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Whither Information Science in France

Information science (IS) in France forms part of an inter-discipline named 'Information & Communication Sciences' (ICS), officially recognized as an academic discipline in the French higher education system in 1972. There is a diffuse belief among its academic community that the Anglophone conception of IS is very different from theirs because it is supposedly rooted in Shannon's mathematical theory of communication while the French conception is more rooted in the social sciences and humanities, owing to the literary origins of its founding figures (Robert Escarpit, Roland Barthes, Jean Meyriat). However, a review of the international literature shows that there are no profound distinctions in theories and paradigms underlying research in IS whether undertaken by French or by Anglophone researchers. The differences that do exist are surface level, due mainly to political and institutional factors. These factors also account for the poor state of IS in France today. Indeed, the institutional recognition and development of the field was not grounded upon the foundational works of the pioneers of documentation and IS in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Paul Otlet, Henri Lafontaine, Suzanne Briet). Another factor which has had a lasting impact on the French IS landscape were the inconsistent government policies implemented from the early 1970s till the late 1990s which led to a narrowing down of focus of IS to Scientific and technical information (STI) only, thus orienting the field towards a technological agenda. This in turn affected the direction higher education training and research took in the first three decades. Finally, but not the least adverse factor, the cohabitation of IS with communication science in the same inter-discipline has made it more difficult for the former to affirm its identity and exist as a recognized academic field in France.