Page 72 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

SU Xinning / The discipline system, academic system and discourse system of information science with Chinese characteristics 071

needs to reflect the underlined meaning of the discipline. Information science should become
the “eyes and ears, spearhead and advisor” in national security and development, and assume the
mission of safeguarding national security and promoting development.

1 The origins and development of information science with Chinese
characteristics

The origins of information science in China is closely related to the work on scientific and
technological information, and is evolving constantly with the deepening of work on information,
the rapid development of science and technology, the extensive application of information
technologies and the change of research environment. It has over 60 years’ history since the
founding of the “University of Scientific and Technological Information of China” in 1958.
Although the discipline of information science is still young, it has been developing rapidly under
the joint efforts of colleagues from the academia and the boost of the external environment.

1.1 Overview on the origins of information science with Chinese characteristics

In the early days of the People’s Republic of China, the domestic scientific and technological
industry lagged behind. At the same time, faced with the blockade from the western countries, it
was extremely difficult for researchers to obtain scientific and technological data. In that context,
cared and valued by leaders of the Party and the state, undertakings of scientific and technological
information in China were officially started. In 1956, Premier ZHOU Enlai suggested that
strengthening scientific research should be included in the Second Five-Year Plan as a major
[2]
part ; and in the Long-term Plan for Scientific and Technological Development from 1956 to 1967,
[3]
it was clearly proposed to vigorously carry out work on scientific and technological information .
In the same year, the China Institute for Scientific Information under the Chinese Academy
of Sciences was established, which was renamed the Institute of Scientific and Technological
Information of China in 1958. Since 1956, institutes for scientific and technological information in
various industries (aviation, medicine, railway, architecture, national defense, chemical industry,
electronics, coal, etc.) had been established one after another in the national, provincial and
municipal levels. Therefore, the year 1956 can be regarded as the onset of the undertakings of
scientific and technological information in China.
At the beginning of the work on information, lack of talents was a serious problem. In 1958,
the Chinese Academy of Sciences established the University of Scientific and Technological
Information of China, and set up the Department of Scientific and Technological Information in it,
which enrolled the first group of undergraduate students in 1959. In the same year, the university
was merged into the University of Science and Technology of China. From then on, until 1978, as
the country was in a period of adjustment, the enrollment of the department was interrupted and