Information Science Theory Research Articles

Some European Contributions to Information Science

EDITOR'S SUMMARYEuropean contributions to the field of information science are often overlooked or forgotten in the popularity and prominence of the Association for Information Science and Technology, previously known as the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Areas covered include information science theory, bibliographical descriptions, documentation theory, library science, classification, information retrieval, bibliometrics and standards. One noteworthy contributor to the field of information science as a whole is Karl Marx, who is credited as a “herald of the information society. Two international conferences, the International Conference on Scientific Information in Washington D.C. in 1958 and the Royal Society Scientific Information Conference in London in 1948, are cited as recognizing the importance of the field. Another conference series highlighted here is the Conceptions of Library and Information Science, which promotes innovations from the European community and is maintained primarily by Europeans.

User‐engaged app development: Building better apps for the vineyard

ABSTRACTWine scientists and industry organisations are increasingly creating mobile web applications (apps) to support vineyard management and monitoring. While such tools are intended to improve wine industry practices, embedding user testing and user experience design in app development has not been implemented. User‐focused design is essential for determining the need for new apps, for assessing the effectiveness of existing tools and to optimize usability. This poster presents the results from an exploratory, interdisciplinary study drawing on information science theory and best practices to examine vineyard managers' and grape growers' experiences with two apps: Fit Vine and VitiCanopy. This study used hands‐on exploration of users' experiences with the apps in the vineyards to assess the usefulness of these tools from the users' perspective. Results include the need for consistent intuitive navigation, which is necessary to address a range of users' technological literacy levels; the need for help features to be integrated into the primary interface, which guides the users' experience; and, tools that provide added value to the work practices of users in vineyards in order to influence decision making. The results underscore the importance of involving wine industry members throughout the app‐ building process.

Fiction as informative and its implications for information science theory

ABSTRACTReading fiction is a neglected area of study in information behavior research, even as such research has expanded to include investigation of different kinds of behavior by more kinds of people, and an expanded repertoire of research methods and fields. Using data from a small empirical study (n=8) and research from five fields other than information science, the paper reports on participants' reading of fiction and those five fields' study of how reading fiction is informative. Considering fiction informative has two important outcomes: we (1) understand information behavior better and (2) address important problems in information science theory. Such problems include frustrated attempts to define information, the (generally hidden) gendered character of information science and information behavior research, the misguided conduit metaphor and an overemphasis on cognition at the expense of practice, documents and materiality.

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.

Exploring interdisciplinary relationships between linguistics and information retrieval from the 1960s to today

This article explores how linguistics has influenced information retrieval (IR) and attempts to explain the impact of linguistics through an analysis of internal developments in information science generally, and IR in particular. It notes that information science/IR has been evolving from a case science into a fully fledged, “disciplined”/disciplinary science. The article establishes correspondences between linguistics and information science/IR using the three established IR paradigms—physical, cognitive, and computational—as a frame of reference. The current relationship between information science/IR and linguistics is elucidated through discussion of some recent information science publications dealing with linguistic topics and a novel technique, “keyword collocation analysis,” is introduced. Insights from interdisciplinarity research and case theory are also discussed. It is demonstrated that the three stages of interdisciplinarity, namely multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity (in the narrow sense), and transdisciplinarity, can be linked to different phases of the information science/IR‐linguistics relationship and connected to different ways of using linguistic theory in information science and IR.

Artificial Intelligence: A Child’s Play (Presentation Slides)

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. Some topics for discussion: Chapter Zero is for Life ... Chapter One Onwards for the Exam – The Benchmark for Brainpower – The Nature of Uncertainty – Objectively Subjective – Some Minds versus More Machines – A Journey to the Land of Unintended Consequences!!! – How to Become Smarter than Albert Einstein? – I Don’t Know, A Great Answer – Imitation in the Imitation Game – Mexican Chihuahua solving Korean Puzzles under a Mush-Room – Evolutionary Tricks for the Empirics

Urban green space, uneven development and accessibility: a case of Dalian's Xigang District

This study examines the socio-spatial context of uneven development and the residential accessibility of green space in Dalian of Liaoning Province, China. The social fairness was analyzed with a community scale as the basis. We combined social scientific methods with a GIS method using a behavior accessibility model from the perspectives of fairness of urban green space allocation based on social geography, geographic information science, management science and many other related discipline theories. The results show that: 1) Most of the urban green space distribution presents an unbalanced phenomenon, and it does not match with the population distribution; 2) We found some differences in the accessibility of the population with different attributes and opportunities to use and enjoy the urban green spaces, mainly due to: the dual social and spatial attributes of the residents and the serious stratum differentiation generated were the internal causes; the residential space differentiation and the pursuit of economic and real estate development were the direct causes; and unreasonable planning, in regard to the fact that government policies did not give consideration to efficiency and fairness, was also an important factor.

