Reflection of Knowledge and Information Science’s News in the Press: A Case Study of Iran Newspaper

Background and Aim: The present study aims to explore the coverage and reflection of Knowledge and Information Science news in the Iranian press. Iran Newspaper which is one of the main public newspapers in the country has been selected as the case for this study. Method: This study used content analysis as its research methodology and adopted an inductive approach in data analysis. All the pages of this newspaper during a year (from March 2011 to March 2012), were downloaded from the newspaper website and their contents were inductively analyzed to identify Knowledge and Information Science related news. Results: Iran Newspaper, as one of the most well-known and public press in the country, has covered the Knowledge and Information Science news with a reasonable coverage and comprehensiveness. However, the reports are mainly descriptive with less analytic perspective and there is a gap for more analytical news. The collected data were categorized into seven categories and all the concepts and subcategories were presented in the tables. The main identified categories in this study include: Tehran International Book events, other book exhibitions and cultural events, meetings and book awards, reflection of the news related to book and publication industry, scientometrics, reading and its promotion and hinders. Conclusion: There is a gap of the news from ILISA (Iranian Library and Information Science Association) and also popular notes written by Knowledge and Information Science scholars, librarians and Knowledge and Information Science students. As a result it seems ILISA could be more active in publishing its news and use popular press to introduce this area to the public and promotes its activities in the public domains.