Library and Information Science

The objective of the study is to search for the framework and methodology of the historical study of information. The notion of ‘the history of information’, proposed by Norman D. Stevens, is analysed and subjected to theoretical considerations. The historical works related to the history of information, including the works published in Japanese, are analyzed, and their properties and problems are pointed. Grouping those works, five categories of factors in the history of information are identified, and their interrelations are listed. Categories identified are: systems for information, the field of information science and the notion of information, communication activities, whole bodies of societies and politico-economical systems, knowledge in objective sense. The framework for the history of information is discussed with consideration of the idea of ‘informational conception of history’ proposed by Toshio Kitagawa. It is pointed that formation of the framework should be linked to fundamental studies of information phenomena. Some normative studies for the historical study of information are reviewed, and brief guidance to the future study is made.