TY - JOUR

T1 - Education in Knowledge Organization

AU - Hjørland, Birger

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - This article provides analyses, describes dilemmas, and suggest way forwards in the teaching of knowledge organization (KO). The general assumption of the article is that theoretical problems in KO must be the point of departure for teaching KO. Section 2 focuses on teaching practical, applied and professional KO in which the focus is on learning about specific knowledge organization systems (KOS), specific standards, and specific methods for organizing knowledge, but provides arguments for not isolating these aspects from theoretical issues. Section 3 is about teaching theoretical and academic KO, in which the focus is on examining the bases on which KOSs and knowledge organization processes such as classifying and indexing are founded. This basically concerns concepts and conceptual relations and should not be based on prejudices about the superiority of either humans or computers for KO. Section 4 is about the study of education in KO, which is considered important because it is about how the field is monitoring itself and about how it should be shaping its own future. Section 5 is about the role of the ISKO Encyclopedia of Knowledge Organization in education of KO, emphasizing the need for an interdisciplinary source that may help improve the conceptual clarity in the field. The conclusion suggests some specific recommendations for curricula in KO based on the author’s view of KO.

AB - This article provides analyses, describes dilemmas, and suggest way forwards in the teaching of knowledge organization (KO). The general assumption of the article is that theoretical problems in KO must be the point of departure for teaching KO. Section 2 focuses on teaching practical, applied and professional KO in which the focus is on learning about specific knowledge organization systems (KOS), specific standards, and specific methods for organizing knowledge, but provides arguments for not isolating these aspects from theoretical issues. Section 3 is about teaching theoretical and academic KO, in which the focus is on examining the bases on which KOSs and knowledge organization processes such as classifying and indexing are founded. This basically concerns concepts and conceptual relations and should not be based on prejudices about the superiority of either humans or computers for KO. Section 4 is about the study of education in KO, which is considered important because it is about how the field is monitoring itself and about how it should be shaping its own future. Section 5 is about the role of the ISKO Encyclopedia of Knowledge Organization in education of KO, emphasizing the need for an interdisciplinary source that may help improve the conceptual clarity in the field. The conclusion suggests some specific recommendations for curricula in KO based on the author’s view of KO.

U2 - 10.5771/0943-7444-2023-3-160

DO - 10.5771/0943-7444-2023-3-160

M3 - Journal article

VL - 50

SP - 160

EP - 181

JO - Knowledge Organization

JF - Knowledge Organization

SN - 0943-7444

IS - 3

ER -