The phenomenon of
INFORMATION
Nature and multifaceted
characteristics
Tefko Saracevic
Rutgers University
© Tefko Saracevic
1
What is information?
We don’t know!!
 But: What is energy, matter,
gravity, life, intelligence ... ?
 All - information included are basic phenomena
 How to study them?
All studied in terms of:
MANIFESTATIONS
BEHAVIOR
EFFECTS

© Tefko Saracevic
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Dictionary (Oxford)
INFORM:
 to form (the mind...) esp. by
imparting, learning,
instruction
 to impart knowledge of some
fact or occurrence; to tell
(one) something
INFORMATION:
 the action of informing; the
action of telling or ... being
told of something
 that of which one is apprised
or told; intelligence, news
© Tefko Saracevic
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Interpretations
Information:
 a complex phenomenon
 spectrum of views; variety of
interpretations in differing
contexts
 research in many fields from
philosophy to neuroscience
 complex relation to other
phenomena e.g. knowledge
& processes e.g.
communication
 strong intuitive & context dependent understanding
© Tefko Saracevic
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Views of information:
polarization - spectrum
One end:
Exists in
structure of
material world -would be there if
we exist or not
Inf. as a basic
phenomenon in
universe as
energy & matter
 Inf. as a basic
aspect of living
systems
Other end:
Material world
can only
become inf.
when acted
upon by a
knower

“Life is a knowledge
process”
Miller
© Tefko Saracevic
Inf. as a
cognitive
phenomenon
only
 Related to (&
restricted to)
cognitive
processes

5
Relations: increase in
complexity of cognitive
processing
Data
with
some meaning
Information  Conversion,
interpretation
Knowledge  Integration,
embedding in
private &
Wisdom/
public
insight
 Connections,
higher
interpretations
© Tefko Saracevic
 Symbols
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“Information journey”
From Data to Information to
Knowledge to
Wisdom/insight
 Increased complexity
requiring cognitive skills, past
intellectual history,
intelligence ...
 Processing into new
patterns, relationships
 Under contextual and
cultural dependency
 Interplay between private
and public knowledge RECORDS
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Scholarly treatment theories of information

Variety of theories, reflecting
– different points of view,
departure
– different focus & restrictions on
given characteristics

Restrictions provide
framework for theory,
interpretation ...
– Common approach in science
Any restriction, interpretation
has limitations, critics
 No comprehensive theory yet
 But knowledge on behavior,
effects advancing

© Tefko Saracevic
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Theories ... characteristic,
restriction emphasized

Uncertainty - inf. theory
– concentration on probability of
signals
– link to entropy
(Shanon)

Uncertainty - psychology
– contemplated actions (Rapaport)

Uncertainty - inf. science
– effects of processing (Hayes)

Truth - logic, philosophy
– propositions (Belknap & Anderson)
– sentences
(Fox)

Meaning - semantics, logic
– Texts and contexts (Bar-Hillel &
Carnap)
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Theories ...


Effectuation, feedback cybernetics
– role in communication (Wiener)
Propagation - epidemic theory
of communication
– changes in population
(Goffman)

Changes in mind - inf. science
– effect on structure (Shreider,
Belkin)


Changes in knowledge - inf.
science
– effect on knowledge (Brooks)
Decision making - management
– role in process (Yovits)
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Information: mind & brain
Cartesian dilemma





Descart: rational mind & physical
brain
Cognitive science - mind
Neurophysiology - brain
Convergence: how does brain
process information?
Theory of consciousness:
– distributive memory,
interacting systems
– regions in brain where
concepts are stored &
processed
– brain as an “indexer organizing
inf. into categories”
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Characteristics of the notion
in information science
1. Part of human cognition
2. Has a meaning, content
3. Produced by a generator
4. Recorded, any medium
5. Represented , value-added
6. In context of communication
7. Basis for social interaction
8. Requested, needed; retrieved
9. Effects the recipient (user)
10. A process - transformation ...
11. A thing, commodity; has value
(After Belkin, Buckland)
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Inf. as a PROCESS
Information is:
Expandable
– addition, change over time

Compressible
– represented, integrated ...
Transportable
– various media, speeds
Diffusive
– among populations; “leaks”

Shareable
– repeated use by many
Inf. systems use these
attributes
© Tefko Saracevic
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Inf. in inf. science ...
Information treated as with
these characteristics
 Each subject of research,
models, experimentation
 Basis for operations in inf.
systems, inf. industry
 Each related to professional
practice, education
 Technology applied to a
number
 But: at times some treated in
isolation, as if others don’t
exist - a dangerous mistake

