Engineering design as a foundational metaphor for information science

Abstract

There are two linked fundamental crises in Information Science: an urgent need for solutions to the information explosion; and a lack of an operative metaphor upon which to base solutions. Current theoretical debates focus on whether information science is a coherent field of thought or an “assemblage of chunks” drawn from other disciplines. The “assemblage of chunks” phrase is sometimes applied in a pejorative sense to the field of engineering. Moreover, engineering is often neglected or misunderstood as an epistemologically coherent entity, especially in the literature of information science. Vincenti asserts that misconceptions about the nature of engineering have led some researchers to view engineering (incorrectly) as mere applied science. Buckland and others have indicated some areas of information science are so strongly dominated by a “scientific model” of research that they are not able to grasp an the potential value of engineering as a problem solving metaphor. Examination o f engineering as a problem solving framework holds promise of advancing the field o f information science. Engineers are just beginning to address design as a coherent, human orientation toward problem solving. Analysis of engineering epistemology and application of a postmodern lens to engineering and information science demonstrate that information science has been “barking up the wrong metaphor.” Rorty’s theory of pragmatics and Levi-Strauss’s concept of “bricolage” provide a strong link between the strengths of engineering and the crises of information science.