Purpose This paper aims to problematise the basis of the use of non-fiction as an explanatory category in libraries that have mandates to deliver information to civil society users to initiate debate on its ongoing value. Design/methodology/approach A range of literature from the fields of information science, philosophy, literary studies and the sociology of knowledge was critically surveyed to uncover reasons for the use of the non-fiction concept when librarians are dealing with documentary knowledge. A process of thematisation of relevant material was then conducted using a methodology informed by historicist and hermeneutic-phenomenological approaches to social scientific inquiry. Findings The extreme simplicity of the concept of non-fiction masks a complex range of factors associated with common sense understanding of life and our conceptualisation of what constitutes knowledge in civil society information environments. By restricting the nature of questions associated with knowledge and documentary knowledge the non-fiction concept contributes to a far too narrow view of how these concepts interrelate. Practical implications Preliminary reasons are offered for why the non-fiction concept is problematic, and an alternative discursive formation is put forward which may enable more fruitful caretaking of documentary collections in school and public libraries. Originality/value This paper helps to open discussion among collection management theorists and practitioners regarding how the concept of documentary knowledge can be more usefully theorised so that it is better able to support the epistemic learning and socialisation goals of libraries characterised by their civil society setting.

中文翻译：

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非小说：非自然归类的馆藏发展概念

目的本文旨在使非小说类作品在图书馆中的使用基础存在疑问，该类图书馆的任务是向民间社会用户提供信息，以就其持续价值展开辩论。设计/方法论/方法对信息科学，哲学，文学研究和知识社会学等领域的一系列文献进行了严格的调查，以揭示馆员在处理文献知识时使用非虚构概念的原因。然后使用历史学家和诠释学-现象学方法进行社会科学探究的方法，对相关资料进行主题化。发现非小说类概念的极端简单性掩盖了与生活常识以及我们对民间社会信息环境中构成知识的概念化相关的一系列因素。通过限制与知识和文献知识相关的问题的性质，非虚构概念对这些概念之间的相互关系的观点太狭窄了。实际意义提出了非小说概念为何存在问题的初步原因，并提出了另一种话语形式，可以使学校和公共图书馆对文献馆藏的收藏更加富有成果。