Integration and Implementation Sciences Thesaurus

This thesaurus was produced specifically for Dr. Gabriele Bammer at Australian National University in support of the growing network of Individuals, Organizations, Literature and other resources that constitute the emerging specialization known as Integration & Implementation Sciences. It was constructed a part of LIS 419: Subject Analysis taught by Dr. Candy Schwartz for the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College.

Since the Spring of 2004, when the thesaurus was first constructed, the framework for articulating the principles of Integration and Implementation Sciences has shifted. The original key concepts are still represented, but now have slightly different relationships to each other. In addition, specific competencies have been established. This thesaurus has not yet been updated to reflect these shifts, but it remains representative of the foundations of Integration and Implementation Sciences.

The following sections introduce the purpose and environment of the thesaurus:

• Integration and Implementation Sciences Description
• Why an IIS Thesaurus?
• IIS Collection Description
• Users and User Activities

Integration and Implementation Sciences Description

The critical social, environmental and technological problems of our age are large in scale, complex in nature, and perpetually dynamic. These challenges range from public health (e.g. flu epidemics; AIDS in Africa), to sustainable development (e.g. “Smart Growth” in Western urban contexts; “Agenda 21” priorities for international development), to security (e.g. preventing terrorism; containing nuclear threats), and public welfare (e.g. poverty eradication; drought and famine prevention/relief). Each involves the integration of multiple fields of human endeavor (e.g. biology, education, economics, chemistry, engineering, sociology, technology, etc.) within the scope of shifting political issues and ideals (e.g. sovereignty, treaties, privacy, freedom, immigration, trade, human rights, power, financing, etc.).

Diverse groups of scholars and practitioners apply the principles and knowledge of their unique disciplines to these problems. The greatest challenge is to integrate these intellectual and practical contributions into solutions that can be implemented successfully in environments characterized by complexity, change and imperfection. Researchers studying systems theory, complexity science, participatory methods, inter- and trans-disciplinarity, epistemological diversity, and knowledge management have each been developing theories and methods for working with uncertain and complex systems (physical, social and intellectual). These six areas, however, “have typically operated in isolation from one another, with application limited to specific fields, with low levels of intellectual cross-fertilization and learning, and with limited exploitation of the significant synergies between approaches.” The relevant work and knowledge of these independent fields are currently being gathered together and coordinated under the single identity of Integration and Implementation Sciences . An overview of this specialization and its elements can be found at the following Web site sponsored by Australian National University, under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Gabriele Bammer: http://www.anu.edu.au/iisn.

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Why an IIS Thesaurus?

As a network of researchers, organizations, projects, curricula and literature is coordinated and developed for Integration and Implementation Sciences, it is necessary to craft an appropriate language whereby the knowledge and relationships within and among the sciences can be organized. The elements of this networked collection of resources must then be indexed by this language to facilitate communication, interaction, and the intellectual and practical development of the specialization. The IIS Thesaurus integrates existing terminology from the Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors with uniquely established IIS terminology.

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IIS Collection Description

The “collection” of Integration and Implementation Sciences (IIS) is unlike a traditional “library” collection in that it is dynamic and behaves more like a knowledge management system. Although the IIS collection includes literature citations, many of the resources are “alive” and also actively reach out to access and form relationships with other resources, thus continually expanding their own “indexable” qualities. The IIS collection is virtual. In reality it is a collection of citations and references to a globally distributed network of people, organizations, activities, literature and events. Despite this technicality, the collection is described below in terms of its collection resources (Actors: Individuals, Organizations; Scholarship & Practice: Literature, Projects, Curriculum/Toolbox; Communication: Media, Events), its users, and the activities of those users.

I. Actors

1. Individuals – This heading refers to unique persons who study, research or practice one or more of the six Integration and Implementation Sciences.
2. Organizations – This heading includes a broad range of formally organized groups of individuals, literature and activities dedicated to a particular IIS-related topic.

II. Scholarship & Practice

1. Literature – It is essential to IIS that a wide variety of literature across disciplines be indexed for IIS scholars and practitioners. This section represents the most traditional “library” type collection and will behave most like an indexing database. Literature is currently identified in two groups: relevant journals and specific bibliographic citations to items in serials (articles, reviews, etc.) or monographs.
2. Projects – Scholarly research and professional application activities contribute to the development of the specialization and will be indexed so as to be retrievable by other researchers and by practitioners seeking examples and guidance. Projects will also include working committees to develop various IIS activities.
3. Curriculum/Toolbox – This heading may be re-titled as Theory and Methods or IIS Toolbox. It represents the intellectual foundations of the specialization. As the fields are just beginning to be coordinated, there are few theories or methods of integration and implementation that are agreed upon. It is anticipated that, in future, there will be examples of course and degree curriculum to be indexed as well as a “toolbox” of theories and methods for practitioners.

III. Communication

1. Media – While literature is certainly one means of communication, this header primarily refers to the various informal and immediate vehicles of communication such as listservs, newsletters, online bulletin boards and blogs. It would be optimum if some of these media could be indexed. Any IIS newsletter would fit the profile of “Journals” (above in Literature), whereas the content would be treated according to the characteristics of “Bibliographic Citations” (above in Literature). At this time it is unclear how listservs, bulletin boards and blogs would be described beyond the name and relevant URLs. It is also very unclear if subject indexing would even be possible. As such, these vehicles are not described further here.
2. Events – Conferences, lectures and other events and activities provide unique opportunities for interaction and knowledge-sharing. The IIS network plans to maintain an international calendar of relevant events across the six IIS areas which will, ideally, be minimally indexed.

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Users and User Activities

Many users will also be individuals who are considered elements of the collection itself.

I. Scholars –

1. Description – These users currently form the foundation of the IIS network and represent primarily academic institutions either through research centres and institutes or through traditional departments and degree programs.


2. Interests/Needs/Goals – These users will commonly use indexed IIS resources to:
   • Locate relevant literature
   • Locate fellow scholars
   • Locate relevant events
   • Communicate with fellow scholars
   • Contribute/participate in projects or curriculum/toolbox development

II. Practitioners –

1. Description – This user category represents consultants in various areas who utilize IIS principles in approaching their problem-solving work. They may be members of professional organizations and/or theoretical and methodological ones.
2. Interests/Needs/Goals – These users will commonly use indexed IIS resources to:
   • Locate experts
   • Locate case study literature
   • Locate curriculum/toolbox resources
   • Contribute/participate in projects
   • Contribute/participate in case study development

III. Policy Makers –

1. Description – These users are government representatives or administrators (local to international) seeking to use IIS principles in the design of policy or application of it.
2. Interests/Needs/Goals – Policy makers will commonly use indexed IIS resources to:
   • Locate expert practitioners
   • Locate case study literature
   • Locate curriculum/toolbox resources
   • Contribute/participate in projects
   • Contribute/participate in case study development

The above description is a work-in-progress. As the specialization of Integration and Implementation Sciences grows and develops, the components of the collection, the users, and their needs and activities will all evolve. Nevertheless, this outline offers an essential starting point for building a functional resource management system in a modular, stepped way that will serve the needs of IIS in each phase of its development.

Proceed to the Integration and Implementation Sciences Thesaurus

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