Discourse Analysis of Subjective Hermeneutics in Information Retrieval Interaction

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Information Science and Knowledge Management, Faculty of Public Administration and Organization Science, College of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran.

2 Department of Information Science and Knowledge Management, Faculty of Public Administration and Organization Science, College of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran. Iran

3 Department of Information Science and Knowledge Management, Faculty of Public Administration and Organization Science, College of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran. Iran.

4 Professor, Department of Information Science and Knowledge Management, Faculty of Public Administration and Organization Science, College of Management, University of Tehran, Tehran. Iran.

10.22059/jlib.2026.404268.1799

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to analyze the literature on information retrieval interaction and to examine the extent to which this thematic area is influenced by mental hermeneutics. It also investigates how scholars have incorporated elements of mental hermeneutics into the information retrieval interaction literature.
Method: This study employs an analytical–descriptive framework and Foucault’s archaeological method to systematically analyze the discourse in the information retrieval interaction literature, thereby identifying and describing the foundational components and influential structures of mental hermeneutics embedded within it.
Results: The study identified ten elements of mental hermeneutics within the information retrieval interaction literature. These elements include: meaning as the user’s interpretive experience; the interpreting subject; the rejection of authorial intent; language as a field of being; meaning as a historical process; the virtue of polyphony and interpretive conflict; the removal of judgment criteria; the transformation of data and algorithms into tools for meaning-making; the information system as a context for semantic dialogue; and the denial of representation, with an emphasis on presence and experience. The results demonstrate the prevalence of mental hermeneutics in this body of literature.
Conclusions: The hermeneutic turn in information science has fundamentally redefined the field’s core tenets, superseding classical positivist paradigms such as the Shannon and Weaver model. Within this new framework, data are reconceived as interpretable texts situated within discourse and power relations; the user becomes an active interpreting subject rather than a passive recipient; and context-dependent validity displaces absolute truth. Consequently, information science has evolved from a static data-transfer model into a dynamic paradigm focused on the co-creation of meaning, thereby establishing a crucial foundation for the design of more equitable and human-centric information systems in the digital era.

Keywords

References

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Academic Librarianship and Information Research
Volume 59, Issue 3
September 2025
Pages 1-26

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