Information Science Theory Research Articles

Health Misinformation Research

ABSTRACTHealth misinformation research has dramatically increased since the start of the COVID‐19 pandemic, although not all of this work has taken advantage of the rich theoretical and methodological background information science as a discipline has to contribute. This panel presentation will feature information scientists conducting health misinformation research from and in various settings, to showcase the value and range of information science approaches to health misinformation research. Each panelist will describe their work in the area of understanding and/or addressing health misinformation in institutions such as libraries and schools, health systems and interventions such as vaccination or public health promotion, or the general public in their online or offline information environments. Presentations will also highlight the ways researchers are applying information science theory, methods, and/or approaches to health misinformation topics, as well as lessons panelists have learned through this work. The panel will conclude with an interactive audience discussion that will center on the ways in which information science can help understand and address health misinformation challenges around the world.

Digital Preservation Strategies for Cultural Heritage in North Africa in Egypt

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate the digital preservation strategies for cultural heritage in North Africa. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Digital preservation strategies for cultural heritage in North Africa emphasize robust technological infrastructure, collaborative initiatives among stakeholders, capacity building for local professionals in digital curation and metadata management, effective policy frameworks addressing copyright and intellectual property issues, and public engagement through cultural education and virtual exhibitions. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Social constructivism, information science theory & postcolonial theory may be used to anchor future studies on digital preservation strategies for cultural heritage in North Africa. Establish comprehensive guidelines for digital preservation that encompass diverse cultural heritage materials, including manuscripts, archaeological artifacts, oral histories, and visual arts. Advocate for the development of integrated national and regional policies on digital preservation, supported by sustainable funding mechanisms and public-private partnerships.

Evolutionary Computation in bioinformatics: A survey

Bioinformatics is a subject that studies life phenomena by using mathematical and information science theories and techniques. Its main tasks, such as DNA sequence comparison, protein structure prediction and cell metabolism analysis, can be regarded as complex optimization problems with different characteristics. Evolutionary computing is a kind of global optimization algorithm inspired by nature. Over the years, scholars have accumulated fruitful results in solving complex optimization problems such as large-scale, dynamic, multi-modal, multi-objective and multi-constrained problems by using Evolutionary Computation algorithms, and have successfully applied to the above optimization tasks in bioinformatics. This paper mainly summarizes the work of Evolutionary Computation technologies in bioinformatics from 2019 to 2023 at multiple levels, including Genomics, Proteomics, metabolomics and molecular networks related optimization tasks, as well as further applications in disease diagnosis and drug development.

ТЕОРІЯ ПОВІДОМЛЕНЬ ТА ЇХ ТИПОЛОГІЯ

The general scientific, interdisciplinary problem of building the concept of message theory is solved. Accordingly, the object of research is all possible types of messages that function in the real world both within any cybernetic systems and between them. The subject of research is axioms, laws, structure, attributes, characteristics, typology, as well as operations on messages. The purpose of the article is to develop the concept of the theory of messages as a component of such universal sciences as the theory of mass communication, information science and cybernetics. Analysis, synthesis, idealization, logical method, and generalization were used among research methods. In addition to methods, the research also used techniques such as systematization and typology (typologization). The article is written in the style of a review, theoretical genre. The literature review analyzed 22 sources, including the world's most famous encyclopedic editions and dictionaries in the fields of journalism, mass communication theory, and cybernetics. In the obtained results, it is determined that a message is a fragment (a part that has a beginning and an end) of data of a cybernetic system, which (a) is a tuple, (b) is located in time or space, and (c) is intended to transmit information from the sender (source ) to its recipient (recipient). Features of creation, meaning and meaning of messages are determined. The structure of messages and types of their context are considered. It is noted that any kind of messages can be represented in an idealized digital form as a chain of 0 and 1. Six axioms are considered as the basis of the concept of message theory. Within this concept, six laws are distinguished. Five attributes of messages, as well as seven of their main characteristics, are considered. Among the types of messages, informative (9 types) and non-informative (also 9 types) are highlighted. In addition, formal (non-meaningful, 13 items) and informal (meaningful, 9 items) operations performed on messages are indicated.

