A New Role for the Concept of Information in the Development of Liberal Arts Curriculum

Abstract

This is a juried paper (18 pages) presented during Session 1.4 titled LIS Curriculum: Global Perspectives" on Thursday, January 11 at the ALISE 2005 Conference, Boston, Massachusetts (Session Moderator: Bharat Mehra). The Liberal Arts curriculum, understood here as a programmatic standard for the first parts of a university education, rather than a more general philosophy of the entire scope of education, is usually structured through the distinction of different "forms of knowledge," or different "ways of knowing". In this article, the concept of information, in a very broad understanding of this term, is proposed as a factor integrating the Liberal Arts curriculum. The advantages of the diversification of the curriculum achieved by developing in students an awareness of different ways of knowing are lost when such diversification actually produces dissociation of the acquired knowledge. There are several themes which are often effectively used to integrate what students are learning such as intercultural communication, globalization, computer technology, etc. However, the limited universality of even these general themes creates limits for integration. Information however, through its manifestations in almost all domains of the university curriculum, and because of its relation to the concept of knowledge in general, is of special interest as a potential factor in curriculum integration. But before it can be effectively used in educational practice, information must acquire a firm philosophical foundation.