© Tefko Saracevic
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Inf. in information science
(cont.)
Again: intuitively well understood,
but formally not well stated
– Several viewpoints, models
emerged

Shannon: source-channeldestination
– signals not content – not really
applicable

Cognitive: changes in cognitive
structures
– content processing & effects

Social: context, situation
– information seeking, tasks
© Tefko Saracevic
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Shannon's information
theory

Developed a general model
for communication systems,
and a set of theoretical tools
for analyzing such systems,
by measuring information in
terms of probabilities
(numbers)
© Tefko Saracevic
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Shannon … uncertainty

Defined information in terms of
probabilities
– developed measure of the
information we get from
observing the occurrence of an
event, BUT ignored any
particular features of the event
» e.g. flipping a fair coin once will
give us events h and t each with
probability 1/2, and thus a single
flip of a coin gives us - log2(1/2) = 1
bit (Binary digit) of information
(whether it comes up h or t)

Information measured in bits is
the reduction in uncertainty in
the mind of the receiver
 information (in bits) is the amount
of uncertainty a measure eliminates
© Tefko Saracevic
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Shannon’s impact

Had great impact in treating
of digital information as
signals
– e.g maximizing capacities of
channels; coding

Had disappointing impact
(despite many tries) where
information is connected with
meaning, context, humans,
values
– the ideal to measure
information in human terms is
elusive
– but keep trying …
© Tefko Saracevic
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Cognitive – basic idea:
K(S) + ΔI = K(S + ΔS) (Brookes)



Information when operating on a
knowledge structure produces an
effect whereby the knowledge
structure is changed
“Information is differences that
make a difference” (find who said it!)
Actually, it only states the
problem –
– “unoperational” in information systems
– involves cognitive, mental events only
– constructivists rejected it
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Inf. manifestations (Buckland)

Information as a process
– what someone knows is changed
when informed; “the action of
informing” (similar as Brookes)
» refers to cognitive changes +
process of doing it

Information as knowledge
– knowledge communicated about x
» uncertainty removal a special
case
» refers to that which is being
communicated - intangible

Information as a thing
– data, documents with quality of
imparting information - tangible
» refers to potential information
conveyed from objects
© Tefko Saracevic
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Senses of inf. in inf. science
Three senses (from narrowest to broadest)
1.
Information in terms of decision
involving little or no cognitive
processing - Shannon
–
2.
Information involving cognitive
processing & understanding Brookes
–
3.
signals, bits, straightforward data - computing,
telecommunication, economics,
understanding, matching texts
Information also as related to
context, situation, problem-at-hand,
process – Buckland to some extend
–
users, use, tasks
For information science (including information
retrieval):
third, broadest interpretation
necessary
© Tefko Saracevic
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What is in a book?

for discussion in class
© Tefko Saracevic
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Cover
page of
a book:
What is
in it?
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A
chapter
in that
book
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Here
is
also a
cover
page
of a
book:
What is
in it?
© Tefko Saracevic
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A
chapte
r in
that
book
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Adequacy?
None of the theories about
information are adequate to
cover fully information as a
phenomenon
 Each covers a bit or simply
describes manifestation
 Shannon’s theory is testable,
but reduces “information” to
signals only
 A scientific theory is one that
can be refuted – tested for
confirmation, rejection
(Popper)

© Tefko Saracevic
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Conclusions
Inf. - a complex phenomenon
but with recognizable &
definable properties
 Researched in many fields,
from many angles

– communication not good

Attributes used in many
applications & inf. systems
– often with intuitive
understanding of properties
Slow convergence of ideas
 Work on information of
increasing importance social dimensions

© Tefko Saracevic
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So we went to study

Human information behavior
 “how people need, seek,
manage, give, and use
information in different contexts”
(Pettigrew )
 many models, theories, studies
on a variety of aspects
 extends to study of web behavior

Bibliometrics
 “the
study, or measurement, of
texts and information” (Norton)
 many studies and formal
statements about structure &
patterns of literatures, citations,
authors, journals, texts …
 Bradford’s law, Lotka’s law
© Tefko Saracevic
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to be continued …
We cover these in other lectures
and courses
 and two 2005 books cover very
nicely the topics of
theories of human information
behavior
and
integration of information
seeking and information retrieval
in context

– highly recommended
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