"For want of a nail…the kingdom was lost" - folklore

The Issues Presented by Chaos Theory

For Library and Information Studies Research

So what? So why? So how?

A paper in support of colloquium presentation Fall 1997

School of Library and Information Studies

Texas Woman's University

by joanne twining williams, Doctoral Fellow

Abstract

Chaos Theory has its roots in the revolutionary sixties. It rose almost simultaneously in astronomy, physics and mathematics in the mid-1970’s. Chaos theory reached widespread popularity in the late 1980’s, and since has migrated from the hard sciences into the social sciences, achieving either paradigmatic status as an analytical methodology, or dismissal as a postmodern meme. There has been strong recent interest in chaos theory in the information sciences, and now, chaos theory knocks firmly at librarianship’s door. This investigation explores the philosophical, epistemological and methodological issues presented by chaos theory. Citation analysis and a bibliographic and search review are used as a first step in evaluating the viability of chaos theory as a potential triangulator for traditional qualitative/quantitative research in library and information studies.

Introduction

Chaos theory contends that in certain systems there is order without predictability. Contrary to popular notion, chaos is not anarchy or randomness. Chaos is order, but it is order so complex it has been, until recently, "invisible" (Cartwright 1991). Because of the computer’s ability to graphically represent complex information, the underlying complex order in chaos is suddenly "seeable."

All chaotic systems are based on three assumptions:

they are iterative (they have feedback);

self-similarity is evident (small regions of the function "look like" larger regions, i.e. they are fractal); and

the outcome state is extremely sensitive to minor variations in the initial conditions. (Smith 1995)

Chaotic systems are also subject to dramatic changes caused by even the smallest, uncontrollable interference or perturbation. Accordingly, chaotic systems seemingly defy the prediction imperative of traditional linear analysis. But, the newly-revealed underlying order, or "geometry of behavior" of interest to chaos theorists offers opportunity for new understanding of the chaotic behaviors of globally stable, but locally unstable, social systems, such as libraries.

The major reason for the enthusiasm about the new chaos theory in a number of circles appears to be that it challenges the idea of deterministic predictability of natural events which is paradigmatic to traditional physics. It seems to be rather appealing to those who are very hesitant to believe in the idea that, in principle, all is predictable. (Druit and Komorek 1997)

Chaos Theory is popularly described as "the butterfly effect," a concept scientifically defined as "sensitive dependence on initial conditions." The butterfly effect contends that a butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the globe may well eventually cause a typhoon on the other. (Gleick 1987) This simplistic explanation is perpetuated both by the memic attraction and popularized use of the word "chaos," and by traditional scholars who take intellectual assurance in the truth of the statistical mean as the only measure of predictable reality.

All social researchers are aware of the fact that the phenomena they study are exceptionally complex. What they had most likely previously assumed was that "higher order terms" would have relatively little overall impact and could be discounted. Chaos considerations force us to face the possibility that some ‘negligible’ terms can become—in certain circumstances—dominant. (Smith 1995, 35)

Cognitive preferences and definitional difficulties aside, a growing dissatisfaction with the dualistic qualitative/quantitative research paradigm and an intuitive notion there is something more than what has come to be known, has fueled a rigorous, multi-disciplinary inquiry into chaos theory by the "intellectual left." In some circles, chaos theory has been elevated it to the status of a "new science" of Artistotilean, Gallilean, Newtonian, Einsteinian, and Cartesian proportion. In others, it is simply seen as a way of looking for non-reality.

