Contributions of Information Science in the Data Science Era

The acceleration of the development of digital technologies and the increase of the capillarity of their effects present new challenges to the praxis related to the treatment and informational flows and those that are object of study of information science. This chapter is based on a theoretical study that analyzes information science contributions in the data science era, analyzing from the Cynefin Framework to the new contemporary informational demands generated by the increasing predominance of data access and use. In order to establish the relationship between the skills expected from the information science professional and its relationship with access to data, the Cynefin Framework was used as a basis to establish a perspective of analyzing the skills involved in each of the phases of the life cycle of the data.

The Records Management as a Valuable Asset for Corporate Governance

The main goal of this study is to demonstrate how a management records system increase the level of organizational governance. It also shows how corporate governance interacts with record managers. With that purpose, a descriptive analysis of a qualitative, exploratory, and facetted nature is carried out based on literature and records management standards, with emphasis on the standard ISO 30301:2019 edited on records management (RM). In addition, a comparative analysis of the principles and critical factors of governance is carried out in order to compare them and systematize relations with those of the MSR. As a result, the authors seek to identify the determining critical factors and relationships, both with the most prominent elements as components of governance, and with their basic principles: openness, participation, responsibility, efficiency, and consistency. The results of the study highlight the close relationship between them and show a greater presence in the ISO 30301 standard.

Technostress

Information is a vital concept today. However, the beginning of the information age can be traced back to the periods when clay tablets were used. Information has impact on individual and corporate success. However, information overload occurs when information, whose positive characteristics are highlighted, reaches an excessive amount. Besides, information overload may cause negative consequences. Technostress and information overload, which have negative effects, need to be managed. Information management is useful to reduce the effects of information overload. It will also be possible to deal with information overload through information literacy, which can be taught to individuals. Useful information can only be obtained when these factors are taken into account.

Scientific Knowledge, Innovation, and Economic and Social Development

Discussions about innovation in the organizational context were brought up between the mid 18th and 19th centuries; since then, concepts, definitions, and classifications of innovations have been created and incorporated into the academic and organizational contexts. The understanding of such concepts is fundamental for the agents involved to realize the different possibilities for the generation and management of innovation. This chapter, based on a literature review, develops a synthesis of concepts and classifications about innovation and presents a proposal for the analysis of innovative activity based on five dimensions: degree of novelty, object, focus, scope, and development. In addition, based on the assumption that universities are characterized as the most important producer of scientific knowledge in the context of innovation systems, it analyzes the modes of knowledge production and the respective role of scientific knowledge for the generation of innovation.

The Impacts of Complexity on Knowledge Management Processes

Knowledge management has already determined its true importance and stands as a consistent, necessary, present, and concurrently futuristic process in the physical and digital environments where people are present. In the transitional economic, social, cultural, and technological contexts, given the anguish of establishing or not the information and knowledge society, it is purely remarkable that informational conflicts happen in a devastating manner, negatively affecting the producers, recipients, and makers of this world: people. Many refute the efficiency and effectiveness of the knowledge management process, with the justification that managing knowledge is impossible, since it is not palpable. On the other hand, there are those who argue that knowledge management is a process composed of activities that aim to make possible the production, availability and sharing of consistent, effective, functional, and true knowledge in environments, in order to make it available for better decision-making, since before it became known, it was necessary to deal with data and information. Therefore, knowledge management does not deal with autocracy, as it is a democratic, conscious process that is committed to the truth and that fights against misinformation, as well as against false news that contributes to people's authoritarianism, ignorance, and inferiority, precisely because untrue information will be assimilated and will result in malicious knowledge. For Edgar Morin, who defends the theory of complexity, the classic thinking of science is based on three pillars, among them order, separability, and reason. What can be inferred is that the excess of reason can become blind to the point that subjective aspects, which are also part of the process of transforming objectivity, suffer a certain negation. In addition, order and separability, during all these years, have also been responsible for the lack of synergy and interdependence that exists in corporations, organizations, social networks and people's homes. It may even sound strange to say that there is no synergy and interdependence in social networks, but this statement is precisely defended when visualizing the loneliness and despair established in these environments, justified by the eternal and constant search for acceptance and belonging, which most of the times do not becomes contemplated. Also, according to the author Edgar Morin, complex thinking does not aim to replace separability with inseparability but defends a dialogical relationship that uses separability in an inseparable context, that is, that calls for responsible action by all sectors of society here already mentioned: economic, social, cultural, scientific, and technological. Thus, this chapter aims to approach the concept of knowledge management from a more expansive perspective, which is not only in the business sphere, based on the complexity theory. As a hypothesis, having knowledge management as a concept originating from information science, the author argues that this is a scientific field that contributes to a more conscious capitalism in consumption and informational production, even because it is necessary for the control of other types of consumption, as private, public, essential, and superfluous, among others. To address the aspects of complexity in knowledge management and reflect on the referred hypothesis, a qualitative and bibliographic research was carried out.

