Page 213 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

212 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.13, 2021

Based on the authoritative standard textbooks’ measurements in Table 2, the knowledge hardness
of the disciplines can be ranked as physics > medicine > economics, which aligns with intuitive
judgment.
Textbooks both domestically and internationally evolve with time. Differences in
knowledge hardness can be discerned between different textbooks within the same discipline,
reflecting varied interpretations of the subject matter. Furthermore, different editions of the
same textbook may demonstrate the evolution of knowledge over time. Table 3 provides an
example of the knowledge hardness evolution in economics textbooks across different eras.
In this context, Marshall’s Principle’s of Economics refers to the 1965 translation by the
Commercial Press, while Samuelson’s Economics is based on statistics from its 19th Chinese
edition.

Table 3. Evolution of knowledge hardness in economics textbooks
Parameter Marshall’s Principles of Economics Samuelson’s Economics

F 0 30
T 17 205

P 655 756

H 0.03 0.25

The development shows that the knowledge hardness of economics has increased about tenfold
from the time of Marshall in the 19th century to Samuelson in the 20th century.
Library and Information Science does not have a universally recognized standard textbook
internationally. Here, we take the widely used domestic textbooks Introduction to Library
Science by Prof. WANG Zizhou, Foundations of Information Science edited by Prof. Fred Y. YE,
and Introduction to Library and Information Science by Prof. YU Liangzhi as examples. Their
calculated knowledge hardness values are presented in Table 4.

Table 4. Measurable examples of knowledge hardness in library and information science
Foundations of Introduction to Library
Parameter Introduction to Library Science
Information Science and Information Science
F 5 76 5

T 29 75 66

P 273 377 491

H 0.12 0.42 0.14