How to define a scientific term such as â A Workâ . Presentation given at American Society for Information Science and Technology Annual Meeting, November 12-17, 2004, Providence, Rhode Island, Sunday, November 14, 3:30-5pm Session: Interdisciplinary Concepts of the â Workâ Entity.

Abstract

In this presentation I try to say something about how to define scientific terms in general as well as something about the specific term â a workâ . The way we define terms depends on our philosophical assumptions. I have illustrated differences between positivist and non-positivist ways of defining terms and advocated a pragmatic way of understanding terms, concepts and knowledge. I have also indicated that different subcultures within LIS tend to use different terms and concepts (such as "a work"), but have tried to demonstrate that we may gain a more coherent and satisfactory state of our field if we try to overcome the barriers between those subcultures.