Change and iSchools: Embracing Uncertainty at UNC-CH

Issue #110

By Gary Marchionini (UNC School of Information & Library Science)

"Life is change, how it differs from the rocks" (Jefferson Airplane, 1968. The crown of creation)

Change as a disciplinary object of study.

Most disciplines are strongly concerned with change. Most of the objectives of Biology--growth, homeostasis, response to environment, adaptation and even reproduction and metabolism--address changes in organisms. Chemistry examines how matter changes under different conditions such as combination, heat, and pressure. History examines changes in human or natural conditions over time. Calculus addresses rates of change. Learning science aims to influence human growth under guidance. 

Information Science considers changes in collections and organizations of information and knowledge (e.g., collection development policies and practices); changes in information inputs, outputs and impacts (e.g., Informetrics); coding schemes that leverage changes in physical conditions (e.g., signal strength or polarity, run lengths of physical channel pathways); transformations of information (e.g., analog to digital via quantization; compressions through abstracting, summarization, and indexing); social changes due to changes in quality and quantity of information (e.g., transition from information as a limited resource to information abundance and burden), and changes in estimates of uncertainty (Shannon’s¹ sense of information as reduction in uncertainty). These are but a few of the kinds of change that we study in information science, and our experience should in theory help us understand changes that affect our field and day-to-day activities in our work.

Change as an effect on nature, disciplines, and individuals.

It is one thing to study change processes from an external, dispassionate perspective, however, when we ourselves, our field, and our tools of observation and analysis are changing these effects are difficult to assess because we are part of the cause and part of the effect. As Heisenberg² explained, our efforts to observe and measure cause changes in what we observe, and this self-referential condition makes it impossible to objectively understand what is happening to us or our field in real time. All disciplines evolve and these changes must be viewed retrospectively in the future, which in the present amplifies rather than reduces uncertainty about the moment. We thus have to study changes as intervals over time rather than at discrete points in time.

Periodic walks on the same beach imbue the contrast of stability and change at every step. The sea at a macro level seems timeless and constant with change occurring over geological periods beyond human generations or individual life spans, yet the sand and shore are always changing at micro levels perceptible and important to humans. Every wave brings new matter and energy to shore and every tide ensures that our footprints in the sand are obviously ephemeral to us.  We are affected by both macro and micro changes but notice the micro more readily because their duration intervals are closer to human life rhythms. Like the sea, our academic disciplines have macro and micro temporal qualities. For disciplines, the macro are not geological intervals but rather multi-generational, and the micro levels tend to be years and months. What are the elements that change at macro levels and micro levels? I believe that the values and principles of our field are macro level whereas content, technologies, and even organizational structures tend to change at more rapid paces.

Changes in Information Science and iSchools.

Consider some of the macro-scale changes that have taken place or are in process today in information science.

• Analog information artifacts have been digitized and most information today is born digital.

• Information has become ‘abundant’ (ubiquitous and sometimes burdensome) rather than a limited resource.

• Library science has broadened to information science and library schools have morphed into iSchools³.

• Libraries and other memory institutions have expanded from repositories for information artifacts to service organizations for education and community engagement.

• Archives have broadened beyond conservation of singular analog artifacts to curation of digital artifacts ranging from government and corporate records to community archives.

• Information science schools have broadened fundamental principles from the humanities to include ideas and faculty from the social sciences (especially psychology and sociology) and engineering and computer sciences.

• Common language has changed to include key concepts such as 'information technology', and 'information society').

• Text as the primary form of human recorded expression has been supplemented by a variety of multi-media forms.

• Data-information-knowledge + technology + human evolution are changing basic skills, literacy, and work (e.g., typing rather than cursive writing, reading on screens rather than on paper, external on-demand memory via lookup rather than personal memory, global and instantaneous communication reach, iterative simulations of outcomes for different input parameters before major decisions, and automated generation of perfunctory or technical work products).

• Humanity has shifted toward instantaneous gratification of needs---from pursuit of dopamine rushes to hot food brought to your door, instant access to information and 'answers', low effort generation of information, and arguments between super-intelligence augmented cognition versus brain rot.

Within the context of these long-term changes, our field continues to change at localized or short-term levels.  Examples of these kinds of changes include:

• New techniques or tools for generating, managing, or applying information arise rapidly and in increasing layers of interdependency.

• Cluster hires of faculty address emerging themes or problems.

• Creation of new degree programs prepare students for emerging careers.

• Curriculum revisions link courses to changing professional practices.

• Renaming and reframing of schools or departments, mergers of multiple units, or creation of new schools or departments. 

These changes are incremental and contained within larger seas of the principles and values of our field and the context of social progress. That does not mean they are not important. These incremental changes affect individual lives and demand considerable energy and attention while they transpire. 

Change at UNC-CH⁴.

