{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,2]],"date-time":"2025-08-02T17:08:33Z","timestamp":1754154513969,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,22]],"date-time":"2009-05-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1242950400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,22]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Purpose<\/jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper is to analyse the extent to which understanding information science (IS) and information retrieval (IR) as disciplines characterised by intractable dilemmas is a useful conceptual framework through reviewing and re\u2010evaluating an important contribution to the field in light of more recent developments.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title><jats:p>This paper reviews the discussion of central dilemmas within IS and IR, through literature review and conceptual analysis. It assesses the extent to which they remain intractable problems or whether improved solutions have been developed and discusses the implications of these ongoing challenges. The main problem addressed is, in Neill's terminology, \u201cthe dilemma of the subjective in information organisation and retrieval\u201d which is understood as the problem of how the meaning of documents can be represented to meet the needs of the user.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Findings<\/jats:title><jats:p>Many of the dilemmas discussed within IS and IR remain fairly intractable primarily because information and meaning have both subjective and objective qualities which often have a complex relationship. Recent technological developments have, however, altered the nature of some of these dilemmas and also created some new dilemmas for the subject.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Research implications\/limitations<\/jats:title><jats:p>Historical perspectives within IR and IS should be used when discussing theoretical and technological developments in the subject. The conceptual framework of dilemmas remains a useful theoretical tool for IS and IR in terms of examining the nature of problems in research and practice.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type=\"abstract-heading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title><jats:p>This paper re\u2010visits an important theme in IS and IR and provides an updated perspective on some central issues.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/00012530910959853","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,23]],"date-time":"2009-05-23T07:15:34Z","timestamp":1243062934000},"page":"323-330","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Dilemmas in information science (IS) and information retrieval (IR)"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"61","author":[{"given":"Clare","family":"Thornley","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b1","unstructured":"Blair, D.C. (1990), Language and Representation in Information Retrieval, Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Blair, D. (2006), Wittgenstein, Language and Information: \u201cBack to the Rough Ground!\u201d, Springer, Dordrecht.","DOI":"10.1007\/11495222_1"},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Borlund, P. (2000), \u201cExperimental components for the evaluation of interactive information retrieval systems\u201d, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 56 No. 1, pp. 71\u201090.","DOI":"10.1108\/EUM0000000007110"},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b4","unstructured":"Buckland, M. (1991), Information and Information Systems, Greenwood, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b5","unstructured":"Cleverdon, C.W., Milles, J. and Keen, E.M. (1966), Factors Determining the Performance of Indexing Systems, I, Design; Vol. II, Test Results, Aslib, Cranfield Project, College of Aeronautics, Cranfield."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b6","unstructured":"Ellis, D. (1992), \u201cDomain, approach and paradigm in IR research\u201d, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 48 No. 3, pp. 328\u201031."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b7","unstructured":"Ellis, D. (1996), Progress and Problems in Information Retrieval, Library Association Publishing, London."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ford, N. (1999), \u201cThe growth of understanding in information science: towards a developmental model\u201d, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Vol. 50 No. 12, pp. A1141\u20101152SI.","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-4571(1999)50:12<1141::AID-ASI19>3.0.CO;2-X"},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b9","unstructured":"Ingwersen, P. and Jarvelin, K. (2005), The Turn: Integration of Information Seeking and Retrieval in Context, Springer, Dordrecht."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b10","unstructured":"Jackson, J. (2006), \u201cCollaborative filtering no peer review\u201d, Government Computer News, Tech Blog, 22 December 2006, available at: www.gcn.com\/blogs\/tech\/42839.html (accessed 10 June 2008)."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nature (2006), \u201cEditorial: peer review and fraud\u201d, Nature, Vol. 444 No. 7122, pp. 971\u20102, available at: www.nature.com\/nature\/journal\/v444\/n7122\/full\/444971b.html (accessed 10 June 2008).","DOI":"10.1038\/444971b"},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Neill, S.D. (1987), \u201cThe dilemma of the subjective in information organisation and retrieval\u201d, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 193\u2010211.","DOI":"10.1108\/eb026808"},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b13","unstructured":"Neill, S.D. (1992), Dilemmas in the Study of Information: Exploring the Boundaries of Information Science, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b14","unstructured":"O'Reilly, T. (2005), \u201cWhat is Web 2.0? Design patterns and business models for the next generation of software\u201d, available at: www.oreilly.com\/pub\/a\/oreilly\/tim\/news\/2005\/09\/30\/what\u2010is\u2010web\u201020.html (accessed 10 June 2008)."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b15","unstructured":"Salton, G. and McGill, M.G. (1983), Introduction to Modern Information Retrieval, McGraw\u2010Hill, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Saracevic, T. (1999), \u201cInformation science\u201d, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Vol. 50 No. 12, pp. 1051\u201063.","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-4571(1999)50:12<1051::AID-ASI2>3.0.CO;2-Z"},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sparck Jones, K. (2000), \u201cFurther reflections on TREC\u201d, Information Processing and Management, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 37\u201085.","DOI":"10.1016\/S0306-4573(99)00044-8"},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b18","unstructured":"Sparck Jones, K. (2005), \u201cSome thoughts on classification for retrieval\u201d, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 61 No. 5, pp. 571\u201081."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b19","unstructured":"Thornley, C. (2005), \u201cA dialectical model of information retrieval: exploring a contradiction in terms\u201d, PhD thesis, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, available at: www.cis.strath.ac.uk\/\u223cir\/research_students\/digital%20library\/clarethornleyphd.pdf (accessed 20 February 2009)."},{"key":"key2022012920144932200_b20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Thornley, C. and Gibb, F. (2007), \u201cA dialectical approach to information retrieval\u201d, Journal of Documentation, Vol. 63 No. 5, pp. 755\u201064.","DOI":"10.1108\/00220410710827781"}],"container-title":["Aslib Proceedings"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emeraldinsight.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1108\/00012530910959853","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/00012530910959853\/full\/xml","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/content\/doi\/10.1108\/00012530910959853\/full\/html","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,24]],"date-time":"2025-07-24T11:37:01Z","timestamp":1753357021000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.emerald.com\/ajim\/article\/61\/3\/323-330\/63377"}},"subtitle":["Recurring challenges or new solutions?"],"editor":[{"given":"Ian","family":"Cornelius","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,22]]},"references-count":20,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,22]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1108\/00012530910959853"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/00012530910959853","relation":{},"ISSN":["0001-253X"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"0001-253X"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2009,5,22]]}}}