information concepts

7/31/2019 Information Concepts

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Information Concepts

MDATAST

Josefiel S. Javier


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- 2-Asia Pacific College J.S.Javier October, 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Module Objectives :

Understand the philosophical and technical meaning

of information

Understand the key concepts of information :

Representation of Information

Hierarchy of Information

Information Theory Concepts Information Science Concepts


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What is Information ?

?? One that is able to change thestructure and behavior of systems

- K. Kornwachs -

An observers construction or a mentaldifference that makes and/or finds adifference in the external world

- Maturana, Varela, Foester -

A difference that makes a difference

- Gregory Bateson -

The amount of uncertainty that isreduced when a message is returned

- Shannon & Weaver -

Information as a resource

Information as a commodity

Information as a perception of

patterns

Information as a constitutive force insociety

- S. Braman -

Something that is required forknowledge

- F. I. Dretske -

Anything that can change a personsknowledge

- N. J. Belkin -


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Information : Conflict of Definitions

[T]he literature of information science is characterized byconceptual chaos. This conceptual chaos issues from a

variety of problems in the definitional literature of informationscience: uncritical citing of previous definitions; conflating ofstudy and practice; obsessive claims to scientific status; a

narrow view of technology; disregard for literature without thescience or technology label; inappropriate analogies; circulardefinition; and, the multiplicity of vague, contradictory, andsometimes bizarre notions of the nature of the term

information

A. M. Schrader. Towards a Theory of Library and Information

Science. (Doctoral Dissertation, Indiana University, 1983)


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Information : Etymology

From the Latin verb informare meaning giveform to or mould the mind or character (as in to

discipline, teach, instruct)

From the Latin noun informacionmeaning outline, concept, or idea

Implications : Information may refer toboth the facts (noun) and the transmission

of the facts (verb)


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Information : Common Usage

Information is a term

with many meanings

depending on contextbut is as a rule

closely related to

such concepts as : meaning

knowledge

instruction communication

representation

Information is message received

and understood

Information is

knowledge acquired

through study or

experience orinstruction


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INFORMATION

Information : An Interdisciplinary Concept

Psychology

EngineeringHumanities

Sociology

Information

Science

Library

Science

Computer

Science

Philosophy

OtherDisciplines

Linguistics


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What is Information ?

There is no fully satisfactory answer to the question of whatinformation is. [ Charles Meadow ]

Information is a contextual concept. [ G. Mahler ]

Information as related to the concepts such as signs, texts,and knowledge may provide more satisfactory conceptualframeworks for the kind of problems that informationscience is trying to answer We should always keep in

mind that information is what is informative for a givenperson. What is informative depends on the interpretiveneeds and skills of the individual. [ Capurro & Hjrland ]


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Information Representation

Sight

Hearing

Touch

Taste

Smell

John Doe

Weight (kg) Height (m)

70 1.70

Statistics / NumbersText

ImageVideo

AugmentedReality

Virtual Reality

Real-WorldObjects

Audio


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The Hierarchy of Information

Where is the Life

we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom

we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge

we have lost in information?

T. S. Eliot (1934), The Rock


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Information Concepts : DIKW Hierarchy

DATA

Raw material for the production of information

Has no meaning in and of itself

INFORMATION

Organized and formatted data placed within (or presented in) acontext

WISDOM

Accumulated knowledge

Gained via a combination of academic study and personal experience

KNOWLEDGE

A body of truths, beliefs, formalized information, instincts, ideas, rules,and procedures, that guide actions and decisions


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Information Concepts : Information Theory

Introduced the science of cybernetics in 1948

Information has a structure with a meaning that is, themeaning is inherent in the information

Information is attached to issues of decisions,

communication, and control

Norbert Wiener

Claude Shannon

Developed the mathematical theory of communication

Information is a signal there is no meaning in the

information it must be interpreted by the receiver ofinformation

Information is a measure of ones freedom in selecting a

message


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Information Concepts : Information Science

Information can be used in relation to things, processes, and

knowledge

Intangible Thing

(or Object)

Information-as-Knowledge

Tangible Thing

(or Object)

Information-as-Thing

ProcessInformation-as-Process

Information Processing

Just as anything might be symbolic, anything may also be

information [ M.K.Buckland ]


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Guest Lecturer

Information Concepts

by Gary Marchionini

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

22 May 2007

This video is accessible at You-Tube

information concepts

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