IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v25y2014i2p205-221.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Research Commentary ---The Disciplines of Information: Lessons from the History of the Discipline of Medicine

Author

Listed:
  • David G. Schwartz

    (Graduate School of Business Administration, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002 Israel)

Abstract

In this research commentary we show that the discipline of information systems (IS) has much that can be learned from the history of the discipline of medicine. We argue that as interest in historical studies of information systems grows, there are important historical lessons to be drawn from disciplines other than IS, with the medical discipline providing fertile ground. Of particular interest are the circumstances that surrounded the practice of the medical craft in the 1800's---circumstances that drove a process of unification and specialization resulting in the modern conceptualization of medical education, research, and practice. In analyzing the history of the field of medicine, with its long-established methods for general practice, specialization, and sub-specialization we find that it serves as an example of a discipline that has dealt effectively with its initial establishment as a scientific discipline, exponential growth of knowledge and ensuing diversity of practice over centuries, and has much to say in regards to a number of discipline-wide debates of IS. Our objective is to isolate the key factors that can be observed from the writings of leading medical historians, and examine those factors from the perspective of the information systems discipline today. Through our analysis we identify the primary factors and structural changes which preceded a modern medical discipline characterized by unification and specialization. We identify these same historic factors within the present-day information systems milieu and discuss the implications of following a unification and specialization strategy for the future of the disciplines of information.

Suggested Citation

  • David G. Schwartz, 2014. "Research Commentary ---The Disciplines of Information: Lessons from the History of the Discipline of Medicine," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 205-221, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:25:y:2014:i:2:p:205-221
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.2014.0516
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.2014.0516
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.2014.0516?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neal, Larry, 2000. "A Shocking View of Economic History," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 317-334, June.
    2. repec:dau:papers:123456789/9071 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Joanna Poyago-Theotoky & John Beath & Donald S. Siegel, 2002. "Universities and Fundamental Research: Reflections on the Growth of University--Industry Partnerships," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 10-21, Spring.
    4. Daniel Robey, 1996. "Research Commentary: Diversity in Information Systems Research: Threat, Promise, and Responsibility," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 400-408, December.
    5. Miller, Peter & Hopper, Trevor & Laughlin, Richard, 1991. "The new accounting history: An introduction," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(5-6), pages 395-403.
    6. Klaus Otten & Anthony Debons, 1970. "Towards a metascience of information: Informatology," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 21(1), pages 89-94, January.
    7. Lee, Yong S., 1996. "'Technology transfer' and the research university: a search for the boundaries of university-industry collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 843-863, September.
    8. Nathalie Mitev & François-Xavier de Vaujany, 2012. "Seizing the Opportunity: Towards a Historiography of Information Systems," Post-Print halshs-00671690, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jörg Becker & Jan Brocke & Marcel Heddier & Stefan Seidel, 2015. "In Search of Information Systems (Grand) Challenges," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 57(6), pages 377-390, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Réjean Landry & Nabil Amara & Mathieu Ouimet, 2007. "Determinants of knowledge transfer: evidence from Canadian university researchers in natural sciences and engineering," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 32(6), pages 561-592, December.
    2. Ankrah, Samuel & AL-Tabbaa, Omar, 2015. "Universities–industry collaboration: A systematic review," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 387-408.
    3. James A. Cunningham & Erik E. Lehmann & Matthias Menter & Nikolaus Seitz, 2019. "The impact of university focused technology transfer policies on regional innovation and entrepreneurship," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 1451-1475, October.
    4. Battaglia, Daniele & Landoni, Paolo & Rizzitelli, Francesco, 2017. "Organizational structures for external growth of University Technology Transfer Offices: An explorative analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 45-56.
    5. Spyros Arvanitis & Ursina Kubli & Martin Woerter, 2006. "University-Industry Knowledge Interaction in Switzerland: What University Scientists Think about Co-operation with Private Enterprises," KOF Working papers 06-132, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    6. Lambert Jerman, 2013. "La Juste Valeur : Une Comptabilite Actuarielle Pour Les Marches ... Ou Les Comptables ?," Post-Print hal-00991877, HAL.
    7. Caroline Lambert & Éric Pezet, 2007. "Discipliner les autres et agir sur soi:la double vie du contrôleur de gestion," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 10(1), pages 183-208, March.
    8. Rahmat Ullah & Rashid Aftab & Saeed Siyal & Kashif Zaheer, 2023. "Entrepreneurial Higher Education Education, Knowledge and Wealth Creation," Papers 2308.08808, arXiv.org.
    9. Maran, Laura & Bracci, Enrico & Funnell, Warwick, 2016. "Accounting and the management of power: Napoleon’s occupation of the commune of Ferrara (1796–1799)," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 60-78.
    10. Tobias Schlegel & Curdin Pfister & Dietmar Harhoff & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2022. "Innovation effects of universities of applied sciences: an assessment of regional heterogeneity," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 63-118, February.
    11. Link, Albert N. & Siegel, Donald S., 2005. "University-based technology initiatives: Quantitative and qualitative evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 253-257, April.
    12. Geuna, Aldo & Nesta, Lionel J.J., 2006. "University patenting and its effects on academic research: The emerging European evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(6), pages 790-807, July.
    13. Rivera González Gibrán & Cox Andrew M. & Flores Zambada Ricardo, 2012. "A human resources project implementation An actor-network theory perspective," Contaduría y Administración, Accounting and Management, vol. 57(3), pages 9-39, julio-sep.
    14. Gál, Zoltán & Ptáček, Pavel, 2010. "The role of mid-range universities in knowledge transfer: the case of non-metropolitan regions in Central and Eastern Europe (examples from Hungary and the Czech Republic)," MPRA Paper 28358, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 18 Jan 2011.
    15. Jones, Michael John & Oldroyd, David, 2015. "The ‘internationalisation’ of accounting history publishing," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 117-123.
    16. Wright, Mike & Clarysse, Bart & Lockett, Andy & Knockaert, Mirjam, 2008. "Mid-range universities' linkages with industry: Knowledge types and the role of intermediaries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1205-1223, September.
    17. Vijaya Murthy & Jim Rooney, 2018. "The Role of Management Accounting in Ancient India: Evidence from the Arthasastra," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(2), pages 323-341, October.
    18. Stephen Walker, 2011. "Editorial," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 1-5.
    19. Hoppmann, Joern, 2021. "Hand in hand to Nowhereland? How the resource dependence of research institutes influences their co-evolution with industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(2).
    20. Bryer, R. A., 2005. "A Marxist accounting history of the British industrial revolution: a review of evidence and suggestions for research," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 25-65, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:25:y:2014:i:2:p:205-221. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.