The Popular notion of "Chaos"

Chaos, in a popular or journalistic sense, is often interpreted as a state of total disorder or confusion, the elimination of which is the very foundation, purpose, and function of librarianship. In traditional linear analysis, such disorder requires discrete removal to achieve predictive understanding. As almost the opposite of these popular or traditional scientific notions however, chaos theory attempts to reveal the underlying structure of chaotic systems, recognizing that such structure is based on nonlinearity, instability and uncertainty. (Kiel 1996) Chaos theory welcomes in its study the most annoying of the anomalous by seeking the potential of datum writ differently:

In ‘Metaphysics of the Postmodern,’ T.R. Young (1991) offers an insightful interpretation of the intersection of chaos and social theory. First and foremost, Young sees chaos theory as a natural ontology that effectively grounds postmodern science. Like the postmodern, chaos theory does not relegate ‘noise,’ detail, nuance, and unpredictability to the backstage of scientific activity; instead it brings them to the forefront, acknowledging their ubiquity, nonlinear impact as cause or effect, and intricate bearing on what order that may indeed exist. Order itself is not held universally sovereign over disorder. Yet chaos does not deny order either, so that the modern project is not completely decentered. Through chaos, nature suggests an epistemology based simultaneously on prediction and unpredictability, certainty and uncertainty. (Yarbrough, unpublished draft)

Gleick’s Chaos Theory Tracked to Library Door

James Gleick’s 1987 book, Chaos: Making a New Science is most frequently hailed as the work that brought the potential of chaos theory to popular attention. Accordingly, Gleick’s work serves as our pivot for a bibliometric investigation of the migration of chaos theory into the social science and library literature. A probe of the Social SciCitation database via Dialog for references to Gleick’s work produced 598 citations including works in most of the 26 social science disciplines covered by the database, from Anthropology, to Organizational Management, to Urban Planning and Development.

The Gleick citation set was matched against the 28,258 records having "librar?" in the abstract, title and identification fields, and produced two citations. The first citation is to a bibliography concerning economic factors effecting northern European libraries; the second citation is to an article addressing change management issues in German libraries and information centers. (Citations are included as Exhibit A.) The Gleick citation set was then matched against the 76,094 records having "informat?" in the abstract, title and identification fields, producing an additional 47 citations. A match of the two secondary sets with keyword "issue?" in the abstract, title or identifier fields left eight citations. None of these citations reflect a primary concern with either the issues of chaos theory or of its methodological viability for librarianship, rather contained casual or descriptive reference to the popular notion of chaos, and were therefore ruled irrelevant to the information need. That this search failed to produce theoretically-oriented or issues-related citations indicates an opportunity to explore the potential for metalibrary research using chaos theory, and supports a continued search for relevant issues.

The Illusion of Chaos at the Library Door

As our initial search indicated, many references to "chaos" in the scholarly literature are not to chaos theory, rather to chaos in the popular or journalistic sense: as a descriptor for perceived disorder or confusion. A search of Dialog Social SciCitation database matching the "librar?" set obtained earlier with keyword "chaos" in the title, abstract and identifier fields produced seven citations. None of citations were relevant to Chaos Theory, but again reflected this popular or journalistic use of the concept. The "informat?" set was similarly matched with keyword "chaos," producing 77 records. Because chaos theory has received theoretical attention in the recent information science research literature, and our quest is for relevance to the library and information studies field, this set was reduced with the qualifier "issue?" producing seven records, none of which were relevant to our search for issues presented by chaos theory.

Chaos in LibraryLit

A search of the LibraryLIt database via First Search for the phrase "chaos theory" produced four citations that appear both relevant and pertinent to the information need. The nature of the article titles and journals indicates that chaos theory has infiltrated librarianship at its technical side. The four retrieved citations are evaluative in nature. (Citations Attached as Exhibit B.) A broader search of LIbraryLIt for keyword "chaos" produced 41 records, 24 of which were deemed relevant to the theoretical need and worthy of methodological review. Most of these 24 citations were also related to technology: systems, automation, and Internet, but from the user needs rather than systems side of the equation. (Citations attached as Exhibit C.)

Internet Search

A search of the www.hotbot.com database for "chaos" produced 302,515 matches. A search for the exact phrase "chaos theory" produced 10,776 matches. A search for the boolean phrase ("chaos theory" and "social science") produced 558 matches. The first 50 matches in this set include online Chaos Theory libraries, Chaos Theory distance education courses, Chaos Theory course syllabi, Chaos Theory demonstration sites, Chaos Theory research sites, Chaos Theory email lists, and Chaos Theory newsgroups.

