Between scientific communication, document science and information science: Ranganathan and documentation in the 1950s and 1960s

Abstract

The post-World War II years represent a moment of international reflection on the concept of Documentation, due to the technological-scientific impulse and the constantly growing informational phenomena. Already in 1934, the discussion was outlined by Otlet, giving rise to reflections destined to channel the interests of librarianship and the nascent science of information. An analysis of the process of Ranganathan’s elaboration of the concept of Document and Documentation is proposed in order to understand how the author positions himself, in the rich dialogue involving eminent voices in the field of documentation, from Otlet (1934), Briet (1951) to neo-documentation theorists, in an attempt to better historicize his contribution to the development of Information Science.

Keywords

• ranganathan
• document
• documentation
• information science
• decoloniality