Social semiotics as theory and practice in library and information science

Purpose– Information scholars frequently make use of “conceptual imports” – epistemological and methodological models developed in other disciplines – when conducting their own research. The purpose of this paper is to make the case that social semiotics is a worthy candidate to add to the information sciences toolkit.Design/methodology/approach– Both traditional and social semiotics are described in detail, with key texts cited. To demonstrate the benefits social semiotic methods may bring to the information sciences, the digital display screen is then employed as a test case.Findings– By treating the display as a semiotic resource, the author is able to demonstrate that, rather than being a transparent window by which the author may access all of the data, the screen actually distorts and conceals a significant amount of information, and severely restricts the control users have over software packages such as online public access catalogues. A programming paradigm known as language-oriented programming (LOP), however, can help to remedy these issues.Originality/value– The test case is meant to provide a framework by which other information sciences issues may be explores via social semiotic methods. Social semiotics, moreover, is still evolving as a subject matter, so IS scholars could also potentially contribute to its continued development with their work.

On the Mathematical Theories and Cognitive Foundations of Information

A recent discovery in computer and software sciences is that information in general is a deterministic abstract quantity rather than a probability-based property of the nature. Information is a general form of abstract objects represented by symbolical, mathematical, communication, computing, and cognitive systems. Therefore, information science is one of the contemporary scientific disciplines collectively known as abstract sciences such as system, information, cybernetics, cognition, knowledge, and intelligence sciences. This paper presents the cognitive foundations, mathematical models, and formal properties of information towards an extended theory of information science. From this point of view, information is classified into the categories of classic, computational, and cognitive information in the contexts of communication, computation, and cognition, respectively. Based on the three generations of information theories, a coherent framework of contemporary information is introduced, which reveals the nature of information and the fundamental principles of information science and engineering.

Curating Archaeological Knowledge in the Digital Continuum: from Practice to Infrastructure

AbstractAs a “grand challenge” for digital archaeology, I propose the adoption of programmatic research to meet the challenges of archaeological curation in the digital continuum, contingent on curation-enabled global digital infrastructures, and on contested regimes of archaeological knowledge production and meaning making. My motivation stems from an interest in the sociotechnical practices of archaeology, viewed as purposeful activities centred on material traces of past human presence. This is exemplified in contemporary practices of interpretation “at the trowel’s edge”, in epistemological reflexivity and in pluralization of archaeological knowledge. Adopting a practice-centred approach, I examine how the archaeological record is constructed and curated through archaeological activity “from the field to the screen” in a variety of archaeological situations. I call attention to Çatalhöyük as a salient case study illustrating the ubiquity of digital curation practices in experimental, well-resourced and purposefully theorized archaeological fieldwork, and I propose a conceptualization of digital curation as a pervasive, epistemic-pragmatic activity extending across the lifecycle of archaeological work. To address these challenges, I introduce a medium-term research agenda that speaks both to epistemic questions of theory in archaeology and information science, and to pragmatic concerns of digital curation, its methods, and application in archaeology. The agenda I propose calls for multidisciplinary, multi-team, multiyear research of a programmatic nature, aiming to re-examine archaeological ontology, to conduct focused research on pervasive archaeological research practices and methods, and to design and develop curation functionalities coupled with existing pervasive digital infrastructures used by archaeologists. It has a potential value in helping to establish an epistemologically coherent framework for the interdisciplinary field of archaeological curation, in aligning archaeological ontologies work with practice-based, agencyoriented and participatory theorizations of material culture, and in matching the specification and design of archaeological digital infrastructures with the increasingly globalized, ubiquitous and pervasive digital information environment and the multiple contexts of contemporary meaning-making in archaeology.

