing regulations and especially on programmes and activities. Included in the discussion are such topics as publications, cooperative undertakings, new services and evaluation procedures.

What kind of knowledge is needed by information specialists working in a specific subject field like medicine, sociology or music? What approaches have been used in information science to produce kinds of domain‐specific knowledge? This article presents 11 approaches to domain analysis. Together these approaches make a unique competence for information specialists. The approaches are: producing literature guides and subject gateways; producing special classifications and thesauri; research on indexing and retrieving specialities; empirical user studies; bibliometrical studies; historical studies; document and genre studies; epistemological and critical studies; terminological studies, LSP (languages for special purposes), discourse studies; studies of structures and institutions in scientific communication; and domain analysis in professional cognition and artificial intelligence. Specific examples and selective reviews of literature are provided, and the strengths and drawbacks of each of these approaches are discussed.

Somewhat paradoxically workers in information are just as typically human as in any other profession in the matter of order in their own backyard. To put it mildly, the situation in our periodicals—their genesis, use, purpose, and efficiency—is just as haphazard, if not more so, as in the whole field of communication. Perhaps we have the lame excuse that we are too busy working out remedies for the bibliographical mess in the literature of the sciences and the technologies. Nevertheless, we must cast a critical eye on the problem, which will have to be tackled both nationally as well as internationally through IFLA, FID, and Unesco.

Presents the evolution of the scientific and technological information infrastructure in Brazil, considering information as an input in the organization’s chain of values. Discusses the problem of information services for science and technology, as well as the offer and use of technological information in Brazil. Analyses the perspectives for information management in the technological transference process.

The purpose of this paper is to derive a conceptual model for information science, which is both academically sound and practically useful, particularly for curriculum design.

The approach takes the form of a conceptual analysis, based on an extensive literature review, going back to the earliest days of information science.

A conceptual model is derived, based on the study of components of the information chain through approaches of domain analysis, plus “fringe” topics and a meta‐level consideration of the discipline itself. Links to related subjects may be derived systematically from this model.

This is the first paper to suggest that a useful model for information science can be derived, based on the idea of studying the communication chain by means of domain analysis.