Newspapers in national languages in Télé-Congo

In this research, we focus on national-language newspapers broadcast on Télé-Congo. Indeed, the Congolese public channel is presented as one of the means of mass communication for the promotion of these languages. The aim of this article is to assess the contribution of national-language newspapers to the construction of Congolese identity. The method applied in our study is based on questionnaires in social networks and among journalists in national languages. We use information science theory to analyze newspapers in national languages. Our results show that content in national languages makes an indispensable contribution to the construction of Congolese national identity. However, the discrimination suffered by national languages, hinterland content and the institutionalization of television subjects are revealed as the realities of this public medium. Keywords: Languages, national languages, national identity, television, newspaper

The identity of information science

PurposeThis paper offers a definition of the core of information science, which encompasses most research in the field. The definition provides a unique identity for information science and positions it in the disciplinary universe.Design/methodology/approachAfter motivating the objective, a definition of the core and an explanation of its key aspects are provided. The definition is related to other definitions of information science before controversial discourse aspects are briefly addressed: discipline vs. field, science vs. humanities, library vs. information science and application vs. theory. Interdisciplinarity as an often-assumed foundation of information science is challenged.FindingsInformation science is concerned with how information is manifested across space and time. Information is manifested to facilitate and support the representation, access, documentation and preservation of ideas, activities, or practices, and to enable different types of interactions. Research and professional practice encompass the infrastructures – institutions and technology –and phenomena and practices around manifested information across space and time as its core contribution to the scholarly landscape. Information science collaborates with other disciplines to work on complex information problems that need multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to address them.Originality/valueThe paper argues that new information problems may change the core of the field, but throughout its existence, the discipline has remained quite stable in its central focus, yet proved to be highly adaptive to the tremendous changes in the forms, practices, institutions and technologies around and for manifested information.

“I saw a cool bird today”

This exploratory study examines the ways in which birders “read” nature while birdwatching. Looking (figuratively) through the binoculars lens of embodiment, it explores questions about how birders interact with nature as an information source and what role the senses play in their information experiences. Three non-professional female birders were interviewed using the information horizon (IH) technique, a method that elicits both visual and verbal data. Using an inductive thematic approach, the study finds that the practice of birding relies first and foremost on purposeful sensory attention and that established tools such as field guides and lists can become part of the corporeal experience. Further, it suggests that bodily experience—not definitive species identification—represents the key object of the overall activity. Utilizing insights from library and information science (LIS) and sociological theories, the study presents a new illustrative model of the “birding cycle of knowledge” in which embodiment acts as the anchor and gateway to navigating an informationally-rich world. Finally, a larger, in situ investigation of the social aspects of embodiment in birding is identified as a future research opportunity.

Study on the Construction of the Evaluation Index System of Rural Revitalization in the New Era Based on Big Data Analysis

Under the background of the new era of comprehensively promoting rural revitalization, based on the main points of the Strategic Plan for Rural Revitalization (2018-2022), this paper uses the theory of literature and information science to obtain the evaluation indicators of rural revitalization, and combines the analytic hierarchy process and Delphi expert scoring method to establish the indicator system, obtaining five first level indicators and 20 second level indicators. The result of indicator weight shows that industrial prosperity is still an important indicator of rural revitalization that cannot be ignored, but it is necessary to formulate evaluation criteria for indicators at all levels according to local conditions, and reasonably guide rural revitalization to achieve efficient and sustainable development.

