The state and evolution of U.S. iSchools: From talent acquisitions to research outcome
分析了美国iSchool社区20年来的演变，通过人才获取和研究产出视角，揭示了其从计算机科学和图书馆学中分化、逐步建立独立学科身份的过程。
The past 2 decades have witnessed the emergence of information as a scientific discipline and the growth of information schools around the world. We analyzed the current state of the iSchool community in the U.S. with a special focus on the evolution of the community. We conducted our study from the perspectives of acquiring talents and producing research, including the analysis on iSchool faculty members' educational backgrounds, research topics, and the hiring network among iSchools. Applying text mining techniques and social network analysis to data from various sources, our research revealed how the iSchool community gradually built its own identity over time, including the growing number of faculty members who received their doctorates from the field that studies information, the deviation from computer science and library science, the rising emphasis on the intersection of information, technology, and people, and the increasing educational and research homogeneity as a community. These findings suggest that iSchools in the U.S. are evolving into a mature and independent discipline with a more established identity.