The more general (or list of links-type) sites included in this set were from the .edu domain; most were obviously student-generated sites (some not maintained), but produced fruitful links-to the more scholarly sites including essays, online journals, conference papers and announcements, many of which were not indexed by www.hotbot.com (undoubtedly because they are from the "hidden from the bots" pages at universities and colleges.) Several sites were art- or music-related and reflect the use of fractals in creation of art. A boolean search for ("chaos theory" and "library science") produced no hits. Searches for ("chaos theory" and library) or ("chaos theory" and information) were not attempted, given the near stop-word status of both qualifiers.

A boolean search for ("chaos theory" and "social science" and issue) produced 148 matches, the first 50 of which reflected an increased number of links to newsgroup postings, and to research related to the issue of chaos theory in the hospitality, management and social science modeling fields. A boolean search for (‘chaos theory" and criticism) produced 148 matches, the first 50 of which were predominantly bibliographies, book reviews, interviews and included several "new age" sites. A boolean search for ("chaos theory" and "social science" and criticism) produced 170 matches, most of which were retrieved in the earlier sets, calling into question the search engine’s ability to handle triangulated boolean strategy.

The most fruitful search of the www.hotbot.com database was for boolean set ("chaos theory" and librarianship) , which produced 45 hits. Irrelevancies aside, this set offered a series of recent weekly columns by Dr. Kevin Starr, State Librarian of California. Starr’s column, "Knowledge, Chaos, Work and Partnering" addresses the stress of the postmodern paradigm for information professionals, and suggests "…the information economy, in other words, may act in ways which only those trained in chaos theory might be expected to understand." (Starr 1996) The set also produced a vita-based announcement of a forthcoming article by Herbert K. Achleitner, professor at Emporia State University School of Library and Information Management, ( with Robert Grover, et al). (1997), The wind beneath our wings: Chaos theory and the butterfly effect in curriculum design, accepted for publication in The Journal of Education For Library and Information Science and presented as an invited paper at the 1997 ALISE annual conference in Washington, D.C.

A conference report "Managing change in academic libraries" by Joan M. Day, Head of (the) Department of Information and Library Management at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK, and primary researcher on the IMPEL (Impact on People of Electronic Libraries) research project, contrasts traditional management techniques with a "radical approach" to "creating rather than managing" change, and takes a qualitative approach to chaos theory:

The Radical/dynamic view, based on chaos theory, "...rejects the notion of managing change as an incremental, evolutionary, linear and orderly process, and instead sees it as one of creating change, viewing it as inherently transformational, revolutionary, circular/spiral, and essentially chaotic - but ultimately productive and beneficial. Moreover, it implies the process is never- ending and attempts to match the future beyond the initial direction will be futile, if not counter-productive".

This does not mean that library managers abandon any attempt to plan and shape the future electronic library service just because the world is becoming increasingly unpredictable and unstable. On the contrary, as with the IMPEL findings, "...successful leadership of libraries in the 1990s requires commitment, imagination and energy, but above all the capacity to embrace change as a positive stimulus to organisational learning and development". (Day 1996)

A student-produced annotated bibliography from The School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutger’s University, produced a relevant citation not retrieved by either the Dialog or LibLit search:

Braman, S. (1994). The autopoetic state: communication and democratic potential in the Net. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 45 (6), 358-368.

Discusses chaos theory, second-order cybenetics, organizational sociology and theories of state to demonstrate the relationship between information and power. Develops theory of the autopoetic (self-organizing) state in which the citizen is facilitated with an increased democratic potential and how this potential could be increased with the correct policy of information. (Woerner 1996)

Preliminary results of a University of North Texas dissertation published online as "Shifts of Focus in Information Retrieval Interaction" by David Robins of Louisiana State University, and accepted as a contributed paper for the ASIS 97 Annual Meeting, "Global Complexity: Information, Chaos and Control" in Washington, DC November 1-6, 1997, looks at the way users may shift the focus of their attention to various aspects of their information problem during the intermediary interview process, and suggests:

