Holding the center while prospecting at the periphery: Domain identity and coherence in North American information studies education

This paper offers an impressionistic assessment of the major centripetal and centrifugal forces recontouring the landscape of information studies education. The focus is North America, though some of the trends described find their echo in other contexts. The paper considers the health of the field in terms of its (a) critical mass, (b) coherence, (c) credibility, and (d) creativity, and speculates on its likely future constitution.