Page 46 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

XIAO Ximing & SHEN Ling / The historical development and contemporary construction 045
of the framework of fundamental theory of library science with Chinese characteristics

1.3 Basic establishment of the fundamental theory of library science with Chinese
characteristics (1978-)

At the end of 1978, China embarked on the historical journey of reform and opening-up.
After a decade of twists and turns, a speedy recovery and development was seen in the field of
librarianship. The theoretical research of library science was unprecedentedly active under the
favorable academic environment. A large number of library science works, thoughts and theories
were introduced from overseas as a result of the reform and opening-up. The establishment of
Library Society of China and library societies at provincial levels made it possible for organizing
academic events of library science, the resumption of Bulletin of Library Science (now the Journal
of Library Science in China), as well as the founding of many journals of library science, provided
a platform for publishing research outcomes and exchanging academic opinions. It is under such
circumstances that the theoretical research of library science entered a brand new period, which
can be roughly divided into two periods.
(1) Steady growth of the fundamental theory of library science in reflection and contention of
opinions (1978-1999).
At the start of reform and opening-up, the group of library professionals who received higher
education from 1949 to 1966, were at their prime years for academic research. They demonstrated
strong academic enthusiasm after a decade of distancing from research due to historical reasons.
In the meantime, after the resumption of national college entrance examination, a new generation
of college students majoring in library science was also avidly learning and absorbing advanced
theories, concepts and methods at home and abroad. These library professionals and students both
were not content with the status quo of the fundamental theory of library science. They believed
that limiting its research in the scope of empirical description of library work process and activities
was the real reason hindering the recognition of library science as a discipline of science. This
resulted in a critique of empirical library science. This wave of critique is represented by the
papers published in the first half of the 1980s, including PENG Xiuyi’s Suggestions on Conducting
“Knowledge Science” Research, QIU Chang and HUANG Xin’s On Library Science Research
in the New Development Period, SHEN Jiwu and LIU Xun’s On the Crisis and Revolution of
China’s Library Science, ZHANG Xiaolin’s It’s Time to Change the Research Direction of Library
Science. Such reflection and critique considerably promoted the process of building library
science as a discipline of science. In the latter half of the 1980s, a number of well-known scholars
published their works in the fundamental theory of library science in the form of monographs or
textbooks, such as Introduction to Library Science by WU Weici and SHAO Wei, Introduction to
Documentary Communication by ZHOU Wenjun, Theoretical Library Science Course by NI Bo
and XUN Changrong, Introduction to Library Science by HUANG Zongzhong, and Principles of
Library Science by MI Hao. These works and textbooks have basically been compiled beyond the
paradigm limitations of empirical library science, aiming to build a fundamental theoretical system