EDITOR
Jonathan Grudin
jgrudin@microsoft.com
Gary Olson recently moved to UCI from the University of Michigan, where as faculty member and acting dean,
he participated in the formation of its influential School of Information, described in this article. I have helped track
down historical information on other influential iSchools. We may be witnessing the birth of a new star in the
academic firmament—its growth, so far only a little slower than a supernova, may be tested by the economic
collapse, but could accelerate with a recovery. —Jonathan Grudin
The Information School
Phenomenon
Gary M. Olson
University of California Irvine | gary.olson@uci.edu
Jonathan Grudin
Microsoft Research | jgrudin@microsoft.com
The past 15 years have seen a remarkable movement in academic circles, the emergence of infor-
[1] Some universities
apply the terms school
mation schools, or iSchools for short (the moniker
the organizations under this banner are indeed
schools or colleges; many can be found at leading
research universities.
and college to somewhat different organi-
created by an organization of such schools). In
zational entities, but we
this article we examine the iSchool movement, “Information” Becomes an Academic Focus, and
follow the convention
used by most, whereby
tracing its history, speculating on its longevity, Syracuse the First iSchool
and looking at its impact on human computer The term “information” was gradually added to
they are essentially
equivalent.
[2] We call this a “proto-
interaction (HCI) research and education. the names of departments and schools. In 1964
school” because while
The iSchools have an organization—the the Graduate Library School at the University of
it was a department,
not a school, it was not
iSchools Caucus ( www.ischools.org)—and hold an Pittsburgh became the Graduate School of Library
annual conference; as of this writing, 21 schools and Information Sciences. In 1968, the new
part of any other school,
and reported to the vice
chancellor.
are members. Antecedents of the iSchool phe- University of California Irvine campus established
[3] The quotation is
nomenon emerged gradually in the late 20th cen- a “proto-school” called Information and Computer
from T. Didomenico,
“Three Decades as an
tury. The movement gathered momentum in the Science [2].
Information Leader,”
Home Page 7, no.
early 1990s and has already stirred several pots: Then, in 1974, Syracuse University Dean Robert
1 (2004). < http://
the library world, computer science, design stud- Taylor, noting the rise of telecommunications and
ischool.syr.edu/news-
room/newsletters/
ies, to name a few. computing, rechristened the School of Library
ISTSummer2004.pdf>.
Let’s preface the history of the iSchools with a Science as the School of Information Studies. He
Interpreting the word
“information” in a title
brief digression on the status of a school in a uni- considered this “a way to fold the library science
is complicated by the
use of “information
versity. Although there are no formal definitions program’s vision of enabling people to find and use
of what a university is, most universities consist of information into an ever-broadening set of academ-
systems” as a synonym
for computer hardware
and software systems in
a collection of schools and colleges, which in turn ic disciplines.” It would be 20 years before another
the management field.
We consider “informa-
oversee the programs of the various disciplines school selected a name in which information was
tion systems” to be a
tightly defining term, not
an expansive term, so
cinating organizations, evolving and reacting to Library science has a central role in this account, do not include it as a
variant of information. In
or departments. Universities themselves are fas- the only discipline [3].
changes in society around them. At many U.S. so it is important to note that departments and
contrast, “Informatics”
universities, a school or college is in a politically schools of library science went through a very as used at Indiana has a
social, multidisciplinary
strong position. Their deans are powerful in the rough period during the 1970s and 1980s. More focus. Our incomplete
canvas found an M.S. in
March + April 2009
university’s administrative structure, much more than 15 library schools closed, including several at
information science at
so than departments and department chairs [1]. leading research universities—Chicago, Minnesota, Drexel in 1963, thus far
the earliest iDegree of
So in the context of university life, it is signifi- Columbia, and the University of Southern
which we are aware.