Information and Communication

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Information and Communication

• Theories and definitionsLIS 502
• 12 Sept 08

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Outline

• Theories of Information
• Theories of communication
• Semiotics
• Codes

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Theories of Information

• Information Theory
• Information as commodity
• Cognitive interpretation
• Constructivist view

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Information Theory

• Developed by Claude Shannon, Bell Laboratories,
  1948
• Quantifies information
• Information decreases uncertainty
• Messages consist of
• Redundancy what is already known
• Entropy what is new information

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Information as commodity

• Information.a fundamental asset of the
  organization
• Requires information marketplace
• Profit motivates individuals to create more
  information
• Information like physical commodities

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Intellectual Property

• Commodity is the expression, not the idea or the
  container
• Based on notions of individual ownership
• Different philosophies of access
• Philosophy of industry vs. open access movement
  (open archives, open repositories, open digital
  libraries)

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Information as commodity..

• Some challenges
• Info can be transferred without leaving the
  possession of the original owner (issue magnified
  by electronic info)
• Info has a shelf life impacting value value
  varies with context(e.g. humanities vs.
  sciences)
• Cost of producing new info is independent of the
  scale on which that info is used. (e.g.
  development of info related to new medication or
  steel alloy)
• Notion of universal access to information leads
  to the idea of information as a public good
  rather than a commodity

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Cognitive view of information

• People have individual mental knowledge
  structures that mediate their processing of
  information
• Individuals have different cognitive structures
  and their interaction with texts provides
  different interpretations of information
• Active role for the info destination

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Brenda Dervins Information

• Information1 - objective, external reality
• Information2 - subjective, internal reality
• Information3 - information seeking creating
  behaviours information processing
• Useful theory for librarianship communication,
  not information. Drexel library quarterly 133
  (July 1977) 16-32.

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Constructivist views of information

• Information is constructed (mediated) by
• Medium
• (Marshall McLuhans The medium is the message
  calls attention to the intrinsic effect of
  communication media)
• Language (writing or talking produces/organizes
  social reality)
• Context (info becomes meaning through context)
• Meaning is actively constructed by initiators and
  interpreters (senders and receivers) importance
  of social and cultural context

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Brenda Dervins Information

• Information as an observer construct-
  Illustrated by the concept information as brick
  user as bucket. - Knowledge is viewed from an
  objectivist perspective and information
  represents knowable reality- Leads to focus on
  identifying predictors of message processing
• Information as a user construct- bucket
  becomes a thinking, self-controlling human
  being and the information- Brick becomes
  movable clay, which can be uniquely shaped by
  each user - Individuals are assumed to be
  sense-makers- Leads to focus on the situations
  that people are in and broader contexts
  influencing information seeking/use

Dervin, Brenda. 1983. Information as a user
construct The relevance of perceived information
needs to synthesis and interpretation. In
Knowledge Structure and Use Implications for
Synthesis and Interpretation. Eds. Spencer A.
Ward, and Linda J. Reed. Philadelphia Temple
University Press.
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Discussion

• Consider
• Theories of Knowledge
• Theories of Information
• Can you think of examples from your own
  experience which illustrate these theories? e.g.
  your academic or professional background, work
  settings, personal context, etc.

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Theories of communication

• Communication theory
• Semiotic
• Poststructural approach

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Communication Theory

• Shannon (1948), mathematical theory of signal
  transmission (telephones) co-authored with
  Weaver (1949) and applied theory to interpersonal
  communication.
• Linear, quantitative, technological origins
• Relates to Information Theory
• Information reduces uncertainty
• Message Redundancy Entropy

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Shannon Weavers Communication Theory
channel
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Discuss Shannon Weaver Communication Theory
model
How might the following means of communicating
information fit (or not fit) S Ws
communication model?

• Reading a textbook?
• Surfing the Internet?
• Watching a film on video/DVD?
• Interaction within a social networking site?

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Semiotics

• Study of signs
• Adds to communication theory by noting two
  elements the sign the interpretation
• Focuses on how meaning is constructed, not what
  the meaning is
• Meaning is determined by difference
• A sign's meaning and value derives through its
  difference from and relationship to other
  signs--from its relative position in the system
• Examples a word in a sentence, or shots in a
  film scene

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Sign Signifier Signified
sign
Signs take the form of words, images,
sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects
external reality
Signifier (the form which the sign takes)
Signified (the concept it represents)
No parking sign
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Different signs

• Signifier
• father
• father
• father

• Signified
• Parent figure
• Clergyman
• Supreme being

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Different signs

• Signifier
• father
• dad
• John

• Signified
• Parent figure
• Parent figure
• Parent figure

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Signified Signifier example

• The word 'Open' (when it is invested with meaning
  by someone who encounters it on a shop doorway)
  is a sign consisting of
• a signifier the word open
• a signified concept that the shop is open for
  business.

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Signifier Signified in LIS

• Relevance to LIS?
• Notion of signifier/signified important for
  organization of information.
• Signifier subject heading/indexing term
• Signified concept draw from the book/journal
  article
• Together the signifier (subject heading)
  signified (concept) represent the content of the
  book/article/etc
• Goal is to create exclusive categories
• Meaning derives from difference and relationship
  with other terms within the system

Example student http//www.library.ualberta.ca/
databases/
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Codes

• Code
• System of signs
• Organized
• Shared by a community
• Two dimensions
• Content
• Source/construction

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Types of codes Content

• Broadcast
• Simple
• Accessible to many
• Reflect dominant values
• Stress similarities

• Narrowcast
• Specialized
• Limited audience
• Reflects values of a specific group
• Stresses differences

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Codes

• Examples of broadcast and narrowcast codes or
  services?

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Types of codes Source/construction

• Conventional codes- derive from shared
  experiences- dynamic, evolving- evolves out of
  usage
• Arbitrary codes- explicitly agreed upon- set up
  all at once as a system - static, usually
  standardized

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Poststructural approach

• Communication as constructed and constructing
  communication as the agent of discourses
• Any system has limits that include some and
  exclude others (Drucilla Cornell, The Philosophy
  of the Limit)
• Therefore, communication systems always have
  limitations

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Philosophy of the Limit
INSIDE the ONE
the constructed Limit
outside the Other
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Philosophy of the Limit
the ONE has a relation of responsibility to the
Other
a permeable Limit
the Other may or may not choose to relate to the
system
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Who is other in LIS

• In information venues (e.g. a library, the
  internet) who is included? Who is excluded?
• Are the codes we use to organize information
  resources in libraries broadcast or narrowcast?

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Knowledge Information
Communication
Knowledge
Information
Cognition
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information
analysis
translation
database
standards
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queries
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information
create surrogates
analysis
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standards
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information
analysis
create surrogates
translation
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information
analysis
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standards
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information
analysis
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information
LIS 502
analysis
translation
database
standards
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