Welcome to Library and Information Science

摘要

This paper enacts the following scenario: At an orientation session for a library and information science (US) program, an educator gives incoming students a brief address entitled "Welcome to Library and Information Science." Three versions of that talk are offered here, drawn from seminal works by Shera (1973a), White (1992), and Bates (1999). In turn, each author is introduced, the historical and literary context of the article is noted, and then its unique characterization of US is presented in a spoken rhetorical style. The three disquisitions are followed by discussion questions designed to engage newcomers and observations on the pedagogical strengths and weaknesses of each paper. A conclusion crystallizes each work's conception of library and information science as a unified domain. Readers who are educators will benefit from refreshers in these foundational writings and learn new communication and teaching strategies. Student readers will enjoy succinct and accessible introductions to a troika of major visions for US.