Samuel E. Trosow

Standpoint Epistemology as an Alternative Methodology for Library and Information Science

Research traditions in library and information science (LIS) are deeply rooted in Enlightenment notions of Western science. A central element of this tradition is the insistence on neutrality as a prerequisite to objectivity. In LIS, neutrality has also become a guiding practice. Alternative epistemological projects challenge Enlightenment-based conceptions and have much to offer research in LIS. Integrating these projects into the conceptual frameworks of LIS research will provide powerful epistemological resources for future work. A metatheoretical framework is reviewed, and the qualitative/quantitative dichotomy, prevalent in LIS, is critiqued. Standpoint epistemology, as a critique of existing power-knowledge relationships, is discussed as a research strategy that can provide a starting point for reconceptualizing LIS research.

The Illusive Search for Justificatory Theories: Copyright, Commodification and Capital

The traditional philosophical justifications for copyright policy fail to account for current expansionary trends. The proprietary logic of contemporary copyright policies is justified on neither utilitarian nor rights-based grounds. Instead, copyright developments are located within the broader framework of commodification and the logic of capital itself. Since copyright law has been outpaced by a technology that undermines both the legal framework and the underlying economic theory on which it is based, a critical theoretical framework rooted in political economy is needed to harmonize the use and dissemination of information with the developing productive forces in society. Central to this framework is the contradiction between use-value and exchange-value, which is inherent in every commodity. This tension, which is particularly acute in the case of the information commodity, becomes sharper with the use of new technologically enabled exclusion mechanisms, as well as with various policy initiatives that seek to expand the duration, scope, and intensity of the copyright monopoly. Reconceptualizing copyright theory through the lens of critical political economy will help raise issues that are often overlooked in the current policy environment, and should decrease the acceptance of traditional justifications without considering all of the policy alternatives.

Organizational Theory in Library and Information Science Education

The A. evaluates the literature that has been traditionally used in LIS management and administration course, analyses developments in organizational theory that may be applicable to LIS, and reconceptualizes the overall approach of these courses. It concludes that the existing framework has followed the general outline of the classical management schools functions of management approach and that the LIS curricula should incorporate some of the more contemporary concepts in organizational theory

Law and Technology Theory: Bringing in Some Economic Analysis

The author argues economic analysis needs to be explicitly included in an overall theory of law and technology. Differing approaches to the economics of information are considered, and the copyright policy environment of the 1990s is taken as an example of how the lack of substantive economic analysis resulted in poor policy-making.