Time and historicity in academic narratives about information and Library and Information Science

Abstract

This article examines the various configurations and uses of time in academic productions concerning information and Library and Information Science, focusing on texts that sought to understand the limitations and horizons of these concepts throughout the second half of the 20th century and early 21st century. The methodological approach was based on content analysis of works produced by authors diverse in perspectives and bibliographically relevant to the field – such as Harold Borko, Alexander Michailov, Jesse Shera, Tefko Saracevic, Rafael Capurro, Michael Buckland, Bernd Frohmann, Birger Hjørland, among others – organized into three strands: productions with a critical approach regarding the devaluation of the past in the theoretical-epistemological conceptions of the discipline; publications that explicitly addressed the temporal question; and foundational texts that, although not directly mentioning the theme of temporality, mobilized it implicitly. The investigation demonstrates that, despite the existence of a historical dimension in these reflections that sought to establish Library and Information Science as an autonomous scientific field, its in-depth analysis is frequently overlooked due to the urgency to understand immediate reality, generating a presentism that subordinates the past to the present. It is concluded, therefore, that we have a tradition of theoretical reflections that incorporate into their narratives a minimally reflective theory of progress, postponing to an ideal future the answers to theoretical-epistemological questions posed as fundamental. Thus, it is proposed to incorporate new time perspectives in the field’s academic productions, with less anxiety regarding supposed radical transformations, greater present commitment to field construction, and a critical consciousness about our space of experience, which necessarily encompasses multiple temporal layers.