Foundations for Science of Information: Reflection on the Method of Inquiry

The paper considers necessary conditions for establishing information science as a scientific autonomous disci- pline. The lack of a commonly accepted definition of information is not as threatening as it may seem, as each study within the discipline may choose an own definition, as well as an own philosophical framework, when there are some alternatives to choose between. More important is the development of a common methodology of inquiry and some range of standard questions regarding the concept of information. Also, it is important to develop some standards of inquiry, which would make information scientific studies accessible to philosophical analysis and reflection. In turn, contributions of information science to the resolution of problems identified within philosophy will give the best measure of maturity for information sci- ence as a discipline.

Information as a construction

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science ◽

10.1177/0961000619841657 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 52 (2) ◽

pp. 620-630 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Boris Bosancic ◽

Marta Matijevic

Keyword(s):

Communication Theory ◽

Information Science ◽

Review Paper ◽

Library And Information Science ◽

Socially Constructed ◽

The Difference ◽

Definition Of ◽

Definition Of Information ◽

Concept Of Information

The purpose of this review paper is to outline the constructivist approach to the notion of information from two perspectives. The first perspective explores the role of ‘constructed’ information in the ‘constructivist niche’ – a common name for the appropriate viewpoints in different science fields, such as cognitive and neuroscience, psychology, cybernetics and biology of cognition. The second perspective considers library and information science (LIS) papers in which information is treated as a constructed entity. This paper assumed the origin of the notion of information to be a construction as defined in the ‘constructivist niche’ that is based upon communication theory and cybernetics. Conversely, the origin of the notion of information as a construction as per LIS can be found in Bateson’s definition of information as a ‘difference which makes the difference,‘ as well as in the 1970s LIS definition wherein information is associated with the direction of a cognitive viewpoint, as in a ‘cognitive turn’. The study showed that ‘information as a construction‘, except in a few cases, did not play a significant role in the constructivist theories nor in LIS. LIS researchers reduce the concept of information to a subjective, socially-constructed entity which inherently results in different interpretations.

The scope of the concept of information and the future of information science

Journal of information and organizational sciences ◽

10.31341/jios.43.1.5 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 73-98

Author(s):

Jiří Tomáš Stodola

Keyword(s):

Classical Logic ◽

Conceptual Analysis ◽

Information Science ◽

Methodological Problem ◽

Main Method ◽

The Future ◽

Definition Of ◽

Concept Of Information

The key concept of information science is the concept of information which is tied to a number of complications. The main problem is that there is no definition of this concept. The purpose of this article is an analysis of the concept of information from the position of classical logic. The main method of the article is a conceptual analysis. First, we briefly deal with the overview of the concepts of information, with concepts and their definition as such and with the scope of the concept of information. Then, we provide an analysis of 31 important definitions of the concept of information which were developed within the scope of information science and related fields, and we consider relations between the concept of information and the concepts in other disciplines. Conceptual analysis of the concept of information leads to the conclusion that information is probably a concept that somehow addresses the entire reality, thus that it is a term, which is in the classical logic described as transcendental. This fact, in the view of the fact that information science is a special field, seems to be a serious methodological problem. Problems associated with the broadness of the concept of information have three possible solutions: transformation of information science into the universal science, narrowing the concept of information to a special term, or replacement of the concept of information by a different one. At the end of the article, we briefly point out our solution to the problem.

Information als Prozess

tripleC Communication Capitalism & Critique Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society ◽

10.31269/triplec.v8i2.208 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 310-350 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Diether Elstner

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Information Science ◽

Stable States ◽

Definition Of ◽

Concept Of Information ◽

Enormous Number ◽

Logical Impossibility

A unified definition of the phenomenon information is not possible at present, because of the enormous number of different views. The situation is increased by the 'Capurro‘s trilemma' which postulates the logical impossibility of a unified concept of information. There are two approaches in the literature, which aim to solve the trilemma. The first approach avoids collision with the trilemma through the introduction of a generalized parameter to form rules of language for information systems. The second approach is understood as a draft of a generalized understanding of information within a yet to be developed unified information science. This article presents the approach of understanding information as an instantaneous process, which effects changes in systems. These changes must be captured and reproduced by the organization of the system, otherwise they get lost by fluctuations. Information in this reductionist conception is possible in each system, under the assumption, that it has several stable states, which alternatively may be assumed by the system . The 'Capurro‘s trilemma' is negated.

The nature of information

Journal of Information Science ◽

10.1177/016555157900100103 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 13-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

J. Farradane

Keyword(s):

Information Retrieval ◽

Mental State ◽

Information Science ◽

Social Reactions ◽

Retrieval Systems ◽

Information Retrieval Systems ◽

Nature Of Information ◽

Definition Of ◽

Definition Of Information

Starting from the definition of 'information' as a physical surrogate of knowledge (i.e. a spoken or written record), its relation to the originator, and its transformations on com munication to a recipient, and the recipient's mental state and possibly physical (social) reactions to it, are discussed. The transformations of 'information' in information retrieval systems are also considered. It is argued that this is the essen tial basis for developing a true information science.

