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Abstract

In recent years, studies of Library and Information Science (LIS) disciplinarity developed original methods for examining the disciplinary composition of the field (Wiggins and Sawyer, 2012; Wu et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2013). However, most of these studies focused on one fragment of the field, specifically, iSchool programs. In order to gain a fuller understanding of LIS development as a whole, our study applied some of the recently proposed disciplinary measures to a sample of L-Schools, defined here as ALA-accredited LIS programs offering PhD degrees and not part of the iCaucus. Analysis of the faculty training and current research interests indicates that L-Schools are characterized by a strong presence of the LIS areas and notable interdisciplinary trends. The article speculates about some of the factors contributing to the iSchool and L-School differences and suggests directions for future research.

Keywords

Disciplinarity education faculty history interdisciplinarity Library and Information Science

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The state of L-Schools: Intellectual diversity and faculty composition

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