Future studies should look more closely at focus shifts as non-linear processes. Methods from chaos theory have suggested means of teasing pattern from such data. Similarly, methods of visualizing data of this nature must be established so that patterns may be seen. In these six interactions alone, over 2000 utterances were segmented into 324 shifts of focus. These data need to be displayed in a concise, informative manner. (Robins, 1997)

Findings

There is no lack of primary or secondary information about chaos theory, which encourages continued investigation into the methodological application of chaos theory to librarianship. While most librarianship resources seem to make popular or journalistic reference to chaos, the more technical literature in the field seems to have accepted the notion of chaos theory as relevant. Together, these two findings confirm ample interest, and warrant a more rigorous investigation.

The issues related to chaos theory reflected in the literature uncovered during our search, and which are the object of this study, are best and most completely articulated in Kenyon B. De Green’s essay, Field-Theoretical Framework for the Interpretation of the Evolution, Instability, Structural Change, and Management of Complex Systems (Keil 1996). De Green’s essay calls for a rethinking of paradigmatic doctrine. He broadens Kuhn’s disciplinary definition with an interparadigmatic view based on the inseparability of science practitioners from the culture in which they live, defining paradigm as ",,,a set of interrelated Weltanschauungen: theories, models, practices, findings, explanations, values, beliefs, and feelings that characterize a given culture at a given time." (285)

De Green’s description of the paradigmatic dualism between traditional Newtonian science and the "new science" based on chaos theory illustrates the fundamental philosophical issues of chaos theory raised variously by the documents accessed during our literature search. De Green’s comparison is rendered here as Table 1.

Table 1 : Kenyon’s Paradigmatic Contrast

Conclusion

The prime issue presented to librarianship by chaos theory is the same philosophical issue presented to all the social science disciplines. The philosophical issue incorporates epistemological, axiological, ontological concerns. The issue is one of adapatablity and change: tolerance, flexibility and willingness to explore and learn from the exercise of alternative paradigms; the willingness to take risks, and to accept there may be more than one way to search for reality, and more than one reality to search for.

Given the emergent interest in and application of chaos theory in the social sciences, its usefulness to librarianship seems to warrant further investigation, which should start with a close look at the methodological issues and opportunities presented in the library research literature identified in this study.

Intuitively, the user-needs-oriented areas of technical services: cataloging, classification, search strategies, document delivery, and bibliographic instruction, seem to offer the greatest opportunity. The "softer side" of librarianship, including personnel management, innovation and creativity development, design, and administration areas may also benefit. Further exploration should address the "so what?" "so why?" and "so how?" questions addressed in Table 2.

Table 2 ~ The Issues of Chaos Theory for LIS Research

Philosophical Issues - So what?

The philosophical issues of the relevance of chaos theory to social systems and social science investigation "… must be considered if the chaos theory research paradigm is to remain robust…" and "…raises questions about the apparent certainty, linearity and predictability that were previously seen as essential elements of a Newtonian universe (Keil 1996)

Does emergence of chaos theory represent a new paradigm for librarianship or has librarianship always operated in chaos?

Three conditions must be met for paradigmatic change:

a new taxonomy must be identified (must give new meaning to old terms and must introduce totally new terms in to the formal theoretical language itself);

the resolution of previously unfathomable puzzles must be present (i.e. why do certain systems not exhibit proportional sensitivity to changes in the initial conditions?)

new difficulties (often conceptual) must emerge. (Smith 1995)

Is chaos theory useful for library and information studies research?

Chaos Theory’s application to management of organizations (intervention at point of chaos) (Zuiderehoudt 1990)

Chaos Theory’s application to understanding the creative process (development of new ideas) Guastello, Stephen J., Ph.D. Dept. of Psychology, Markette University , etc.

II. Epistomological issues ~ So why?

1. the relationship between the natural and social sciences;

2. the role of Chaos Theory as a bridge between two scientific and intellectual traditions (Keil 1996)

III. Methodological Issues ~ So how?

Initial Questions:

Does the library host chaotic systems?

Are chaotic library systems measurable?

