Journal of Information Science, Vol. 16, No. 1, 11-15 (1990)

The cognitive viewpoint in information science

Nicholas J. Belkin School of Communication, Information and Library Studies. Rutgers University. New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA

The meaning of the cognitive view of information science is briefly summarized, and representative works which propose or use this viewpoint are reviewed. It is shown, by example, that considering problems of information science from this point of view has led to significant advances in a variety of areas of information science, including bibliometrics, user studies, the reference interview and information retrieval. This variety of applications suggests that the cognitive viewpoint may be a powerful framework for the general theoretical and practical development of information science.