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The Information School at the University of Sheffield, 1963-2013

Melanie T. Benson (Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK)
Peter Willett (Information School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK)

Journal of Documentation

ISSN: 0022-0418

Article publication date: 7 October 2014

Issue publication date: 7 October 2014

608

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the historical development of library and information science (LIS) teaching and research in the University of Sheffield's Information School since its founding in 1963.

Design/methodology/approach

The history is based on published materials, unpublished school records, and semi-structured interviews with 19 current or ex-members of staff.

Findings

The School has grown steadily over its first half-century, extending the range of its teaching from conventional programmes in librarianship and information science to include cognate programmes in areas such as health informatics, information systems and multi-lingual information management.

Originality/value

There are very few published accounts of the history of LIS departments.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the colleagues, past and present, for participating in the interviews that provided much of the information discussed in this paper.

Citation

Benson, M.T. and Willett, P. (2014), "The Information School at the University of Sheffield, 1963-2013", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 70 No. 6, pp. 1141-1158. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2013-0040

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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