جایگاه اجتماعی رشته علم اطلاعات و دانش‌شناسی در نظر کتابداران شاغل در کتابخانه‌های شهر اهواز

Purpose: we aimed at the identification of the current social status of Knowledge and Information Science discipline from librarians’ viewpoint in Ahvaz city of Iran. We then analyzed that which of the main factors has the principal effect on the status. Methodology: This research is an applied survey in which the data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire. Validity of the questionnaire has confirmed by related KIS professionals and reliability of it have been appraised by confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha with coefficient 0/95. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics (Binominal, Mann-Whitney, and Kruscal-Wallis tests). Findings: Findings showed that 6 factors have effective role in the social status of Knowledge and Information Science (KIS): 1- personal characteristics of professionals; 2- specialism; 3- occupational economy; 4- professional standards; 5- skill learning practice and 6- social need to the profession. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that two of them have meaningful effect: specialism and social need to the profession. Also, there were significant differences among viewpoints in terms of respondent’s educational degree, professional background, type of the library, and occupational position. However, viewpoints have not been significantly different in terms of type of employment and field of activity. Originality/Value: It seems the research to be worthwhile because of its endeavor to show main factors engaging in social status of KIS discipline. Also, we suggested that there is an urgent need to be care of two important factors: specialism and social need to the discipline.