Page 90 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

AN Lu, CHEN Miaomiao, SHEN Yan & LI Gang / The basic categories and core propositions of information science with Chinese characteristics 089

As innovation-led development became the driving force for strategic emerging industries,
information science in China was no longer limited to scientific and technological information,
but combined with new technologies, new methods and new concepts. It has made achievements
in economic development, cultural communication and construction, national security and other
new fields. These industry scenarios and research fields gave information science new features
and missions in the new era. Due to changes in the social environment and competition for social
resources among different disciplines, information science in China need to repeatedly examine
and systematically summarize its unique value.
In the early years of the emerging of information science in China, in order to learn from the
research frontiers of foreign information science, information service agencies at all levels were
constantly collecting, selecting and tracking international scientific and technological information,
so as to promote the science and technology progress in China. Subsequently, it encountered
controversial problems in its development, for example, whether it should be established as a first
[2]
level discipline (a discipline conferring academic degrees) or not , could the words “intelligence”
and “information” be used interchangeably, even the origin of Chinese information science,
its discipline definition and its objective and scope are also in debate. These debates are not
a complete denial of its important role, but to explore the significance of the existence of this
discipline and its further development, to explore the answers to the most important questions in
the field of information science: How is information science to be an interdisciplinary science?
What is the core essence that supports the continuous development of information science with
Chinese characteristics?
Based on the above background, this paper tries to come up with conclusions and ideas
about what are the basic categories and core propositions of information science with Chinese
characteristics and to identify the core of the discipline from a new historical perspective. The
basic categories are highly abstracted and concluded from the core research questions in this field,
which could reveal the internal nature and maturity of the discipline to a certain extent. Every
discipline should have its own basic category system, to clarify the internal logical relationship
between its core contents and basic categories. In the fields of logic and mathematics, propositions
are considered to be sentences that represent judgments, usually divided into true propositions
and false propositions. Heidegger believed that the discovery of the laws of various disciplines is
usually based on objective axioms as facts and expressed in propositions. The core propositions
that are “canonical and accurate” in each of the fundamental categories could explain the internal
characteristics of the category at a deep level . In this sense, the propositions of information
[3]
science discussed in this paper are the cognitive expression of the core content of information
science which is consistent with the objective facts, so as to reveal the complete picture of
information science with Chinese characteristics. Propositions and categories are inseparable and
intertwined. Both are research paradigms that explore the theoretical connotation of information
science with Chinese characteristics and the intrinsic value of discipline practice development.