Our field is replete with individual cases of these changes and in the fall of 2025 one more such structural change is underway at UNC-CH. Like other programs in the worldwide iSchool community, the program at UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science is undergoing a major organizational change as we work with a relatively new school of Data Science and Society to create a new school that will serve as a home for the burgeoning number of students who dream of working in either traditional or emerging communities and industries that leverage information technology to serve human needs. Humanity requires talented professionals who create, apply, evaluate, manage, and preserve information assets and who can help future generations understand how data, information, and knowledge affect our cultures, enable human progress, and distinguish us from rocks and machines. Schools that address these requirements must bring together teachers, scholars, and students whose interests and expertise range from discrete and technical to discursive and philosophical. A goal of the new school at UNC-CH is to achieve the breadth and depth of this vision with an eye toward improving human and public good.

As we define this new school, I hope that we are able to remain true to macro-level values and principles while embracing new content, technologies, and organizations that represent micro-level changes. Some of these values and principles include:

• Human-Centeredness.

  • People and the public good drive our work.

  • Human needs drive design and evaluation of technology and applications.

  • Collaboration facilitates progress and informed application.

•  Equitable and persistent access to knowledge.

  • Cost-effective public educational programming.

  • Open and inclusive discussion and systems.

  • FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable) designs.

• Knowledge stewardship.

  • Curation of analog and digital heritage.

  • Open access to humanity’s collective memory.

• Excellence and Leadership

  • Attention to and reward for effective and compassionate teaching.

  • Connection to professional practice and alumni.

  • Support for innovative research and public service.

• Advocacy for intellectual freedom, social justice, and the public good

For these macro-level requirements to hold, many micro-level structures, processes, and conditions will be worked out in the months and years ahead.  These include issues such as:

• A school name that unifies and identifies our dynamic discipline.

• An organizational structure that is both unifying and efficient. For example, a flexible matrix organization around educational programs or research themes rather than discrete or competing departments or divisions.

• A functional administrative team that works closely with campus leadership, values faculty governance, nurtures alumni relationships, and actively participates in/supports the many different national and international professional and research societies pertinent to the field (e.g., ranging from ALA, ALISE, and IFLA through ASIST and the iSchools Organization, to AMIA, ACM and IEEE special interest groups).

• Resources to amplify excellence in existing degree programs that include library science, digital curation, health informatics, data science, and information science.

• Resources to develop and deliver new degree programs that meet the needs of students and the evolving multi-national economy.

• Resources for multiple research methodologies and cross-disciplinary research centers and laboratories.

• An Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure (APT) policy that evaluates and rewards the full range of problems, methodologies, and practices devoted to data, information, and knowledge.

• Consistent and equitable faculty workload policies and associated salaries.

• A leadership model that represents the broad coalition of disciplinary interests of faculty and students.

• Staff support for anticipated large growth in the student body.

• New shared physical space for two units that are currently housed at opposite ends of campus.

• Articulated strategies to support a large alumni network and a suite of non-discretionary endowments.

• Attention to accreditation for existing and new degree programs.

Every individual academic program is rooted in the context of local university traditions, and political and geographic conditions. At UNC-CH, the university values programs that attract excellent students and faculty from around the world, research that improves the human condition, and service to the state and beyond.  Although there will be significant challenges ahead to address the issues listed above and to realize the larger vision of a school devoted to human-centered data, information, and knowledge, I am confident that the faculty, staff, and students from the participating schools are up to the challenge and that the university will support and champion our success. Managing change demands thinking critically about uncertainty and working to embrace opportunity for creative and sustained growth. At the geological scale, even the rocks and the seas must change. Our actions today to address micro-level issues will benefit from keeping generational values and principles as beacons for navigation and resilience as we grapple with the micro-level issues of integration and the work to create innovative new programs. Change is hard at all levels, especially at localized, micro levels that affect individuals and disrupts day-to-day work; however, a fundamental requirement of life is change, and I look forward to embracing the challenges of uncertainty rather than retreating to the short-term comfort of stasis.

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References

1: Shannon, C. (1948). A Mathematical Theory of Communication. Reprinted with corrections from The Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 379–423, 623–656, July, October, 1948. Retrieved 1 December 2025 https://people.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/home/text/others/shannon/entropy/entropy.pdf

2: Heisenberg, W. (1983). The Actual Content of Quantum Theoretical Kinematics and Mechanics. NASA Technical Memorandum NAS TM-77379. Washington D.C: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 1 December 2025 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19840008978/downloads/19840008978.pdf

3: See Larsen’s summary of the origins of the iSchool movement including key stakeholders and issues of disciplinary identity.  https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/5852/1/The_iSchools_final.pdf

4: Note that what follows is my personal view of the changes taking place at UNC-CH and should not be taken as an official statement from the School of Information and Library Science or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Feature Stories solely reflect the opinion of the author.