ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

The Scope and Limitations of Scientific Information Planning in Argentina (1958–1976)

• In Event: The Local and the Global in Scientific Information

English Abstract

Throughout the 20th century, the value of scientific information as a strategic asset for national development became increasingly recognized, making its management a central component of science and technology policies in many countries. In this context, Argentina launched a series of initiatives aimed at developing the technical, professional, and institutional capacities needed to organize, store, and disseminate both local and international scientific production.

The establishment of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) in 1958 marked the beginning of a concerted effort by certain local actors to consolidate a unified and specialized professional field. Their goal was to strengthen their capacity to contribute to the formulation, planning, and implementation of public policies related to national information services. Although the concepts and guidelines adopted were closely aligned with international frameworks—particularly those promoted by UNESCO and the FID—these actors had to devise strategies to translate such models into locally viable practices, given the constraints in technology, human resources, and access to scientific literature.

This work analyzes this process during the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on how global models were reinterpreted locally and how, in this process, prevailing conceptions of scientific information and the state’s role in its management were also redefined. By examining these dynamics, the paper seeks to contribute to a transnational history of scientific information—one that highlights the tensions among technological dependence, professionalization, and access to scientific knowledge experienced by countries of the Global South in the latter half of the 20th century.

Author

• Camila Indart, CONICET