The past 15 years have seen a remarkable movement in academic circles, the emergence of information schools, or iSchools for short (the moniker created by an organization of such schools). In this article we examine this movement, tracing its history, speculating on its longevity, and looking at its impact on human computer interaction (HCI) research and education.

The iSchools have an organization - the iSchools Caucus (www.ischools.org) - and hold an annual conference; as of this writing, 21 schools are members. Antecedents of the iSchool phenomenon emerged gradually in the late 20th century. The movement gathered momentum in the early 1990s and has already stirred several pots: the library world, computer science, design studies, to name a few…