Methodological Criteria:

The absolutely accurate measurement of the initial conditions; and

the precisely correct model

a. how do we know which natural processes are chaotic?

b. how do we know which terms are linear and which are chaotic? (Smith 1995)

 

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References

Cartwright, T. J. 1991. Planning and Chaos Theory. APA Journal. Winter, p 44-56.Davenport, Andrew, Shane Kraynak, and Brian Timko. Making Order out of Chaos. http://library.advanced.org/12170/

Day, Joan M., 1996. Managing change in academic libraries. http://vasara.vtu.lt/conference/reports/96052901.html

Duit, Reinders and Michael Komorek. 1997. Understanding The Basic Ideas of Chaos-Theory In a Study of Limited Predicatablity. International Journal of Science Education, Vol. 19, No. 3, 247-264.

Gleick, James. 1987. Chaos: Making a new science. NY: Viking.

Hayles, N. Katherine, ed. 1991. Chaos and Order: Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science. New Practices of Inquiry, McCloskey, Donald N. and John S. Nelson, eds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Kiel, L. Douglas and Euel Elliott. 1996. Chaos Theory in the Social Sciences: Foundations and Applications. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

Nicolis, John S. 1991. Chaos and Information Processing: A heuristic outline. New Jersey: World Scientific.

McCleary, Richard, Richard Crepeau and Kathleen Dallaire. 1996. Chaos From Disorder: A consumers guide to the recent literature. Social Pathology. Vol 2, No. 3, Fall, 230-241.

Robins, David. 1997. Shifts of Focus in Information Retrieval Interaction http://www.asis.org/annual-97/shifts.htm

Smith, R. David. 1995. The Applicability Principle: What Chaos Means for Social Science. Behavioral Science, Vol. 40, 22-40.

Starr, Kevin. 1996 State Librarian's Weekly Column - March 11, 1996: Knowledge, Chaos, Work, and Partnering. http://library.ca.gov/art96/week9606.html

Woerner, Christine. 1996. Annotated Bibliography - Digital Libraries. http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~woernerc/biblio.html

Yarbrough, James. Undated. Order and Chaos in Social Systems. Texas Woman’s University Center for Nonlinear Science, unpublished paper.

Zuijderhoudt, Robert W. L. 1990. Chaos and the Dynamics of Self-Organization. Human Systems Management, 9, 225-238.

 

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Exhibit A ~ Search Results: Dialog Social SciCitation Index

1. 6/9/2

03101034 GENUINE ARTICLE#: XZ878 NUMBER OF REFERENCES: 0

((NOREFS KEYED))

TITLE: Eastern and Central European libraries : A selective bibliography

AUTHOR(S): Hurych J; Iden S

CORPORATE SOURCE: NO ILLINOIS UNIV,UNIV LIB, ENGN & BUSINESS DEPT/DE

KALB//IL/60115 (REPRINT)

JOURNAL: BEHAVIORAL & SOCIAL SCIENCES LIBRARIAN , 1997 , V16 , N1 , P47-61

PUBLISHER: HAWORTH PRESS INC , 10 ALICE ST, BINGHAMTON, NY 13904-1580

ISSN: 0163-9269

LANGUAGE: English DOCUMENT TYPE: Bibliography

SUBFILE: CC SOCS--Current Contents, Social & Behavioral Sciences

JOURNAL SUBJECT CATEGORY: INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE

ABSTRACT: This selective bibliography of articles written in English, has attempted to trace developments in libraries and information centers of Eastern European countries of the 1990s. The profound political, economic, and cultural changes that started with dismantling the Berlin wall and culminated in the fall of the Soviet Union and its dominance in Eastern Europe, have affected not only publishing, collections building, and acquisitions of library materials, but also attitudes towards information in general. In the countries that are trying to build democratic political systems and change their economic chaos into market economy, information is now seen as a precious commodity and the need for information gradually permeates public as well as private lives of citizens.

