Often a book that attempts to tackle such a broad topic as “information and society” can fall flat, doing little more than pointing out the obvious while also boring the reader with an unimaginative presentation of historical context. Michael Buckland masterfully sidesteps these pitfalls and offers a creative, accessible, and practical tour of the information science landscape in a social context. As a part of The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series, Information and Society offer a refreshing presentation of the growth of information and the concurrent development of information management philosophies and strategies. In an accessible style appropriate for virtually any reader, the book digs deeply into sociological aspects of information and the role of information specialists in a world that is exploding with “documents,” as well as providing relevant historical context. The text also presents a subtle but effective introduction to a variety of concepts, including phenomena such as linked data and cultural influence on controlled vocabulary. Take, for example, the following discussion in the “Mention and Meaning” section of the Chapter titled “Naming.” Buckland states: “In subject indexing, the machinic and the cultural collide like two tectonic plates, and naming lies at the fault line where indexers use vocabulary control to try to mitigate the linguistic ruptures and slidings they can neither prevent nor avoid.” Library and information science have become an integral part of a world that touches just about everyone’s life. E-mail, digital photos, homegrown online (taggable) bibliographies, as well as physical “stuff” are all pervasive. Information and Society is a book that inspires one to think creatively about these phenomena, and also serves as an encouraging reminder to any librarian or information specialist that their expertise is ever-so-critical. This book would be of interest for general readers, yet also well suited for a more targeted audience. With substantive but easily digestible chapters including “Document and Evidence,” “Individual and Community,” and “Organizing: Arrangement and Description,” Information and Society would serve as a wonderful supplementary text for a class on this topic, and even more so for an introductory cataloging or indexing course.

中文翻译：

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信息与社会

通常，一本试图解决诸如“信息与社会”之类的广泛主题的书可能会落空，只会指出显而易见的事情，同时也会以缺乏想象力的历史背景呈现使读者感到厌烦。Michael Buckland 巧妙地避开了这些陷阱，并在社会背景下提供了对信息科学领域的创造性、可访问性和实用性之旅。作为麻省理工学院出版社基本知识系列的一部分，《信息与社会》以令人耳目一新的方式展示了信息的增长以及信息管理理念和策略的同步发展。这本书以几乎适合任何读者的易于理解的方式深入挖掘了信息的社会学方面以及信息专家在“文档、”，并提供相关的历史背景。文本还对各种概念进行了微妙但有效的介绍，包括关联数据和文化对受控词汇的影响等现象。例如，在标题为“命名”一章的“提及和含义”部分中的以下讨论。巴克兰德说：“在主题索引中，机械和文化就像两个构造板块一样发生碰撞，命名位于断层线上，索引者使用词汇控制来试图减轻他们既无法避免也无法避免的语言断裂和滑动。” 图书馆和信息科学已成为这个几乎与每个人的生活息息相关的世界的一个组成部分。电子邮件、数码照片、本土在线（可标记）书目以及实物“资料”都无处不在。《信息与社会》是一本激发人们对这些现象进行创造性思考的书，同时也鼓励图书馆员或信息专家提醒他们的专业知识至关重要。这本书会让一般读者感兴趣，但也非常适合更有针对性的读者。信息与社会包括“文件和证据”、“个人和社区”和“组织：安排和描述”等实质性但易于理解的章节，将成为有关该主题的课程的精彩补充文本，更是如此介绍性编目或索引课程。这本书会让一般读者感兴趣，但也非常适合更有针对性的读者。信息与社会包括“文件和证据”、“个人和社区”和“组织：安排和描述”等实质性但易于理解的章节，将成为有关该主题的课程的精彩补充文本，更是如此介绍性编目或索引课程。这本书会让一般读者感兴趣，但也非常适合更有针对性的读者。信息与社会包括“文件和证据”、“个人和社区”和“组织：安排和描述”等实质性但易于理解的章节，将成为有关该主题的课程的精彩补充文本，更是如此介绍性编目或索引课程。