Polyparadigmaticity as a Systemic Characteristic of Contemporary Library and Information Science

Abstract

Purpose of the study. The aim of this work is to provide a theoretical substantiation of the polyparadigmatic nature of library and information science as a regular stage in the development of this scientific discipline. Research methodology. The methodological framework of the study is based on the paradigm approach, which makes it possible to analyze library and information science as a system of interacting theoretical orientations. The following methods were employed: analysis and synthesis—to generalize domestic and international approaches to the interpretation of the paradigm in the humanities and in library and information science; the structural-functional method—to typologize the main paradigms of library and information science in accordance with the segments of library activity; and the method of theoretical modeling—to conceptualize polyparadigmaticity as a systemic characteristic of the field. Scientific novelty. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the theoretical substantiation of the polyparadigmatic nature of library and information science as a systemic and regular characteristic of the field’s development. The content of the concept of “polyparadigmaticity” has been clarified in the context of library and information science as a form of mutually complementary coexistence of several research orientations; the main paradigms of library and information science are systematized on the basis of the structural-functional criterion; it is demonstrated that the development of the field has a cumulative-integrative rather than a revolutionary-substitutive character; and the expediency of considering paradigm interaction as a complementary model of scientific development is substantiated. Conclusions. Library and information science functions as a polyparadigmatic system that integrates documentary, informational, cognitive-user, socio-communicative, cultural-social, digital, and institutional-managerial research orientations. The polyparadigmatic nature of the field is determined by the multidimensionality of its object of study, the functional polystructurality of the library, interdisciplinary integrativity, and the evolutionary character of scientific knowledge development. In contrast to the classical model of paradigm shifts proposed by Thomas Kuhn, the development of library and information science is characterized by the coexistence and mutual complementarity of different theoretical orientations. The polyparadigmatic approach has methodological significance for further research, as it orients scholars toward the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods, the application of comprehensive research approaches, and a holistic analysis of library activities in the context of digital transformation.