Critical Race Theory in Library and Information Science (LIS) Education

On its surface the library and information science (LIS) profession is open and supportive of efforts to bring about social justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values into the professional practice. This is evidenced by statements such as the American Library Association’s (ALA) Code of Ethics which specifically mention “…to recognize and dismantle systemic and individual biases, to confront inequality and oppression...” Although statements like this represent a good start, all too often they remain at an abstract level without the corresponding practical application or strategic management elements which are necessary to enact them in day-to-day professional practice. This enactment is an essential component, if the profession has intentions to bring about social justice applications into practice. Social justice seeks to find ways in which societies can eliminate the systems and barriers that create unearned privilege and marginalization, while upholding human rights (Cooke et al., 2016).
 One way to seek social justice in Library and Information Science (LIS) is to incorporate the principles of Critical Race Theory (CRT). CRT, which originated in critical legal studies, and has been adapted to many social science fields, is a movement which seeks to explore the role of racism and its effects on society. It is an intellectual framework aimed at explaining the real situations that affect the lives of members of minoritized groups and helps bring about revised social and systemic structures which can ameliorate the detrimental effects of racism and racist systems for these groups. CRT is rooted in certain principles which frame explorations of racism in modern day societies.
 These principles include notions such as that racism is ordinary and not aberrational, that race is a purely social phenomenon, and that due to differences in their experiences with oppression, members of marginalized groups are better equipped to communicate their experiences than their white counterparts (Delgado and Stefancic, 2017). Despite of the soundness of its arguments, CRT has been the target of many attacks which have moved to the political arena with at least 16 states reporting legislation intent on banning the teaching of CRT in public institutions of higher learning. This presentation will focus on the potential role of CRT in enriching the move towards a pedagogy focused on social justice.
 This session will present two panels. The first panel will discuss the principles of critical race theory in LIS and present valuable educational resources on the topic (Presenters: Dr. Nicole Cooke, Dr. Mónica Colón-Aguirre, Ms. Cearra Harris). The second panel will discuss specific practices taken on by members of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) recent work to center Blackness and social justice in LIS education in their organization’s efforts to occupy space and explore how U.S. librarians are taught, trained, and understood (Presenters: Dr. Ana Ndumu, BCALA Breaking Barriers Project co-PI, Dr. Shaundra Walker, BCALA Breaking Barriers Project co-PI, Shauntee Burns-Simpson, 2020-2022 BCALA President, Nichelle M. Hayes, 2022-2024 BCALA President).

Information Literacy is a Social Practice

The field of information literacy (IL) suffers from a gap between theory and practice, meaning that librarians, as practitioners, do not adequately use and apply the theory of information science in their work (Hider et al., 2019; Julien et al., 2013; Nguyen & Hider, 2018). Specifically, IL is theorized as a social practice, yet practitioners appear to adopt a skills-based approach to IL. As an answer to this theory-to-practice gap, a grounded theory study found that seeing information literacy as a social practice is a threshold concept for academic instruction librarians. This dissertation study employed focus groups and semi structured solicited diary prompts to explore the fit of this threshold concept with the experiences of academic librarians.
 The central research question for this study was: To what extent, if any, does the proposed threshold concept describe librarians’ beliefs about information literacy as a social practice? Qualitative content analysis of the focus group transcripts and the diary entries found that the threshold concept required a slight revision in order to accurately describe librarians’ beliefs about information literacy as a social practice. Where the initial version of the threshold concept had one arrow indicating "tensions" that prevent librarians from teaching IL as a social practice, the revised version contains an opposing arrow indicating "supports" that help librarians to deliver IL from a social practice standpoint. The role of skills and practices in IL instruction were investigated. Findings from this study have implications for LIS educators, library administrators, and practicing academic instruction librarians.

Semantic Search System for Common Cultural Traditions of the Greater Mekong Subregion

This article presents the development of a semantic search system for the common cultural traditions of the Greater Mekong Subregion, which has been studied using common cultural tradition data from Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Our system presents the implementation of semantic search to solve the problem of semantic gaps in common cultural characteristic concepts for information access and retrieval. The field of cultural heritage management represents a growing area of research that contains valuable information for users, researchers, and domain experts. Finding information on traditions or cultures of interest among unstructured materials requires a laborious search process. In this paper, we demonstrate how to extract semantic entities and relationships represented in the information using the theory of information science, specifically the Knowledge Organization (KO) approach, which involves determining the concepts and semantic relations of a particular issue and establishing their relations with relevant concepts. It serves as a foundation for knowledge structure development and ontology development, which contribute to effective information searching and knowledge access. The system was developed based on systematic ontology using the Hozo Ontology Editor and Database and ontology mapping using the Ontology Application Management (OAM) framework, which helps distinguish between relevant and irrelevant data, thereby leading to search effectiveness. To cut down on the time wasted in browsing and searching, reduce associated user frustration, and support the research of domain experts, more selective user access is needed.

Anisotropic coding metasurfaces and their active manipulation based on vanadium dioxide for multifunctional applications in the terahertz region.

