The research object of library science (West) 1808, Schleitinger summarized the research object of library science as book collection, and its content is the compilation of books and catalogues. At that time, the main business of the library was to sort out books, and his academic views were naturally inseparable from the theoretical summary of his own work experience.
This view, which focuses on the technical operation and working methods of the library, has been further developed. Albert, Morbesch and Edwards made a relatively complete experience summary on the theories and methods of book collection construction, classification and cataloging, book collection protection and reader service, and covered them with the concept of library management.
Dewey is a master who studies library management. He founded the School of Library Management of Columbia University in 1887, and the core of its teaching system is to explore the "practical utility and management" of library management. His view has been widely valued and influenced.
In 1930s, Butler in America and Sheila later believed that library management and technical methods should not be the main research objects of library science, and library science should study its theoretical basis and scientific principles to establish library philosophy, thus revealing the essential characteristics and development laws of libraries.
The views represented by Butler and Sheila have expanded the research scope of library science, which is helpful for people to further scientifically summarize the laws of library cause construction and library work in a wider scope of practice and in a deeper sense.
The research object of library science (China) In the discussion on the research object of library science in China in the 1920s and 1930s, the mainstream view was about library management.
The viewpoint that library science studies library elements was gradually developed in 1930s. In the book Introduction to Library Science, Liu Guojun proposed to study the four elements of books, personnel, equipment and methods respectively. 1957, Liu Guojun published "what is library science", which further developed the theory of "elements". He believes that library cause has five elements: books, readers, leading cadres, building equipment and working methods, and the research object of library science is library cause and its various components. Studying these five elements separately constitutes the whole of library science.
In 1950s, Soviet library science was introduced into China. Lenin's view that libraries are an organic part of social organizations and should follow the general laws of social development has become one of the guiding ideas for discussing the research objects of library science. From 1957, the discussion on the research object of library science tries to get rid of the old model of simply investigating technical methods.
In the early 1960s, the library science circle in China began to study the object of library science from the perspective of contradiction, and made progress. Because people have different understandings of library contradictions, they come to different conclusions, among which the research on the contradiction between "storage" and "use" and the contradiction between "book" and "reader" is more influential.
In 1980s, people scientifically revealed the research object of library science, and produced many new viewpoints, among which "information exchange", "document exchange" and "knowledge exchange" are more representative. Although these three different formulations have their own characteristics, they are actually trinity. Information and knowledge are closely related and inseparable, and are widely spread by means of literature; As a communication tool, literature contains information and knowledge. The library's use of documents to serve the society is actually a wide range of information exchange and knowledge exchange.
The above-mentioned arguments appear in the process of understanding scientific truth, revealing the research object of library science from different angles, thus enriching the content of library science research.