Full Description
An invaluable book on the emergent field of transdisciplinarity that explains how it applies to library service and collections conceptually and identifies practical strategies for supporting transdisciplinary research conducted by faculty and students.
Transdisciplinarity Revealed: What Librarians Need to Know supplies pragmatic advice for academic librarians on working with faculty and students to promote the skills necessary for successful transdisciplinary research. It shows how to overcome the obstacles created by the ways that libraries have traditionally organized information in subject silos, offering librarians conceptual and practical guidance on transdisciplinarity. This information will enable them to support research that transcends disciplinary limits to help researchers answer the complex questions of our world today.
Part I provides an overview of the emergent field of transdisciplinarity that introduces readers to all key concepts and issues. Part II explains how transdisciplinarity applies to library services and collections, explores new strategies for supporting transdisciplinary research conducted by faculty and students, and describes how librarians can better address the unique challenges of working in the transdisciplinary research environment. Readers will come away with a full understanding of the distinctions between the four modes of knowledge production—disciplinary, multi-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinarity—and apply this knowledge to benefit their patrons' research efforts.
Contents
Foreword
Alfonso Montuori
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms
Part One In Search of Unity: An Introduction to Transdisciplinarity
Chapter 1 A Neologism with Ancient Roots: The Challenge of Defining Transdisciplinarity
Chapter 2 Transdisciplinarity in Retrospect: Origins and Benchmark Events
Chapter 3 Transdisciplinarity: An Elusive Concept
Chapter 4 From Scientific Research to Societal Benefit: The Need for Transdisciplinarity
Chapter 5 The Disciplinary Continuum: From Disciplinarity to Transdisciplinarity
Chapter 6 Transdisciplinary Research as a Collaborative Enterprise: Promises and Challenges of Transdisciplinary Initiatives
Chapter 7 Scholarly Communication in the Transdisciplinary Context: What Has Changed and What Has Remained the Same
Chapter 8 Transdisciplinarity in Practice: Projects, Funding, and Evaluation Criteria
Chapter 9 The Vision of a Transdisciplinary University
Part Two A Natural Fit: Transdisciplinarity and Librarianship
Chapter 10 Why Do Librarians Need to Know about Transdisciplinarity?
Chapter 11 Envisioning a Universal Classification: Transdisciplinarity and Knowledge Organization
Chapter 12 Filling Collection Gaps: Areas of Concern and Possible Solutions
Chapter 13 Librarians as Boundary Intermediaries: Implications of Transdisciplinarity for Reference Services
Chapter 14 The Process of Becoming: Reflections on Transdisciplinary Learning and Information Literacy Instruction
Chapter 15 Becoming a Transdisciplinary Librarian: From Catching Up to Leading the Way
Conclusion: Looking Ahead
Appendix A: Annotated Bibliography
Appendix B: Notable Theorists, Educators, and Advocates
Glossary
References
Index
