“This slim volume is remarkable in two ways: It provides a fresh and contemporary account of information science, and it is, for once, a book that is not too long!”

— Michael Buckland

In this updated and expanded edition of her widely read 2000 book, Melanie J. Norton presents a unique and carefully researched introduction to the practical and theoretical concepts of information science and examines the impact of the Information Age on society and its institutions.

Drawing on recent research into the field, as well as from scholarly and trade publications, the author provides a brief history of information science and coverage of key topics, including communications and cognition, information retrieval, bibliometrics, modeling, economics, information policies, and the impact of information technology on modern management. Topics new to the second edition include indexing, information repositories, and digital libraries.