tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831412.post114970449742361603..comments2023-10-11T03:43:28.302-04:00Comments on Confessions of a Science Librarian: Your ignorance will not protect you.John Dupuishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831412.post-1150331748715006702006-06-14T20:35:00.000-04:002006-06-14T20:35:00.000-04:00Ken, thanks for the comment. I also sit on the CS...Ken, thanks for the comment. I also sit on the CS/librarian fence, but I've never really seen it as a brain-sidedness issue. I like your idea about opportunism and insecurity, though -- a idea well worth thinking about in any context where balance is hard to find.John Dupuishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09829396649299444557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831412.post-1150215736668779422006-06-13T12:22:00.000-04:002006-06-13T12:22:00.000-04:00From Wikipedia on Informatics:> Must be me...Infor...From Wikipedia on Informatics:<BR/><BR/><BR/>> Must be me...Information Science--Informatics are not et al <BR/><BR/>><BR/><BR/>> Definitions of informatics<BR/><BR/>><BR/><BR/>> Because of the rapidly evolving, interdisciplinary nature of <BR/><BR/>> informatics, a precise meaning of the term "informatics" is presently <BR/><BR/>> difficult to pin down. Regional differences and international <BR/><BR/>> terminology complicate the problem. Some people note that much of what <BR/><BR/>> is called "Informatics" today was once called "Information Science" at <BR/><BR/>> least in fields such as Medical Informatics. However when Library <BR/><BR/>> scientists began to also use the phrase "Information Science" to refer <BR/><BR/>> to their work, the term informatics emerged as a response by Computer <BR/><BR/>> Scientists to distiguish their work from that of Library Science.<BR/><BR/><BR/>My Comments:<BR/>I sit on the fence between the Computer Science folks and the Library Science folks and can see equal importance both ways. I happen to come at this subject from both sides of the fence so it seems very bizarre that my left brain is in contention to make itself distinct from my right brain. Too many times folks try to make themselves distinct at the price of what they could share between each other. Instead they'd rather be unique to the point of being an island unto themselves but would enjoy a much richer product or experience if they got over it.<BR/><BR/>A friend of mine [a librarian] said "I was in the period when reference librarians became information scientists. I'm not sure it is the correct term to use anymore. The whole profession is in a confused state right now. The need to establish order (indexing, metadata, whatever) is still needed. It's just electronic now.<BR/><BR/>And since they are REALLY experienced at pulling data out of a system, they<BR/><BR/>should be involved in the design of a system. That is, being the "test<BR/><BR/>engineers" or QC people. IT guys don't do that enough. They QC their own<BR/><BR/>work, and that makes the product weak."<BR/><BR/>I remember when the Internet enabled folks who had some sort of topical affinity to express--to express it without much technical know-how. Folks like me became web techies and helped folks who were less technical than most. Then somewhere around 1995 the programmers said "hey, this is our thing isn't it?" thus taking credit or responisbility for the Internet.<BR/><BR/>Seems to me that the pure Comp Sci [side of the fence] folks are being overly opportunistic and seem insecure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com