Interdisciplinary nature of information science

The aim of the paper is to discuss the nature and trends in interdisciplinary relations of information science. At thebeginning, the origin and social background of information science are presented, followed by a description of theevolution of information retrieval (IR), the main activity in information science. The evolution of interdisciplinaryrelations is evaluated in respect to four fields librarianship, computer science, cognitive science, including ArtificialIntelligence, and communication. In the conclusions, the challenges to information science are presented in respectto three critical issues and pressures: contemporary social changes, technological revolution, and intertisciplinarychanges. Information science has a role to play in these critical issues. KeywordsLibrary science; Information science; Computer science; Artificial intelligence; Communication; Information retrieval. Tefko SaracevicSchool of Communication, Information and Library StudiesRutgers University4 Huntington St.New Brunswick, NJ 08903 U.S.A.E-mail;saracevic @ zotiac.rutgers.edu