Page 71 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

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

so that the work on philosophy and social sciences in China can have its own characteristics and
advantages”, and “continuously promote the construction and innovation of the discipline system,
academic system and discourse system, and strive to build a philosophy and social science system
[1]
that covers all dimensions, all fields and all elements”. Information science is a discipline in
which social science and natural science are closely intersected with in-depth application of
information technologies. How to give play to its advantages and establish the discipline system,
academic system and discourse system of information science with Chinese characteristics, shall
be the priority of focus in the field of information science in the new era.
For a long time, it has been common knowledge in the field of information science in China
that the discipline has little influence on decision-making at the state and government levels,
weak discourse, and no position of discourse it deserves. The main reason is that it has never paid
attention to the construction of the discourse system, fails to think about how the core discourse of
the discipline is formulated, and defines the domain of the professional knowledge and theories of
the discipline vaguely. These problems exist due to the continuous transformation and deepening
of the research fields of the discipline together with the change of national and social needs, and
the scope of the core discourse of the discipline is also changing with them. New missions and
new tasks in the new era require us to reposition and carefully plan the discipline system, academic
system and discourse system of information science to accelerate its development.
The discipline system of a discipline usually determines its research scope and application fields,
and a sound structure can lay a solid foundation for the planning, development and positioning of
the discipline. The academic system explores theories and approaches under the framework of the
discipline system, focusing on interpreting the research objects and development patterns of the
discipline, and summarizing theories and expertise in a systematic way. The discourse system is
the external expression of the theoretical system, academic thinking and professional knowledge
of the discipline, and the knowledge system demonstrates the core discourse of the discipline,
which should be concentrated within the framework of the discipline system. It can be seen that the
discourse system of a discipline is closely related to the discipline system and the academic system.
The discourse system originates from the systematic, solid and profound professional knowledge
and academic system of the discipline, while the discipline system determines the scope of the
academic system and discourse system. Therefore, the discipline system, academic system and
discourse system cannot be separated.
New requirements of the new era entrust information science with new missions. The original
discipline system, academic system and discourse system of information science need to be
expanded and deepened with the development of the times. The changed environment, the
development of technologies, the intersections between disciplines and the change of needs for
information have promoted the development of research and work on information science to a
deeper and broader extent. The discipline of information science needs to be expanded, the theories
and knowledge of information science need to evolve, and the discourse of information science