2. 6/9/3

03018687 GENUINE ARTICLE#: WN025 NUMBER OF REFERENCES: 11

TITLE: Reengineering and chaos -management in information business units

AUTHOR(S): Janke E

CORPORATE SOURCE: DEUTSCH INFORMAT ZENTRUM TECH REGELN,DIN,

BIBLIOTHEK/D-10772 BERLIN//GERMANY/ (REPRINT)

JOURNAL: NACHRICHTEN FUR DOKUMENTATION , 1997 , V48 , N1 (JAN-FEB) , P3-7

PUBLISHER: VERLAG HOPPENSTEDT & CO , POSTFACH 40 06, HAVELSTR 9, D-6100

DARMSTADT 1, GERMANY

ISSN: 0027-7436

LANGUAGE: German DOCUMENT TYPE: Article

SUBFILE: CC SOCS--Current Contents, Social & Behavioral Sciences

JOURNAL SUBJECT CATEGORY: INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE

ABSTRACT: The times of ''proper circumstances'' are gone as well as the times of ''business as usual''. Changing conditions of the economical and technological framework also force information units to a general review of their orientation. In many cases their host organisation is facing them with perspectives of a fundamental change either. This paper shows how management strategies can provide solutions for libraries or documentation units under such pressure of change. It focusses on business reengineering, and the paramount role of a process-oriented information management. As an option to handle the subsequent radical change, the outline of chaos management philosophy is

given. It is shown that, despite their different approaches, both strategies have process-orientation and promises of substantial impact in general.

CITED REFERENCES: CORRAL S, 1994, P25, LIBR MANAGEMENT

CURRAS E, 1995, P545, ZUKUNFT DURCH INFORM

ERBEN KM, 1995, V44, P268, FB IE Z UNTERNEHMENS

HAMMER M, 1995, BUSINESS REENGINEERI

HUSTONSOMERVILL.M, 1995, P10, RESOURCE SHARING INF

KLIMMER M, 1996, V45, P21, FB IE Z UNTERNEHMENS

Social SciSearch(R) (DIALOG® File 7): (c) 1997 Inst for Sci Info. All rights reserved.

Exhibit B - Search Results LibraryLit via First Search: "chaos theory"

Record: 1

AUTHOR: Starrett, Bob, 1954-

TITLE: Chaos theory and the CD-R novice.

SOURCE: EMedia Professional v. 10 (Jan. '97) p. 100-1

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1997

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 1049-0833

SUBJECT: CD-R drives - Evaluation.

Record: 2

AUTHOR: Plichta, Peter.

TITLE: Order in chaos: the prime numbers.

SOURCE: Knowledge Organization v. 22 no3-4 ('95) p. 129-35

PUBLISHER: H. W. Wilson Co.

PLACE: West Germany

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1995

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0943-7444

STANDARD NO: 9500301995002

SUBJECT: Classification.

Information theory.

Record: 3

AUTHOR: Kiresuk, Thomas J.

TITLE: The evaluation of knowledge utilization: placebo and nonspecific effects, dynamical systems, and chaos theory.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Society for Information Science v. 44

(May '93) p. 235-41

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1993

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0002-8231

SUBJECT: Information transfer - Evaluation.

Record: 4

AUTHOR: Intner, Sheila S., 1935-

TITLE: Order and disorder: learning from chaos theory. (applications to library phenomena)

SOURCE: Technicalities v. 10 (Sept. '90) p. 8-10

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1990

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0272-0884

SUBJECT: Information theory.

Research in librarianship. FirstSearch. Copyright 1992-1997 OCLC as to electronic presentation and platform. All rights reserved. Comments? Send us email at epub@oclc.org

Exhibit C - Search Results: Library Lit on FirstSearch "chaos"

Record: 1

AUTHOR: Simmonds, Albert.

TITLE:) Chaos. (standard identifiers for electronic information

SOURCE: Against the Grain v. 9 (June '97) p. 78-9

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1997

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 1043-2094

SUBJECT: Numbering systems.

Standardization - Electronic publishing.

Record: 10

AUTHOR: Holt, Glen E.

TITLE: Life on "the edge of chaos". (electronic publishing, publishers, and libraries)

SOURCE: Library Journal v. 121 (Mar. 1 '96) p. 56

PUBLISHER: H. W. Wilson Co.

