iSchools - a Timeline
The iSchools strated out es a informal network of 3 in North America schools, today there are 130 members worldwide. The timeline demonstrates important milestones of this growth starting 2025 and going back to 1988.
The iSchools
2025
130 Schools
In the last decade the growth continued and the term of iCaucus became less accurate for the size of the network. Therefore the "iSchools" is the current designation for this era of the organization.
"The iSchools share a vision of the future for information education and research."
Bruce 2011, pp.4
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2025
The 20th iConference hosted by the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University Bloomington from 18 - 22 March 2025.
2018
The Departamento de Ciencia de la Información at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana joins as first South American member
2017
First iConference in Asia hosted by the School of Information Managment at University of Wuhan
The iCaucus
2015
57 Schools
Due to the growth the informal name of "Gang of 10" became unwiedly and was replaced with "the iSchools Caucus", more casually reffred to as the iCaucus.
"The movement is now global, including schools from thirteen of the United States as well as Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Singapore."
Bruce, 2011, pp. 5
2015
The College of Computing and Information Sciences at Makerere University joins as first African member
2014
First iConference in Europe hosted by the Berlin School of Library and Information Science (Berlin)
2012
The School of Computing and Information Systems at University of Melbourne joins as first Austrailian member.
2009
The Berlin School of Library and Information Science, the Information School at the University of Sheffield and the School of Information Management at the University of Wuhan joining as first Non American Schools.
Program & Proceedings
Although the first proceedings were already published in 2006 after the first iConference at Penn State University, it wasn't until 2008 that the proceedings took on the form that is very similar to today's. The proceedings became a main publication venue for sharing research in the community.
If you are interested in more proccedings from past iConferences you can find them here:
Around the iConference
Gang of ...
2005
18 Schools
The former Dean of the School of Library and Information Science at University of Pittsburgh started the formation of a network between Information Schools in North America - informally referred as "Gang of 3"
2005
#1 iConference
28 - 30 September 2005 at School of Information Sciences and Technology at Penn State University hosted the 1st iConfrence & the Faculty of Information at University of Toronto is joining as first non US school.
Gang of 10
Illinois: Graduate School of Library and Information Science
North Carolina: School of Library and Information Science
Florida: College of Information
Indiana: School of Informatics
Texas: College of Information
2003
"Few, if any, information-oriented conferences we attended over the last several decades came even close to hosting so effectively such a wide variety of disciplinary and professional perspectives.”
Debons & Harmon, 2006, pp.19
"Most iSchools have a reasonable mix of basic and applied research, [...] So, from diverse origins, a collection of schools emerged with highly overlapping visions."
Olson & Grudin, 2009, pp.18 & 19
2001
Gang of 5
Washington: Information School
Michigan: School of Information
1988
Gang of 3
Pittsburgh: School of Library and Information Science
Syracuse: School of Information Studies
Drexel: College of Information Science and Technologie
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1988
References
Bruce, H. (2011): The Audacious Vision of Information Schools. Journal of Library and Information Science 37(1).
Olson, M. G. & Grudin, J. (2009): The information school phenomenon. Interactions 16(2), pp. 15-19.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1487632.1487636
Debons A. & Harmon G. (2006): The I-Conference in Retrospect. Bulletin of the American Society for Inforation Science and Technology 32 (4), pp. 19-21.