Principles (Principia)
The word "principle" means a fundamental sentence for thinking and acting. In library classification the word "canons" are often used for principles (e.g., by W. C. B. Sayers, 1915).
"A principle is something, usually a rule or norm, that is part of the basis for something else. For example, the ethics of someone may be seen as a set of principles that the individual obeys. These principles form the basis for their ethics.
Principles may also be introduced as pedagogy: laying down basics in a topic, in order later to proceed to more detailed developments." (Wikipedia, 2005).
Principles are related to theories. While theories are explanations, principles are statments that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct. Principles of democracy, for example, although related to theories of politics, are general statments about the most important thing to consider and to do in order to fulfil the political ideals associated with the word 'democracy'.
The principles of a field of knowledge is, together with its laws the most fundamental formulations of the field. Principles are broader than laws in that laws are incorporated as part of the principles of the field. Famous examples of books formulating the principles of a field are Isaac Newton's Principia 1687, Bertrand Russel's Principia Mathematica (1910-13) and William James The Principles of Psychology (1890).
In very empiristic traditions the principles of a field is
often buried in an insurmountable amount of specific investigations without a
clear cumulative tendency. It is
important that empirical research is guided by theoretical principles.
An example of a formulation of the basic principles of Library and
Information Science (LIS) is provided by
Hjørland (2002).
Literature:
Hjørland, B. (2002). Principia Informatica. Foundational Theory of Information and Principles of Information Services. IN: Emerging Frameworks and Methods. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science (CoLIS4). Ed. By Harry Bruce, Raya Fidel, Peter Ingwersen, and Pertti Vakkari. Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA: Libraries Unlimited. (Pp. 109-121). Click for manus
Sayers, W. C. B. (1915-1916). Cannons of classification applied to "The Subject", "The Expansive", "The Decimal", and "The Library of Congress" classifications: A study in bibliographical classification method. London: Grafton.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2005). Principle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle
See also: Laws (in LIS);
Theory (Epistemological
lifeboat).
Birger Hjørland
22-12-2005