Social information

Transinformação ◽

10.1590/s0103-37862013000200006 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 151-157

Author(s):

Luiz Fernando de Barros Campos

Keyword(s):

Social Information ◽

Face To Face ◽

Information Displays ◽

Definition Of ◽

Definition Of Information ◽

Concept Of Information ◽

Types Of Information ◽

Social Orders ◽

Material Information ◽

Pragmatic Aspects

Based on Erving Goffman's work, the article aims to discuss a definition of information centered on the type conveyed by individuals in a multimodal way, encompassing language and body in situations of co-presence, where face-to-face interaction occurs, and influencing inter-subjective formation of the self. Six types of information are highlighted: material information, expressive information, ritualized information, meta-information, strategic information, and information displays. It is argued that the construction of this empirical object tends to dissolve the tension among material, cognitive and pragmatic aspects, constituting an example of the necessary integration among them. Some vulnerable characteristics of the theory are critically mentioned and it is suggested that the concept of information displays could provide a platform to approach the question of the interaction order in its relations with the institutional and social orders, and consequently, to reassess the scope of the notion of social information analyzed.

A New Concept of Information Based on Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Its Experimental Verification

10.21203/rs.3.rs-654447/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Frank Z. Wang

Keyword(s):

Uncertainty Principle ◽

Energy Input ◽

Information Storage ◽

Binary Information ◽

Newton’S Cradle ◽

Definition Of ◽

Information Energy ◽

Definition Of Information ◽

Concept Of Information ◽

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle

Abstract This study is the first use of Heisenberg's energy-time uncertainty principle to define information quantitatively from a measuring perspective: the smallest error in any measurement is a bit of information, i.e., 1 (bit)=(2∆E ∆t)⁄ℏ. If the input energy equals the Landauer bound, the time needed to write a bit of information is 1.75x10-14 s. Newton's cradle was used to experimentally verify the information-energy-mass equivalences deduced from the aforementioned concept. It was observed that the energy input during the creation of a bit of (binary) information is stored in the information carrier in the form of the doubled momentum or the doubled “momentum mass” (mass in motion) in both classical position-based and modern orientation-based information storage. Furthermore, the experiments verified our new definition of information in the sense that the higher the energy input is, the shorter the time needed to write a bit of information is. Our study may help understand the fundamental concept of information and the deep physics behind it.

Information Challenges and Opportunities

Strategic Management of Business-Critical Information Assets - Advances in Information Quality and Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-8410-0.ch001 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1-21

Keyword(s):

Information Science ◽

Capital Asset ◽

Working Definition ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Information Assets ◽

Definition Of ◽

Definition Of Information

Drawing from the discipline of information science, this chapter presents a working definition of information. This chapter explains how information is a capital asset and how those assets can generate positive value or negative liabilities. The challenges of managing information assets are also considered. This chapter begins to lay out the argument for thinking strategically about information assets.

Information als Prozess

tripleC Communication Capitalism & Critique Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society ◽

10.31269/vol8iss2pp310-350 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 310-350

Author(s):

Diether Elstner

Keyword(s):

Information Systems ◽

Information Science ◽

Stable States ◽

Definition Of ◽

Concept Of Information ◽

Enormous Number ◽

Logical Impossibility

A unified definition of the phenomenon information is not possible at present, because of the enormous number of different views. The situation is increased by the 'Capurro‘s trilemma' which postulates the logical impossibility of a unified concept of information. There are two approaches in the literature, which aim to solve the trilemma. The first approach avoids collision with the trilemma through the introduction of a generalized parameter to form rules of language for information systems. The second approach is understood as a draft of a generalized understanding of information within a yet to be developed unified information science. This article presents the approach of understanding information as an instantaneous process, which effects changes in systems. These changes must be captured and reproduced by the organization of the system, otherwise they get lost by fluctuations. Information in this reductionist conception is possible in each system, under the assumption, that it has several stable states, which alternatively may be assumed by the system . The 'Capurro‘s trilemma' is negated.

What is information?

Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences ◽

10.1098/rsta.2015.0060 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 374 (2063) ◽

pp. 20150060 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Marcello Barbieri

Keyword(s):

Complex Form ◽

Molecular Machines ◽

Point Of View ◽

Natural Order ◽

Definition Of ◽

Definition Of Information ◽

Concept Of Information ◽

Coding Rules ◽

Transfer Of Information ◽

Ontological Problem

Molecular biology is based on two great discoveries: the first is that genes carry hereditary information in the form of linear sequences of nucleotides; the second is that in protein synthesis a sequence of nucleotides is translated into a sequence of amino acids, a process that amounts to a transfer of information from genes to proteins. These discoveries have shown that the information of genes and proteins is the specific linear order of their sequences. This is a clear definition of information and there is no doubt that it reflects an experimental reality. What is not clear, however, is the ontological status of information, and the result is that today we have two conflicting paradigms in biology. One is the ‘chemical paradigm’, the idea that ‘life is chemistry’, or, more precisely, that ‘life is an extremely complex form of chemistry’. The other is the ‘information paradigm’, the view that chemistry is not enough, that ‘life is chemistry plus information’. This implies that there is an ontological difference between information and chemistry, a difference which is often expressed by saying that information-based processes like heredity and natural selection simply do not exist in the world of chemistry. Against this conclusion, the supporters of the chemical paradigm have argued that the concept of information is only a linguistic metaphor, a word that summarizes the result of countless underlying chemical reactions. The supporters of the information paradigm insist that information is a real and fundamental component of the living world, but have not been able to prove this point. As a result, the chemical view has not been abandoned and the two paradigms both coexist today. Here, it is shown that a solution to the ontological problem of information does exist. It comes from the idea that life is artefact-making , that genes and proteins are molecular artefacts manufactured by molecular machines and that artefacts necessarily require sequences and coding rules in addition to the quantities of physics and chemistry. More precisely, it is shown that the production of artefacts requires new observables that are referred to as nominable entities because they can be described only by naming their components in their natural order. From an ontological point of view, in conclusion, information is a nominable entity, a fundamental but not-computable observable.