Various kinds of metasurfaces have been proposed because they can be tailored to achieve the desired modulations on electromagnetic wave that do not occur in nature. Compared to conventional metamaterials, coding metasurfaces integrated with information science theory possess numerous distinctive advantages - simple design, time-saving and compatibility with digital devices. Here we propose terahertz multifunctional anisotropic reflective metasurfaces with a metal-insulator-metal cavity structure whose top constructional layer consists of a pair of gold arc-rings and a gold cut-wire located between them. Two different functions of narrow-band absorption and broadband polarization conversion are realized based on different coding matrices using the binary codes '0' and '1'. Furthermore, we integrate a specific coding metasurface with vanadium dioxide (VO2) to realize a temperature-controlled active metasurface. Through the temperature change, dynamic functionalities switching between a narrow-band polarization converter with a polarization conversion ratio over 94% and an efficient low-pass filter are achieved under the phase transition of VO2, and the active metasurface is polarization independent. The proposed coding metasurfaces are verified numerically and experimentally, and have promising applications in terahertz modulation and functional devices.

Funkcja, działalność i usługi informacyjne – terminy z zakresu bibliologii i informatologii na polu archiwistyki

This article is a continuation of research and a deeper study of archivists’ current understanding of concepts drawn from bibliology and information science theory. Starting with a discussion of the similarities between these academic disciplines, the following terms will be discussed: the informational function, informational activities, and informational services of archives. In order to distinguish between them, the author traced the context in which they have so far appeared in bibliological, informological, and archival literature, even without the accompanying adjective “informational”. The result of such an analysis is the definition of these terms for archival science and a precise delineation of the boundaries between them.

Sender vs. recipient-orientated information systems revisited

PurposeBelkin and Robertson (1976a) reflected on the ethical implications of theoretical research in information science and warned that there was potential for abuse of knowledge gained by undertaking such research and applying it to information systems. In particular, they identified the domains of advertising and political propaganda that posed particular problems. The purpose of this literature review is to revisit these ideas in the light of recent events in global information systems that demonstrate that their fears were justified.Design/methodology/approachThe authors revisit the theory in information science that Belkin and Robertson used to build their argument, together with the discussion on ethics that resulted from this work in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The authors then review recent literature in the field of information systems, specifically information retrieval, social media and recommendation systems that highlight the problems identified by Belkin and Robertson.FindingsInformation science theories have been used in conjunction with empirical evidence gathered from user interactions that have been detrimental to both individuals and society. It is argued in the paper that the information science and systems communities should find ways to return control to the user wherever possible, and the ways to achieve this are considered.Research limitations/implicationsThe ethical issues identified require a multidisciplinary approach with research in information science, computer science, information systems, business, sociology, psychology, journalism, government and politics, etc. required. This is too large a scope to deal with in a literature review, and we focus only on the design and implementation of information systems (Zimmer, 2008a) through an information science and information systems perspective.Practical implicationsThe authors argue that information systems such as search technologies, social media applications and recommendation systems should be designed with the recipient of the information in mind (Paisley and Parker, 1965), not the sender of that information.Social implicationsInformation systems designed ethically and with users in mind will go some way to addressing the ill effects typified by the problems for individuals and society evident in global information systems.Originality/valueThe authors synthesize the evidence from the literature to provide potential technological solutions to the ethical issues identified, with a set of recommendations to information systems designers and implementers.

Artificial Intelligence: A Child’s Play

We discuss the objectives of any endeavor in creating artificial intelligence, AI, and provide a possible alternative. Intelligence might be an unintended consequence of curiosity left to roam free, best exemplified by a frolicking infant. This suggests that our attempts at AI could have been misguided. What we actually need to strive for can be termed artificial curiosity, AC, and intelligence happens as a consequence of those efforts. For this unintentional yet welcome aftereffect to set in a foundational list of guiding principles needs to be present. We start with the intuition for this line of reasoning and formalize it with a series of definitions, assumptions, ingredients, models and iterative improvements that will be necessary to make the incubation of intelligence a reality. Our discussion provides conceptual modifications to the Turing Test and to Searle’s Chinese room argument. We discuss the future implications for society as AI becomes an integral part of life.We provide a road-map for creating intelligence with the technical parts relegated to the appendix so that the article is accessible to a wide audience. The central techniques in our formal approach to creating intelligence draw upon tools and concepts widely used in physics, cognitive science, psychology, evolutionary biology, statistics, linguistics, communication systems, pattern recognition, marketing, economics, finance, information science and computational theory highlighting that solutions for creating artificial intelligence have to transcend the artificial barriers between various fields and be highly multi-disciplinary.

Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics: A Book Review.

Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics: A Book Review.

Information flow in context-dependent hierarchical Bayesian inference

ABSTRACT Recent theories developing broad notions of context and its effects on inference are becoming increasingly important in fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, information science and quantum information theory and computing. Here we introduce a novel and general approach to the characterisation of contextuality using the techniques of Chu spaces and Channel Theory viewed as general theories of information flow. This involves introducing three essential components into the formulism: events, conditions and measurement systems. Incorporating these factors in relationship to conditional probabilities leads to information flows both in the setting of Chu spaces and Channel Theory. The latter provides a representation of semantic content using local logics from which conditionals can be derived. We employ these features to construct cone-cocone diagrams, commutativity of which enforces inferential coherence. With these we build a scale-free architecture incorporating a Bayesian-like hierarchical structure, in which there is an interpretation of active inference and Markov blankets. We compare this architecture with other theories of contextuality which we briefly review. We also show that this development of ideas conveniently accommodates negative probabilities, leading to the notion of signed information flow, and address how quantum contextuality can be interpreted within this model. Finally, we relate contextuality to the Frame Problem, another way of characterising a fundamental limitation on the observational and inferential capabilities of finite agents.

The public sphere and Habermas: reflections on the current state of theory in public library research

PurposeThis article addresses a recent debate in this journal between Buschman and Widdersheim and Koizumi on public libraries and public sphere theory in library and information science (LIS). The article moves beyond the debate as the debate has been too focused on the theories of Jürgen Habermas. In order to really understand the democratic mission of public libraries and how it is related to the public sphere, the author argues that LIS scholars need to look beyond Habermas' theories of the public sphere.Design/methodology/approachThis is a theoretical article that discusses different theories of the public sphere, and how they have been and can be applied in library and information science.FindingsThe author finds that a main disagreement between Buschman and Widdersheim and Koizumi is whether one can use the concept of a public sphere without doing it in a “traditional” Habermasian way. The answers put forward in this article, is that we can and should look beyond Habermas' work when seeking to understand the role of public libraries as public spheres.Originality/valueThe article puts forward theories that are not commonly used in LIS, and advocates for broadening the theoretical scope of LIS scholars studying the relations between public libraries and public spheres.

Design and Application of Intelligent Information System for Comprehensive Management of Obstetrics and Gynecology Health Care

With the cross-infiltration of information technology in the field of hospital management and the application of computer network technology, the digital construction of hospitals has been gradually promoted and applied, which laid the foundation for the development of hospital nursing management system. Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing is a discipline with strong theoretical, practical and operational skills. At the same time, the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology, the privacy of the cause and the influence of traditional ideas make nursing staff in clinical nursing work. Was hindered. At this stage, the nursing management information system is a software system for processing nursing information established by using information science theory and computer technology method, and is an important part. It can improve the utilization of important resources and the quality and efficiency of nursing work. Based on this, this paper develops and applies the integrated management information system for obstetrics and gynecology health care, and under the guidance of modern software engineering methods, completes the analysis, design and implementation of the system. PowerBuilder is selected as the front-end development tool, and the network structure of the system C/S mode is realized by combining the Oracle database. As a self-developed system, it has great flexibility.

A Theoretical Conversation about Responses to Information Overload

In this study, information overload is viewed through the lenses of Library & Information Science and Communication Theory in order to offer recommended solutions for individuals experiencing overload. The purpose of this research was to apply LIS and COMM theories to the pathologies and symptoms of information overload as experienced by individuals in an increasingly digital world. Extant survey work was reviewed and updated with literature collected through limited keyword searches. The authors framed active responses to information overload through dimensions selected from the European Commission’s Digital Competence Framework as applied to Al-Shboul & Abrizah’s (2016) Modes of Information Seeking. Further study should focus on international perspectives and addressing disparities in access to information.