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1996

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0363-0277

STANDARD NO: 9606101872021

SUBJECT: Information retrieval - Social aspects.

Electronic publishing.

Automation of library processes.

Record: 15

AUTHOR: Friman, Mari.; Jansson, Paivi.; Suominen, Vesa.

TITLE: Chaos or order? Aby Warburg's library of cultural history and its classification.

SOURCE: Knowledge Organization v. 22 no1 ('95) p. 23-9

PLACE: West Germany

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1995

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0943-7444

SUBJECT: Warburg, Aby, 1866-1929.

Warburg Institute.

Research libraries - Classification.

Classification - Great Britain.

Research libraries - Great Britain.

Record: 16

AUTHOR: Jones, Philip.

TITLE: Managing records to control chaos.

SOURCE: Library Association Record v. 97 (May '95) p. supp 26+

PLACE: United Kingdom

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1995

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0024-2195

SUBJECT: Records management.

Record: 19

AUTHOR: Eagan, Ann.

TITLE: Order out of chaos: science databases on the Internet.

SOURCE: Database (Weston, Conn.) v. 16 (Dec. '93) p. 62-7

PUBLISHER: H. W. Wilson Co.

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1993

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0162-4105

STANDARD NO: 9333503608007

SUBJECT: Internet.

Information systems - Special subjects - Science and

technology.

Record: 20

AUTHOR: Taylor, Arlene G., 1941-

TITLE: The information universe: will we have chaos or control? Is there a place for technical services librarians on the

information highway?.

SOURCE: American Libraries v. 25 (July/Aug. '94) p. 629+

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1994

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0002-9769

SUBJECT: Information highways.

Librarianship - Philosophical aspects.

Technical services - Aims and objectives.

Record: 21

AUTHOR: Urbanic, Allan.

TITLE: Chaos by subscription: serials in Eastern Europe.

SOURCE: Serials Review v. 20 no1 ('94) p. 43-58

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1994

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: symposium

ISSN: 0098-7913

SUBJECT: Publishers and publishing - Serial publications.

Periodicals, European.

Publishers and publishing - Eastern Europe.

Record: 22

AUTHOR: Kiresuk, Thomas J.

TITLE: The evaluation of knowledge utilization: placebo and nonspecific effects, dynamical systems, and chaos theory.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Society for Information Science v. 44

(May '93) p. 235-41

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1993

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0002-8231

SUBJECT: Information transfer - Evaluation.

Record: 23

AUTHOR: Hearne, Betsy Gould.

TITLE: Cite the source/Respect the source; reducing cultural chaos in picture books.

SOURCE: School Library Journal v. 39 (July '93) p. 22-7

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1993

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0362-8930

SUBJECT: Folk literature - Evaluation.

Picture books - Evaluation.

NOTES: In: School Library Journal v. 39 (July '93) p. 22-7; v39 p33-7 Ag '93.

Record: 24

AUTHOR: Jasper, Richard P.

TITLE: Automating acquisitions and serials: synthesis from chaos. (at Emory University; presented at the 1992 ALA Conference)

SOURCE: Library Acquisitions v. 17 (Spring '93) p. 79-84

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1993

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: speech

ISSN: 0364-6408

SUBJECT: Emory University. Libraries.

College and university libraries - Technical services.

Technical services - Automation.

Record: 26

AUTHOR:

TITLE: AL aside--vignette: culture over chaos in Bosnia. (American Cultural Center library)

SOURCE: American Libraries v. 24 (Mar. '93) p. 213

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1993

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0002-9769

SUBJECT: War and the library - Bosnia and Hercegovina.

American information libraries - Bosnia and Hercegovina.

Record: 28

AUTHOR: Hilts, Paul.

TITLE: MPC show tries to bring order to multimedia chaos. (1992 International conference on multimedia and CD-ROM)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly v. 239 (Apr. 27 '92) p. 35

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1992

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0000-0019

SUBJECT: Microsoft Corporation.

