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Sample Chapter from Introductory Concepts in Info Science, 2Nd Chapter 1 Information and Information Science Melanie J. Norton Information science has deep historical roots accented with significant contro- versy and conflicting views, from the definition of “information” to the scope of the topic to identifying the appropriate practitioners to the development and implementation of methodologies. Traditional disputes about the appropriate discipline position for information science study include computer science, management, economics, librarianship, and others that all lay some claim to the study and correctly so. The concepts of this science may be at the heart of many disciplines, but the emergence of a spe- cific discipline of information science has been limited to the 20th century. Pro- tracted discussion about the definition of information, knowledge, communication, and uncertainty has created insights into the complexities of human information behaviors and the information scientist may be the best demonstrator of the sci- ence. Who the information scientists are may not even be relevant. While gain- ing recognition that this thing, “information,” may play critical roles in our social and intellectual activities, we have overlooked the resulting depth of its integration into our existence and neglected to realize the impact it has on us as we study it. As we have gained information and knowledge about the topic, we have ignored how such progress alters our knowledgebase. While studying information, the thing that changes us most, we have become resistant to the notion of change in our view of it. Traditional disciplinary boundaries cannot absolutely control information and its sciences. This chapter presents a grandiose view of information that encourages the discussion of information in all its possible roles; this chapter also offers a brief 1 2 Introductory Concepts in Information Science historical foundation of information science to provide a time frame for this dis- cussion. The foundation is not comprehensive—that would require volumes— but the discussion highlights some situations and people who contributed to the development of information science today. Because there are many disciplines that contribute to this field, it is not possible to identify all the key figures. The Grandest View of Information and Information Science Information science is a study that reflects the accumulation of events and thought springing from humankind’s hunger for information. As we strive to better understand the world that surrounds us and to control it, we have a vora- cious appetite for information. We also crave to understand this component of ourselves and our world in terms of information and information hunger. As such, many fields have improved and will continue to contribute to improving our understanding of this aspect of our character and the implications of its transformations upon us. If information science is concerned with all aspects, properties, and behav- iors of information as suggested by Borko’s synthesis of Robert S. Taylor’s three definitions of information science (Borko, 1968), then it certainly involves all disciplines at some level. Information could actually be construed as “existing” back to the first exchange or recombination of chemicals in the primordial ooze. Though the image may seem exaggerated, it suggests the depth and scope of information as an element in our existence, from birth to death and across the generations. The study of information and its aspects, behaviors, and properties could theoretically have started long before clay tablets and papyrus. The case could be made that early philosophers were seeking to understand information as they attempted to derive meaning from the world (Debons, 1990). It does not appear far-fetched to consider the observations of daily life as a form of infor- mation gathering, exchange, and implementation, though it seems almost too fundamental to consider. Do observations qualify as science? This is also open to debate. In discussing prescientific times, Heilprin referred to Plato’s conclu- sions that our senses could not be relied upon: “It took centuries of mostly celes- tial observations by great thinkers such as Copernicus and Galileo to render sense perception acceptable” (1995, p. 575). It took centuries of observers—sci- entists of all kinds—gathering, reporting, and debating information before we would accept what we saw for what it seemed to be and not what some govern- ing body, generally a religious body of some form, told us it must be; deter- mining that the stars moved about in the sky not necessarily around the Earth as the center of all things undermined various religious theories. Forms of obser- vation have been the basis of most early science. Consider Newton, Darwin, or Mendel, as well as Copernicus and Galileo. It was what they observed as well as what they interpreted the observations to be that formed the basis for further exploration and developing knowledge. Where would science be without the observations and mental work of these early scientists? The observations, the Information and Information Science 3 transactions, and the implementation of behaviors may be the subjects of study and reveal information at some level in the social or physical organism; this “forms the very basis of life” (Debons et al., 1988, p. 9). Information has been compared to energy and matter as a fundamental element (Otten and Debons, 1970). The science, the efforts to understand and study information, came long after the observations of information began. If information science studies and inves- tigates all the properties, aspects, and behavior of information, then it is con- cerned with virtually everything known, thought, considered, espoused, and imagined at some point. If, as Bates suggested in 1999, the definition of infor- mation is limited to what is “recorded” (Bates, 1999, p. 1048), the topic becomes more manageable but much less reflective of the formation of infor- mation and the characteristics that influence much of its interpretation and han- dling. Information is not bound to one medium of transport, and it is not limited to one form of expression or even interpretation. “What is information?” is the question that bedevils. Information is an essential aspect of our existence that we have yet to be completely comfortable explaining. Our understanding of our total environment—physical, emotional, intellectual, current, and historical—is perpetually changing. As information seems to be the thread linking us to every- thing else, it would make sense as our perception of knowledge changes so should our sense of information. Information is more than recorded words and languages; it comprises images, music, light, and any entity that interacts as largely as in concert with the universe or as minutely as subatomic particles. Information completely surrounds us, yet we continue to create, accumulate, evaluate, manipulate, and integrate even more information. Information is something we ignore, we are not conscious of at all times, and we do not always accept or integrate. As you read these words, there are an enormous number of information sources available to you, consciously and unconsciously. Your body is receiving information about the room you are in: the level of light, room temperature, humidity, and airflow. Your body may also be receiving information from the previous occupants of the room via odors, dander, and such. Your body is work- ing with this information, generally without your awareness until the informa- tion has some impact upon your system, such as overheating, allergic reaction, and chills—all responses to the information your body is receiving. At the point you become conscious of the information, you may decide to ignore it or con- sciously react to it. Due to physical limitations, you may not be able to exert any control over how your body interprets the information and its reactions, such as perspiring, sneezing, raising a rash, getting goose bumps, or worse, all from information you were possibly not conscious of receiving or sending. It seems obvious that information is an essential element in the formation of all things, whether societies, human beings, or sciences. All that we are now was built on the previous use of information to create our societies, cultures, reli- gions, machines, and knowledge. So information science is the study of all of 4 Introductory Concepts in Information Science these, at least in some respect. There are characteristics about this progression that require some mention. It has taken thousands of years of evolution of humanity and cultures to reach today. Puzzling out the meaning of life has sometimes been no more than trying to survive. Making sense of the dark and the day, as well as the changing seasons, developing group identity, and defin- ing the boundaries for hunting and gathering, all these took time, much longer than any of us will ever live or imagine accurately. Each small piece of infor- mation, which had some value or supposed value, was kept and passed on, sometimes building upon previous information. Much information was also missed, not gathered, not retained, and not believed. As one group warred with and destroyed another, all too often the information and knowledge of the defeated group was lost. The truth is that the complexity of understanding how early humankind came to interpret the universe around them is beyond our com- prehension. Today, we are born into a world filled with more information, more conflict, and more structure than any of our predecessors. We cannot imagine not having a past, just as we cannot readily grasp the future. Somehow human- ity examined the world in which it lived and began to develop mechanisms to cope with the unexplainable, which involved almost everything for many cen- turies. Curiosity and observation led to possible explanations, impossible sto- ries, and entrenched beliefs. New tools have expanded our vision and our horizons. Telescopes, satellites, and space vehicles help us to look not just beyond the edge of the map, but light years away.
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