fundamental concepts of information

Imam Muhammad bin Saud University

Fundamental Concepts of Information

T.Abrar Almjally !DIS 101 !L1

1

Outline

❖ Levels of Information ❖ Definitions ❖ Information as a Process ❖ Transmission levels ❖ Information Theory

2

Level of Information

3

Knowledge

Information

Data

Symbols

Symbols are processed into data, which are processed into information. Information is integrated into knowledge And knowledge is what we use in taking decisions

Level of Information

❖ Symbols: letters, numerals, other codes, such as signs. !

❖ Data: consists of a serious of raw facts, numbers, letters which have been collected but not processes, organized or placed into context. ( Ex: DOB) !

❖ Information: which is combined data that become information when processed. It is data plus meaning.(Ex: Age) !

❖ Knowledge is information which has been processed, connected and used to draw generalized conclusion. It is information plus processing.

4

The Definition of Information

• Definitions of information are sometimes either content or context specific !• In the context of librarian information is defined as the collection • In the context of banks information is the accounts, and other financial

data. • In the medical context information is thought of as reading from the

human body through sophisticated instruments

5

Characteristic of good information

• Complete/adequate • Accurate • Authoritative • Relevant • Timely • Understandable • Easy to use

6

The Definition of Information

Brown [1, p. 185] suggests that, in attempting to define information, information scientists have tended to restrict the term to only a part of the whole. Which means that information definition can be changed depend on ‘information context’ !

!

Thus, We can define information broadly as anything that changes the knowledge state of the receiver.

7

Information Record

• Information Record or document is the information carrier in the form of symbols in some medium -paper discs, etc. !

• These two concepts "information" and "information record" are often confused in our everyday usage, but they are different and have different properties.

8

Different between information and information record

They are different and have different properties :

!

❖ Information can be retained and given away. One cannot do that with

information record without creating a second copy.

❖ Information does not necessarily diminish in value through use, but the

information record may.

9

Information as process- An alternative way to consider information is that information is a process that

occurs that shapes our in ward images.

!- Information transfer is a sequence of events leading to a transmission of

information from a source to a destination.

!- Key elements of the information transfer process:

❖ Sender ❖ Channel ❖ Receiver

10

Vickery Model

11

➢ S= the source of the message ➢ M(S)= message sent ➢ M(R) = message received ➢ I = the information extracted from the message ➢ K(1)= the initial state of knowledge of the individual ➢ K(2)= ??? ➢ (a) indicates that the channel may be adjusted to try to change any ➢ disparities between M(R) and K(I) ➢ (b( feedback that tries to change the message sent M(S)

The Complexities in Vickery Model

Other competing messages may conflict with the message.

1. Verification : The receiver needs to verify if what was received was what was sent.

2. The channel: The channel -the medium or carrier of the message -may distort or lose information due to:

• Technical problems !

• Social/psychologies interference (the interaction between the channel and the receiver). !

• Political intervention in the channel

12

The Vickery Model - The Feedback Feedback may be: !

• Positive: the message satisfied the information need. !

• Negative: the message was inadequate to meet the information need.!

• When the feedback is negative there may be a need to adjust the process!

• Change the relationship between M(S) and M(R) by changing some thing in the channel such as increase volume. !

• Change the message sent such as effect a change in the originator of the message, and it depends on: the distance between the sender and the receiver,and the channel the nature of the message form.!

• Multiples receivers FB: The feedback to adjust the message is slower and more complicated.example: (politics , vote) ( advertising. sales)!

• One receiver FB: The feedback can be both immediate and direct.

13

Transmission levels

The Study of transmission of Messages can be done on three levels :

❖ Technical level

❖ Semantic level

❖ Influential/ pragmatics level

• Technical level: the physical transfer of symbols or the syntactic level.

• What is the accuracy of transfer and disturbance in the channel ?

14

Transmission levels

• Semantic level: what is the meaning of the message? what the sender intended?

• If the sender and receiver are from different cultures, there could be very different use and interpretations of the same symbols.

• Influential/ pragmatics level : addressing the reaction of the receiver and the results of the message, and asks what the effect of the message was.

15

Information Theory ❖ Theory is the finals result that has reached from the total scientific

researches.By this final result we present the facts, concepts, assumptions, and laws in defined context.

❖ Theory is the summarization of laws and inference results from studying some phenomena starting from observing process till evaluation process, so it provides understating for the relation between theory and practice.

❖ Verify the validity of the theory:

❖ by looking to the logical explanations of the reasons, factors, and variables related to that phenomena.

16

Information Theory

• Shannon model of communication!

• Harlod Lasswell!

• Wilbur Schramm's model!

• David Berlo Model!

!

17

Information Theory Shannon model of communication

❖ One of the first designs of the information theory is the model of communication by Claude Shannon

❖ Claude Shannon, an engineer at Bell Telephone Laboratories, worked with Warren Weaver on the classic book ‘The mathematical theory of communication’.

❖ Claude Shannon developed his model in 1949, and he pointed to the ability of studying communication from contextual perspective by assigning the contents problem.

❖ This theory was an paper which became later a book written with the help of Warn Wiffer, in this book they were tried to simplify and generalize the theory so the unspecialized people can understand it.

18


❖ The important of Shannon theory

❖ Fundamental nature of information and process of communication

❖ Laid the foundations for the modern world communication network

❖ Gave fresh insight to human language

19


❖ Shannon's theory gives us tools to measure the amount of information flow, he said that noise may disable the original information to be correct.

