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College and Research Libraries
November 2005, Vol. 66, No. 6

Book Review

Crowley, Bill. Spanning the Theory-Practice Divide in Library & Information Science. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 2005. 239p. alk. paper, $45 (ISBN 0810851652). LC 2004-14050.

Bill Crowley addresses a genuine and complex concern in the discipline and the profession. In describing how little of the theory developed and tested by teaching faculty is viewed as relevant or useful by practitioners, Crowley makes the important argument that "university faculty members and nonacademic professionals … exist within divergent subcultures." Though they support similar professional principles and societal goals, these individuals participate in two relatively distinct organizational cultures with varying requirements. On the one hand, the author focuses on theory development and research done by teaching faculty and, on the other, on the downside of the higher education paradigm that fosters research and theory development, which lacks direct applicability to practice.

Expanding the discussion to include ways in which practitioners can be involved in theory development, practice-based research done by those working in information organizations, and the way in which faculty members, including those who serve as consultants, can foster the communication of theory and research findings would have made Crowley’s book more useful. There also appears to be a need for more discussion of research related to practitioners’ apprehension about being consumers and producers of research, particularly as described by R. R. Powell, L. M. Baker, and J. J. Mika in their article, "Library and Information Science Practitioners and Research" (Library & Information Science Research, 2002). Such a shift in emphasis would likely require editing of other portions of the manuscript.

The discussion of the issues is presented within the context of academic programs in library and information science (LIS), as well as those of other disciplines. However, the presentation would have been enhanced if Crowley had integrated the LIS examples with those from business schools and other disciplines in order to create greater clarity in the conclusions and for succinctness. He does provide an interesting discussion and analysis of the evolution of pragmatism, empiricism, modernism, postmodernism, and critical theory. This timely consideration of the context that surrounds theory development is most useful.

The author spends a significant amount of time addressing the relevance of religion to theory development, research, and analysis. However, it seems that the impact of religion relates more directly to the formation of ethical principles that define professions and less so to the theories that define the work of the professions.

Major and minor areas of focus, such as the definition of theory in this context and recent changes in professional schools reflecting changes in the overall academic environment, are presented in segmented discussions in various chapters. In the case of the concept of theory, there might be an advantage to beginning the first chapter with the working definition, which only appears in part three of that chapter. Also, there are examples of combining the concepts of theory and research, which, in fact, are not always inextricably linked, and which should have had separate definitions early on in the book. It should be noted that the work does include an "extended glossary," which provides definitions of general, theoretical, and philosophical terms, as well as specialized terminology used by the author. There are distinctions between theory and representations of theory, but distinctions between "theories, hypotheses, models, slogans, aphorisms, and other mental constructions" are not delineated.

The primary audience for this publication is likely to be LIS teaching faculty and students in doctoral seminars in theory development and university teaching. It may serve as a supplemental text for courses in research methods and be of interest to some practitioners.

The two major strengths of Spanning the Theory-Practice Divide in Library & Information Science are that (1) the work addresses an important area of disconnect in the discipline and the profession and (2) the discussion is supported by the presentation of broader philosophical and theoretical principles that have defined a range of disciplines. In addition, Crowley’s inclusion of examples and analogies from his professional life and the analysis of issues from a variety of disciplines provides for an interesting and timely publication.—Mark Winston, Rutgers University.