The scientific thought development in the library science

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the development of «scientific thought» as a concept and a methodological category in the history of library science. The processes of generation and formation of scientific thought in the domestic librarianship and library science at the initial stage, i.e. since its inception to institutionalization as a scientific discipline, are examined. The duality of scientific thought in library science is marked: its differentiation into the library thought - a form of judgment in librarianship based on a generalization of everyday experience and knowledge, and the thought of library science based on scientific methods. It is suggested to associate the origin of the library thought with the emergence of libraries as institutional establishments in XVI-XVII centuries, rather than individual book collections, thereby separating it from the thought manifestation in bibliology. There are two stages in the development of librarianship thought: an auxiliary one, when it was formed in frames of other scientific disciplines, ensuring their development, in particular pedagogy, and an autonomous or independent one, associated with the comprehension of the library as a self-sufficient social institution. The origin of library thought is associated with the activities of V. I. Sobolshchikov, a domestic scientist who first used a comparative method in studying librarianship. It is suggested to consider some N. F. Fedorov’s ideas as manifestation of theoretical scientific thought in the national library science.