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Pioneers of Information Science in Europe:
The Œuvre of Norbert Henrichs
Katharina Hauk & Wolfgang G. Stock
Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany, Department of Information Science
ASIS&T AM 2012, Baltimore, MDHistory of ASIS&T and Information and Technology Worldwide. October 27, 2012
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MOTIVATION
2HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
Why is Norbert Henrichs (born 1935) a pioneer of
information science?
1. Henrichs created a method of knowledge organization beyond
KOS: the text-word method (applying indexing with thematical
chains) in the 1960s.
2. Henrichs contributed to the formulation of the German
„Information & Documentation Program“ in the 1970s and served
as CEO of the central infrastructure facility for information
science and practice in Germany (the „GID“) in the early 1980s.
3. Henrichs established Information Science (beyond LIS and CIS)
as a subject of higher education in Germany.
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AGENDA
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Introduction
Methods
Oral History
Literature Review
Archival Material
Results
Text-Word Method
Organization of Information Practice in Germany. The
„Information & Documentation Program“
Information Science as a Subject of Study in Higher
Education
Discussion
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NORBERT HENRICHS IN 1968
4HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
Source: German Television Broadcast
WDR, 1968
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NORBERT HENRICHS IN 2012
HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
Source: Oral History Interview,
Düsseldorf, Germany, 2012
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METHODS
6HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
1. Oral history: interview with Norbert Henrichs on April 12, 2012 in
Düsseldorf, Germany – video (about 200 minutes) – transcript
(stored in the archive of the Heinrich-Heine-University)
2. Literature review: analysis of the published articles of Henrichs
(as a by-product of the edition of selected works of Henrichs)
3. Review of archival material: analysis of some unpublished
materials by and on Henrichs in the archive the Dept. of
Information Science at the Heinrich-Heine-University)
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RESULTS, PART 1:
TEXT-WORD METHOD
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• Philosophy documentation – cooperation with
• University of Louvain, Belgium (Jucquois-Delpierre, Wenin)
• Research and Documentation Center of Austrian Philosophy,
Graz, Austria (Haller, Gombocz)
• Philosophy Documentation Center, Bowling Green State
University, Bowling Green, OH, U.S.A. (Lineback)
• How to index philosophical literature?
• No classification system, no thesaurus
• No full text storage
• Introduction of the Text-Word Method
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TEXT-WORD METHOD
8HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
• Text-Word Method
• Only words (in original language) which occur in the text
• Syntactical indexing: no single topics, but chains of topics
• Very precise retrieval results
• But: Problems for the users to anticipate the language use of
the authors (in all languages) – Solutions:
• Term networks (as an early form of informetrics)
• Pentagram lists (as an early form of n-gram retrieval)
• (Not by Henrichs, but by M.Stock) text-words in original
language and in a unified language
• Commercial partner: Siemens
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TEXT-WORD METHOD
9HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
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TEXT-WORD METHOD
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• Searching for: WUNDT, WILHELM
MAX SAME GERMANY (SAME
meaning „in the same thematical
chain)
• Here: In the printed index of „Mind“
• Hit: Article No. 3
• Online Retrieval worked in a similar
way
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TEXT-WORD METHOD
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• Full text delivery in the
1960s, 1970s and 1980s
• Microforms
• Microfiches
• Roll films
• Commercial partner:
3M Company
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RESULTS, PART 2:
Organization of Information Practice in Germany
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• In the 1960s the German government recognized the
importance of Information and Documentation (I&D).
• In the I&D program (1974-1977) the government was
responsible for planning, implementing and financing I&D.
• Henrichs played an essential role in planning this
program.
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The “Information & Documentation Program”
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The “Information & Documentation Program”
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• A core element of the I&D program was the Society for
Information and Documentation (GID) – an infrastructure facility
for the FIZs
• The GID s main tasks lay in:
• Resarch and development in the various areas of I&D,
• Teaching, consulting and technological support for the FIZs,
• Sponsoring projects and operating a central information
service,
• Observation of international development in the I&D sphere
(branches in Washington, D.C. and in Tokyo ).
• Henrichs was the scientific executive of the GID.
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The “Information & Documentation Program”
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• The I&D program was never implemented as planned because of:
• Financial problems: The costs had been underestimated.
• The question whether I&D ought to be left to the government
or to the markets.
• In the 1980s there was a paradigm shift toward the market
economy.
• The GID was closed because the infrastructure it was supposed
to create was not needed and because of organizational
difficulties.
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RESULTS, PART 3:
Information Science as a subject of study
16HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
• The origin of Information Science in Düsseldorf lay in philosophy
documentation.
• In 1970 there were the first courses that could be called
Information Science.
• By 1974 Henrichs worked out a curriculum for Information
Science as a minor subject.
• However Information Science was only accredited as a subject in
its own right in 1989.
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RESULTS, PART 3:
Information Science as a subject of study
17HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
• In Germany Information Science was neither combined with
Library Science (LIS) nor Computer Science (CIS).
• No LIS => In West Germany Library Science was not a subject of
study. Librarians had to pass different training courses.
• No CIS => Computer Science for data processing and organizing
information has only ever been a useful tool.
• For Henrichs, Information Science is the science of knowledge
organization, with a clear focus on applicability.
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DISCUSSION
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Text-Word Method
Is knowledge organization beyond of Knowledge
Organization Systems (KOS, e.g. classification systems,
thesauri) useful?
Folksonomies do not make use of KOS as well. Can we
transfer the experiences of the text-word method to
social tagging?
Is syntactical indexing by thematic chains applicable in
other environments?
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DISCUSSION
19HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
Governmental Information Policy
Information supply: government-driven or market-
driven?
If market-driven: Who will finance unprofitable
information services (e.g., for philosophy)?
Is there a need for a central think tank for information
science?
Is there a need for a central organization of information
services for ALL kinds of (STM) information?
Information science think tank?
Central organization of information services?
On a global scale:
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DISCUSSION
20HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
Information Science as an Academic
Discipline
Is Information Science indeed beyond Library &
Information Science (LIS)?
Is it beyond Computer & Information Science (CIS) as
well?
Is Information Science a subject on its own right?
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CLOSING REMARK
21HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
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QUESTIONS?
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DISCUSSION?
22HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
Thank you! Best wishes from Düsseldorf, Germany!
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“CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY”
23HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITY DÜSSELDORF
That‘s NOT the real Düsseldorf.