Knowledge Management in Agro-Industrial Productive Chains

The main objective of this chapter is to foster the discussions on the perspectives and actions of knowledge management and use in agribusiness, especially in the coordination of agro-industrial production chains, or in the so-called agrifood systems, connecting agribusiness professionals and researchers under knowledge management and use in this context, without, however, ending the discussion. The adequate management of information and its rapid transfer within the agrifood system is a competitiveness factor, as trust and cooperation are elements which enhance knowledge construction, resulting in the consideration, by companies, of articulation forms, in addition to organizational boundaries. It is believed that knowledge management, applied in the production chains coordination, will have an important role in overcoming the challenges generated by the pandemic the world is going through.

Information and Document Flows in Organizational Environments

Information and document flows are essential to support all functions and activities in an organization. Information and knowledge flows in an organization are monitored; however, they are not always well managed, and members of the organization rarely perceive how and how much they contribute to their administrative processes. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze how information and document flow can be managed within an organization in a way that optimizes the access and retrieval efficiency. It is qualitative and descriptive research. The authors conclude that (a) recognition and mapping of information and document flows are fundamental for their efficient management and (b) the use of ISO records management standards such as ISO/TR 26122:2008 is the basis for formal or structured information flows. An archivist is the professional best suited to manage that flow of information, including creation, adaptation, and implementation of improvements.

Knowledge Management and Its Interrelations With Organizational Memory

In increasingly complex environments, knowledge appropriation, generation, management, use, and reuse constitute a systemic and complex process of transformation and added value for the formation of organizational memory. This study highlights the importance of processes and tools interrelated to knowledge management to enhance organizational memory actions, whose focus is on the repertoire memory, which, in turn, is based on different cognitions, collective acts and social relations. The research is qualitative, typologically descriptive, and exploratory, and constitutes a theoretical essay based on the literature published on the theme. This study is expected to contribute and enrich the theoretical framework of the scientific field of information science, more specifically concerning the interrelations of knowledge management with organizational memory, collectively constructed and linked to issues of efficiency and effectiveness, as well as evidence the relevance of the repertoire memory composed of previous knowledge and know-how for the constitution of memory organization.

Mediation of Information on Eliminating Violence Against Women

Violence against women is a central topic in the public debate in Brazil. In this way, entities and other stakeholders require flexible strategies in order to eliminate it. This chapter aims to report experiences related to an action research based on the transformative and reflexive potential of civil society groups (in Bauru city, state of São Paulo) involved in eliminating violence against women. In this sense, mediation of information is discussed in order to prioritize the elimination of gender-based violence against women. In face of outcomes, mediation of information have been used in order to explore the adaptative and dynamic nature of participatory methodologies by not only allowing reflective processes but also providing value of how all stakeholders present themselves as mediators by using their knowledge in order to mediate information.

21st Century Skills and Competences

It is remarkable how quickly social and technological transformations have been occurring since the end of the 20th century, evolving in different stages and subsequently expanded in this 21st century. These changes have been promoting new social and behavioral structures and require different skills and competences to deal with the impacts and challenges that result from them. The chapter presents a brief discussion on the importance and relevance of what skills and competencies are required in the 21st century, the definitions and concepts found in the literature, and proposes a three-dimensional view that consists of the dimensions of information, communication, and ethics and their social impact in the digital world.