The nature of information : an analysis of the historically situated socio-cultural assumptions concerning the nature of information under changing technological conditions of its production, reproduction, dissemination and use (original) (raw)
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Online Information Review, 2007
It is a most important task of information science to develop a theoretical framework, and a book such as this one, which provides critical analyses of current perspectives, is a most welcome contribution. It deserves serious discussion, which I shall initiate in this review. This book is organized in ten chapters (in addition to front matters and end matters): (i) The meaning of information. (2) Librarianship and print culture. (3) Digital information, science and the social sciences. (4) Digital in formation and computer science. (5) Digrtal information, language and representation. (6) Digital information and semiotics. (7) Digital information and post-structuralism. (8) Digital information and post-modernism. (9) Digrtal information and complexify. (10) Understanding digital information.
The Paradoxes of the Information Culture
2000
Milena Tsvetkova. The Paradoxes of the Information Culture (Version post-print). New Publicity Almanac, 2000. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1410664 ABSTRACT: Based on the meaning of information as a subjective concept, "information culture" defines the degree of individual perfection in the work with the information one needs - finding it, decoding it, saving it, processing it, systematizing it, the creation of new knowledge, communicating it in the form of information and its practical use. The elitist information culture includes also bibliographic, or informationsearch, culture, which forms the style of the "one who knows where knowledge is hidden" who experiments with methodological knowledge about the path to the needed information. In general, "information culture" overlaps with the concept "digital culture". With the present development of the two contradictory trends – information overload and information blackout – which lead to the paradox "increasing ignorance in the conditions of information overflow", we need to remember Plato's intellectualism in order to take today's user out of the lethargy of the controlled, unlimited and uncritical consuming of information and direct him towards an ecological communicative behavior. Keywords: information society, society of knowledge, information overload, information overflow, information blackout, information hygiene, ecological communicative behavior
Critical Histories of Information and Communication Technologies
DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES This seminar approaches information and communication technologies from a critical and historical perspective. We will investigate theories of information and technological development, emphasizing the necessity to acknowledge a plurality of approaches (social construction, technological determinism, feminist and postcolonial) and methods (ANT, political economy, cultural studies, new materialism), as well as to address important conceptual reciprocities and exchanges occurring within the field (between information and biology, materiality and culture). Given the rich literature circulating in this area of study, this course is by no means comprehensive. Its main goal is to provide instruments and suggestions leading to further investigations into the study of information and communication technology. Specifically, the readings were chosen to convey a sense of the increasing plurality of this topic and the methodological approaches employed to unravel its complexity. Moreover, particular emphasis lies on the histories, the discourses and the pervasiveness of information and communication technologies. The course contains 3 sections: 1. Approaches This section introduces key approaches that have shaped and still are crucial in the study of information and communication technologies. Specifically, we will explore the significance of technological determinism and social shaping of technologies, Action Network Theory, material and archaeology of media, the postcolonial approach and the feminist reading of science and technology. 2. Entanglements What is the meaning of information? What do we understand by Online and offline? How do we define the natural and the artificial, the human and the non-human, and based on what principles? This section reflects on those concepts that circulate, enable the circulation across, and bridge the realm of the informational and the domain of the living. In addition, it zooms in the processes of mediation and digitization as filters, enablers, manipulators and creators of information. 3. Politics This section is dedicated to examining how communication and information technologies intersect with the social. Here, politics is intended as convergence of threads and as intersection of forces. We will focus on three specific loci of convergence: Networks, Labor, and Data. INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES 1) To become familiar with, and be able to assess a variety of approaches to the study of information and communication theory 2) To achieve a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the " histories " and
2014
In this communication, we examine the concept of information culture - used preferably to information literacy - and its dynamics in the context of digital convergence. We argue that the phenomenon of digital convergence, a cultural phenomenon, brings to the foreground the social and human dimensions, it gives a central role to the actors, considered in their interactions with other people and with artifacts in their information environment. So, in a world in permanent change, information culture is much more than information literacy, in its functional and individual meaning. It is not only a matter of seeking and using information; it is a matter of creating meaning out of cultural objects which are much more than neutral objects transmitting messages and information. It includes a general reflection on the process of knowledge creation and communication.
Defining information: the site of struggle
The contemporary information context is paradoxically antipathetic to the traditional information professions, and there are indications that, in order to survive, they will need to undergo radical transformation. This would require a re-conceptualisation of the "objects" of their knowledge domain, the entities and phenomena which comprise it, and the relationships between these entities (with particular reference to the concept of "information" itself).
Science of Information: Sociological Inquiry
This paper explores the different theories of information and their impact on the outcomes, on the way societies are arranged and socially constructed. It attempts to elaborate on the politics of different theories of information. Sociology of the information and its context in the contemporary world is explored, where information is produced by different actors like people, organizations, societies, government and civil society constantly without understanding the implication and benefits. While everyone is guided by their agendas and goals, agreements and disagreements are bound to be common. Some sources are termed legitimate and reproduced, others become illegitimate, even though they represent the different corners or perspectives of the argument. The relevance is important as the valuable information is required for the closure of the arguments and debates, moving from open ended debates to conclusions, good or bad.
Information Cultures in the Digital Age
2016
His interests focus on the nature of information, and of the information sciences, digital literacy, information fl uency and the development of understanding, and documents as information resources in specifi c domains. More at http://theoccasionalinformationist .com. Coetzee Bester studied at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, where he completed studies in anthropology, a postgraduate diploma in tertiary education, and a master's degree in information science (1999). Th e study resulted in an integrated model for management of information in community development projects in Africa. From 1994-199 he served as a member of parliament in South Africa and was a member of the Constitution Writing Assembly that fi nalized the historic Constitution for South Africa. Bester currently serves as the director of the African Center of Excellence for Information Ethics (ACEIE) that is based in the Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria. His current doctoral research is on a curriculum structure to teach information ethics in Africa. Jared Bielby received a double master's degree at the University of Alberta, Canada, in information science and digital humanities with a thesis route in the fi eld of information ethics. He works as an independent consultant in information ethics and internet governance. He currently serves as co-chair for the International Center for Information Ethics and editor for the International Review of Information Ethics. He is moderator and content writer for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) Collabratec Internet Technology Policy Forum (IEEE-ETAP) and is founder and editor-in-chief of Th e Freelance Netizen. His research and writing looks at the interdisciplinary connections between information & communication technologies (ICTs) and information ethics, digital citizenship and culture. Bielby has written and spoken internationally on subjects of information ethics, internet governance and global citizenship in a digital era .