UNISIST model

The UNISIST model of information dissemination was proposed in 1971 in a report UNISIST (1971). It is a model of the social system of communication, which consists of knowledge producers, intermediaries and users. These groups of people (or actors) are different kinds of professionals. The social system also contains institutes such as research institutes, publishers and libraries. The actors and institutions perform information services such as writing, publishing, storing and retrieving documents and information. The actors are communicating in both formal and informal ways and they are producing different kinds of documents such as journal articles, books, book reviews, proceedings, bibliographies and catalogues, dictionaries, handbooks, encyclopedias and review articles.

The UNISIST model can be used to define relations between different kinds of scientific and scholarly documents. It provides a classification of documents and information services into primary, secondary and tertiary services and products.

The original UNISIST model has been updated by Fjordback Søndergaard; Andersen & Hjørland (2003). The two most important reasons for the updated version have been 1) to emphasize differences between different domains and 2) to reflect the changes in scientific and scholarly communication caused by the Internet.

Literature

• Fjordback Søndergaard, T.; Andersen, J. & Hjørland, B. (2003). Documents and the communication of scientific and scholarly information. Revising and updating the UNISIST model. Journal of Documentation, 59(3), s. 278-320. http://www.db.dk/bh/UNISIST.pdf
• Hjørland, B.; Fjordback Søndergaard, T. & Andersen, J. (2005). UNISIST Model and Knowledge Domains. In: Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. New York: Marcel Dekker. pp. 1–14. Online: http://www.dekker.com/servlet/product/DOI/101081EELIS120024989 (Only available for subscribers).
• Radford, N. A. (1971). [Book review of] UNISIST: Synopsis of the Feasibility Study on a World Science Information System by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Council of Scientific Unions. Paris, UNESCO. Bull. Med. Libr. Assoc. 59(4), 643-644. Available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=197669&blobtype=pdf
• UNISIST (1971), Study Report on the feasibility of a World Science Information System, By the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Council of Scientific Unions. Paris, UNESCO.

See also

• Disseminating psychological knowledge
• Primary source
• Secondary source
• Source literature
• Tertiary source