science

Peter Ingwersen (information scientist)

Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) rather than just read about it. In short: Peter Emil Rerup Ingwersen, D. Ph., h.c.

Key takeaways

Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peter Emil Rerup Ingwersen, D. Ph., h.c. (1947) is a Danish information scientist and librarian. He is a professor emeritus at the Royal School of Library and Information Science at the University of Copenhagen. Ingwersen was among the two first research professors of librarianship and information science appointed in Denmark.He is known as the father of webometrics, and is also known for his Cognitive Theory of Information Retrieval. Between 1990 and 2005, he was the most-cited Danish researcher in the Social Sciences. In 2016, Ingwersen was awarded the ASIS&T Award of Merit, in recognition of his contributions to the field of information science, particularly webometrics and information retrieval. As of 2017, he is an adjunct professor at Aalborg University, in the Department of Psychology and Communication.

Career In 1973, Peter Ingwersen graduated from the Royal School of Library and Information Science (Royal School of LIS) in Copenhagen with a degree in Library and Information Studies. That same year, he became a lecturer at the Royal School, teaching information storage and retrieval, and cataloguing and indexing theory. From 1982-1984, he worked for the European Space Agency in Frascati, Italy, as a research associate in the Information Retrieval Service. He was involved with UI improvements, online support and retrieval tool development, and systems management. In 1984, Ingwersen returned to the Royal School of LIS as an associate professor in the Information Resources Management department, with a brief stint as a guest professor at Rutgers University in 1987. He earned his Ph. D. from the Copenhagen Business School in 1991. Since 1997, he has been an affiliate professor/docent at Åbo Akademi University in Finland. In 2001, he became a research professor at the Royal School of LIS, and in 2006 he was made a full professor in information retrieval. He retired from the Royal School in 2010.

Webometrics With his student, Tomas Almind, Ingwersen published the article "Informetric analyses on the World Wide Web: methodological approaches to webometrics" in 1997. The article coined the term and kickstarted the field of webometrics, which seeks to quantify and study internet-based phenomena. Ingwersen further defined webometrics in "Toward a basic framework for webometrics," which he co-wrote with Lennart Björneborn in 2004: "The study of the quantitative aspects of the construction and use of information resources, structures and technologies on the Web drawing on bibliometric and informetric approaches." According to researcher Mike Thelwall, although other definitions have been proposed, Ingwersen and Björneborn's original definition is still the primary one used in the field. As of 2010, webometrics was the largest sub-field within library and information science.

Major publications "Search procedures in the library -- analyzed from the cognitive point of view," Journal of Documentation, 1982 Information Retrieval Interaction (1992) "Cognitive perspectives of information retrieval interaction: elements of a cognitive IR theory," Journal of Documentation, 1996 "Informetric analyses on the World Wide Web: methodological approaches to webometrics" (with Tomas Almind), Journal of Documentation, 1997 "Perspectives of webometrics" (with Lennart Björneborn), Scientometrics, 2001 "Toward a basic framework for webometrics" (with Lennart Björneborn), Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2004 The Turn: Integration of Information Seeking and Retrieval in Context (with Kalervo Järvelin, 2005)

Awards Jason Farradane Award (1993) American Society for Information Science/New Jersey Chapter Distinguished Lectureship Award (1994) ASIS&T Research Award (USA, 2003) Thomson Award of Excellence (Denmark, 2005) Derek de Solla Price Award (2005) Honorary doctorate, Tampere University (2010) Honorary doctorate, Åbo Akademi (2014) UKeiG Tony Kent Strix Award (2015) ASIS&T Award of Merit (2016)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Peter Ingwersen (information scientist)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Peter Ingwersen (information scientist)

In research: Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1947 births, Danish librarians, Information scientists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Peter Ingwersen (information scientist)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) in simple terms?

Peter Emil Rerup Ingwersen, D. Ph., h.c.

Why does Peter Ingwersen (information scientist) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Peter Ingwersen (information scientist)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Peter Ingwersen (information scientist).