❖ A key measure of information in the theory is known as entropy or Shannon's entropy and it is a measurement unit uses to measure the flow of the sending information which requires the bandwidth of the channel and the speed to carry the sending message "Information" With an estimate of the amount of noise that channel can bear and deliver the message correctly or with the least amount of errors.

❖ In simple words Entropy aims to know the amount of added or duplicated information in order to cover the lose or change in some parts of the sending information, and Shannon's theory focuses on reducing uncertainty or confusion with the receiver.

20

Information Theory Shannon’s model of communication

❖ Fundamental concepts in Shannon Model

❖ Uncertainty

❖ In information theory, information and uncertainty are closely related.

❖ Information refers to the degree of uncertainty present in a situation.

❖ The larger the uncertainty removed by a message, the stronger the correlation between the input and output of a communication channel, the more detailed particular instructions are the more information is transmitted.

❖ Uncertainty also relates to the concept of predictability.

21

Information Theory Shannon and Weaver model of communication

❖ Fundamental concepts in Shannon Model

❖ Predictability: When something is completely predictable, it is completely certain. Therefore, it contains very little, if any, information.

❖ Redundancy is the opposite of information. Something that is redundant adds little, if any, information to a message

❖ Redundancy is important because it helps combat noise in a communicating system (e.g. in repeating the message).

22


❖ Goals

❖ The study conducted by Shannon was motivated by the desire to increase the efficiency and accuracy or fidelity of transmission and reception.

❖ Efficiency refers to the bits of information per second that can be sent and received.

❖ Accuracy is the extent to which signals of information can be understood.

23


!

❖ Shannon's models defined that most problem occurs during communication channel, and you may notice that Shannon's theory focuses on the following points

❖ Sender and Receiver.

❖ Information Content.

❖ Communication Channel (connection speed, sending speed)

❖ Noise.

24

Analog signal Vs digital

❖ Over the time or distance an analog signal degrades cannot be extrapolate the degraded wave back to the original signal.

❖ Digital signals, are 1 and 0. Degraded signal can be enhanced back to its original strength.

25

Information Theory Shannon a model of communication

26

The issue the 1940s.

❖ Noise is any factor in the process that works against the predictability of the outcome of the communication process.

27


All messages can be converted into binary digits, better known as bits


❖ The outcomes

❖ Identifies the quickest and most efficient way to get a message from one point to another with minim of error.

❖ It is not concerned with the content of the information, but with its integrity.Data integrity ensure the accuracy and consistency of data stored in a database, data warehouse, data mart or other construct.

❖ Shannon discover a way to measure information flow contained in a message.All messages can be converted into binary digits, better known as bits.(A byte equals 8 bits)

28

Information Theory Harlod Lasswell

❖ Lasswell model suggests the message flow in a multicultural society with multiple audiences.

❖ Laswell defines the communication process elements by answering five questions:

❖ Who says? "Sender"

❖ What does he/she say? "Message"

❖ For whom he/she says? "Receiver"

❖ In which way? "Channel"

❖ What is the effect?

29


❖ CNN NEWS – A water leak from Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear power station resulted in about 100 times the permitted level of radioactive material flowing into the sea, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Saturday.

❖ Who – TEPC Operator

❖ What – Radioactive material flowing into sea

❖ Channel – CNN NEWS (Television medium)

❖ Whom – Public

❖ Effect – Alert the people of japan from the radiation.

30


❖ Advantage of Lasswell model:

❖ It is Easy and Simple

❖ It suits for almost all types of communication

❖ The concept of effect

❖ Disadvantage of lasswell model:

❖ Feedback not mentioned

❖ Noise not mentioned

❖ Linear Model

31

Wilbur Schramm's model❖ Wilbur Schramm's 1954 focuses in his model on shared experiences and he stresses the need

for a common line between the two parties when transferring information, and the shared experiences between the sender and the receiver presents the semantic framework.

❖ And the shared experiences proves information security principle at information transmission where encryption/decryption done.

❖ The model was made up of six elements of communication: source, encoder, message, channel , decoder, and receiver.

❖ Field of Experience - an individual's beliefs, values, experiences and learned meanings both as an individual or part of a group.

32

David Berlo-SMCR model❖ This model believes that for an effective communication to take place the source and the

receiver needs to be in the same level, only if the source and receiver are on the same level communication will happen or take place properly. So source and receiver should be similar

❖ Berlo's model consists from four communication elements:

❖ Source

❖ Message

❖ Channel

❖ Receiver

❖ Encryption

❖ Decryption.

33

David Berlo Model

34

❖ Criticism of berlo’s SMCR model of communication:

!

❖ No feedback

❖ Did not address the noise

❖ Complex model

❖ It is a linear model of communication

❖ Needs people to be on same level for communication to occur but not true in real life

35

References!

❖ University of Twenty,http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Communication%20and%20Information%20Technology/Information_Theory/

❖ Lê Nguyên Hoang,PhD Student in Applied Maths at Polytechnique of Montreal,(2013), http://www.science4all.org/le-nguyen-hoang/shannons-information-theory/

❖ Shannon, C.E., & Weaver, W. (1949). The mathematical theory of communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

❖ Communication Theory,Lasswell’s model. http://communicationtheory.org/lasswells-model/

❖ Information Theory Presentation http://gauss.unh.edu/~mss/gss/description.html

❖ ALABOUD,Wa’ad,Outlines of "Fundamentals of Informatics and Information Concepts" Lecture Cont.

36

http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Communication%20and%20Information%20Technology/Information_Theory/

http://communicationtheory.org/lasswells-model/

http://gauss.unh.edu/~mss/gss/description.html