Towards Positive Information Science? Authors Jenna Hartel University of Toronto Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, 45 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1C7, Canada Email: jenna.hartel@utoronto.ca Jarkko Kari University of Tampere Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media, 33014 University of Tampere, Finland Email: jarkko.kari@uta.fi Robert Stebbins University of Calgary Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada Email: stebbins@ucalgary.ca Marcia Bates University of California, Los Angeles Department of Information Studies, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90095-1520, USA Email: mjbates@ucla.edu This panel offers a refreshing counterpoint to the predominantly problem-oriented perspective of theory and research in information science. Drawing inspiration from the fields of positive psychology and sociology, we explore the idea of a positive information science. This line of inquiry focuses on the positive qualities of information systems and the positive characteristics and habits of information users, as well as on the positive contexts of or factors in information phenomena. Insights into positive information phenomena provide a benchmark and target for improving information environments. The positive perspective also