Download L&I SCI 110: Introduction to Information Studies

What is Information?
• Information Pyramid
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Symbols, data, information, knowledge
Data only become information when they are processed
Information and information record (or document/medium/carrier)
Information is integrated into knowledge
• Definition
– Information related terminologies
• Examples: information service, information technology, etc..
– Definitions
• Merriam-Webster and Britannica
• Examples
– “Information is data that have been organized and communicated”—by Marc
Porat
– “a record of resolved uncertainty”—Richard Derr
– “Information denotes any stimulus that alters cognitive structure in the
recevier”—William Paisley
Definitions of Information
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Disciplines:
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Perspectives:
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Communication: information as object
Mathematic: information as knowledge
Computer science: information as technology
Physics: information as waves
Psychology: information as stimulus
Law: information as privacy
Economic: information as commodity (money)
Information science: resource?
Technical perspective: medium, data, structure, security
Application perspective: resource, interaction between users
Communication perspective: exist only in communication
Social perspective: property, culture, privacy
Information Characteristics
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Good/bad, correct/incorrect
Complete/incomplete, perfect/imperfect
Others?( important/unimportant ?)
Information as process
S: source
M(S): message sent
M(R): message received
I: information
K(1): knowledge 1
K(2): knowledge 2
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S   M ( S )  M ( R)      I  K (1)  K (2)
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A loop: adjust channel to change any disparities between sender and receiver
B loop: feedback that tries to change the message sent M(S)
Adapapted from Vickery, Brian and Alina Vickery, Information Science in Theory and Pratice, 42, Rev. ed. London: Bowker-Saur, 1992
Issues related
• The channel may distort or lose information
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Technical problems
Social/psychological interference
Ideological/political intervention
Others? (information organization/indexing/presentation/?)
• Feedback
– Time
– Positive/negative
– Explicit/tacit
Challenges in the information communication process
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Technical level
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Semantic level
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Content misunderstanding between information sender and receiver (e.g. different culture,
ages, background)
Influential/pragmatic level
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Effectiveness, efficiency, integrity, safety, etc.
Reaction of the receiver
Results or effects of the message
Presentation level
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Information organization
Information presentation