CD-ROM.

Information systems - Conferences.

Conferences - California.

Record: 29

AUTHOR: Scala, James A.

TITLE: Standards: bringing order out of chaos. (standards collection housed in the Technical Reports Section)

SOURCE: Library of Congress Information Bulletin v. 50 (Dec. 2 '91) p.

464-5

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1991

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0041-7904

SUBJECT: Library of Congress. Science and Technology Division.

Scientific and technical libraries - Reference services.

Special collections - Special subjects - Standards and

specifications.

NOTES: In: Library of Congress Information Bulletin v. 50 (Dec. 2

'91) p. 464-5; Erratum. 51:23 Ja 13 '92.

Record: 30

AUTHOR: Heumann-Kelly, Sandra.

TITLE: Ending catalog chaos. (organizing publishers catalogs)

SOURCE: The School Librarian's Workshop v. 12 (Oct. '91) p. 13

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1991

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0271-3667

SUBJECT: Trade catalogs - Indexes and abstracts.

Record: 31

AUTHOR: Berry, John N.; Quinn, Judy.

TITLE: Consensus out of chaos; when the delegates finally took over, substance emerged from the paralyzed process of WHCLIS.

SOURCE: Library Journal v. 116 (Aug. '91) p. 42-6

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1991

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0363-0277

SUBJECT: White House Conference on Library and Information Services.

Record: 32

AUTHOR: Winters, Barbara A.

TITLE: NISO + BISAC + SISAC + Z39 + X12 = CHAOS: an ALA preconference on standards for the acquisition of library materials.

SOURCE: Library Acquisitions v. 15 no1 ('91) p. 121-3

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1991

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0364-6408

SUBJECT: Preconference Institute on NISO + BISAC + SISAC + Z39 + X12 =

CHAOS.

Acquisitions - Automation.

Automation of library processes - Standards.

Record: 34

AUTHOR: Boyd, Malcolm, 1923-

TITLE: My say: chaos should challenge religious publishers.

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly v. 237 (Oct. 5 '90) p. 62

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1990

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0000-0019

SUBJECT: Publishers and publishing - Religious literature.

Record: 36

AUTHOR: Mutter, John.

TITLE: Booksellers thriving on chaos. (NEBA spring seminar)

SOURCE: Publishers Weekly v. 237 (May 25 '90) p. 25-6

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1990

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0000-0019

SUBJECT: New England Booksellers Association.

Institutes and workshops - Vermont.

Bookstores - New England.

Record: 38

AUTHOR: Powell, Antoinette Paris.

TITLE: ZyINDEX: bringing order to electronic chaos.

SOURCE: Library Software Review v. 8 (May/June '89) p. 155-8

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1989

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: product evaluation

ISSN: 0742-5759

SUBJECT: Computer software - Reviews.

Automatic indexing.

Full-text databases.

Record: 39

AUTHOR: Spiegelberg, Jack.

TITLE: CD ROM device integration: from chaos to standards.

SOURCE: The CD ROM handbook

PUBLISHER: Intertext Publs. : McGraw-Hill, 1988

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1988

RECORD TYPE: ana

ISBN: 0070565783

SUBJECT: CD-ROM - Standards.

Record: 40

AUTHOR: Durr, W. Theodore (William Theodore), 1932-

TITLE: At the creation: chaos, control, and automation--commercial software development for archives.

SOURCE: Library Trends v. 36 (Winter '88) p. 593-607

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1988

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0024-2594

SUBJECT: Database management systems.

Record: 41

AUTHOR: Novak, Gloria.

TITLE: Working within the systems; office-landscape furniture systems create order out of computer chaos.

SOURCE: American Libraries v. 19 (Apr. '88) p. 270-1

PLACE: United States

LANGUAGE: English

DATE: 1988

RECORD TYPE: art

CONTENTS: feature article

ISSN: 0002-9769

SUBJECT: Ergonomics. Computer workstations.

Special thanks to Dr. Patti Hamilton, Director, Center for Nonlinear Science, Texas Woman's University, for intellectual support in this research.

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