Brain at the centre of the information universe

Insights from the recent wealth of popular books on neuroscience are offered to suggest a strengthening of theory in information science. Information theory has traditionally neglected the human dimension in favour of ‘scientific’ theory often derived from the Shannon-Weaver model. Neuroscientists argue in excitingly fresh ways from the evidence of case studies, non-intrusive experimentation and the measurements that can be obtained from technologies that include electroencephalography, positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The way in which the findings of neuroscience intersect with ideas such as those of Kahneman on fast and slow thinking and Csikszentmihalyi on flow, is tentatively explored as lines of connection with information science. It is argued that the beginnings of a theoretical underpinning for current web-based information searching in relation to established information retrieval methods can be drawn from this.

Avances de la neurociencia y sus implicaciones para la ciencia de la información

Insights from the recent wealth of popular books on neuroscience are offered to suggest a strengthening of theory in information science. Information theory has traditionally neglected the human dimension in favour of ‘scientific’ approaches often derived from the Shannon-Weaver model. Neuroscientists argue in excitingly fresh ways from the evidence of case studies, non-intrusive experimentation and the measurements that can be obtained from technologies that include electroencephalography, positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The way in which the findings of neuroscience intersect with ideas such as those of Kahneman on fast and slow thinking and Csikszentmihalyi on flow, is tentatively explored as lines of connection with information science. It is argued that the beginnings of a theoretical underpinning for current web-based information searching, as opposed to established information retrieval methods, can be drawn from this. It is proposed that collaborative research programmes between neuroscientists and information scientists could be extremely revealing.

Linguistic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics; Projection Postulate

As the fundamental theory of quantum information science, recently I proposed the linguistic interpretation of quantum mechanics, which was characterized as the linguistic turn of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. This turn from physics to language does not only extend quantum theory to classical theory but also yield the quantum mechanical world view. Although the wave function collapse (or more generally, the post-measurement state) is prohibited in the linguistic interpretation, in this paper I show that the phenomenon like wave function collapse can be realized. That is, the projection postulate is completely clarified in the linguistic interpretation.

Why relevance theory is relevant for lexicography

Abstract This article starts by providing a brief summary of relevance theory in information science in relation to the function theory of lexicography, explaining the different types of relevance, viz. objective system relevance and the subjective types of relevance, i.e. topical, cognitive, situational, socio-cognitive and affective relevance. It then shows, at the hand of examples, why relevance is important from a user perspective in the extra-lexicographical pre- and post-consultation phases and in the intra-lexicographical consultation phase. It defines an additional type of subjective relevance that is very important for lexicography as well as for information science, viz. functional relevance. Since all lexicographic work is ultimately aimed at satisfying users’ information needs, the article then discusses why the lexicographer should take note of all these types of relevance when planning a new dictionary project, identifying new tasks and responsibilities of the modern lexicographer. The article furthermore discusses how relevance theory impacts on teaching dictionary culture and reference skills. By integrating insights from lexicography and information science, the article contributes to new ideas for both disciplines.

The information paradox

Personal thoughts on the varied practice and still unformed theory of information science. After some four decades of strong development of information handling practice, largely in support of the disciplines of science and technology, advances in the traditional areas of practice have slowed down as information technology has been more widely applied. Meanwhile, a true theory of information science has failed to materialize.

The patron as producer: libraries, web 2.0, and participatory culture

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to offer a theoretical framework for applying Web 2.0 technologies and design principles to the development of participatory cultures within libraries. A participatory culture is one that focusses on facilitating interaction and the creation of content by users rather than the consumption of content created or compiled by experts.Design/methodology/approach– This study is a literature-based theoretical analysis that explores the role of libraries as agents of cultural hegemony and techniques for developing socially responsible library praxis. It combines insights from a variety of discourses including Western Marxist theories of hegemony, critical theories of library and information science, professional literature regarding “Library 2.0” service models, and media studies theories of participatory culture.Findings– Libraries do not just organize knowledge; they construct it. Furthermore, these constructions tend to reinforce dominant discourses while marginalizing others. By adopting participatory technologies and design principles, libraries can support greater diversity of expression and create spaces for marginalized discourses.Practical implications– This paper offers suggestions for applying principles of participatory culture to the design of library services such as collection development, cataloging and classification, reference, instruction, and institutional repositories.Originality/value– This paper provides a conceptual framework for understanding and evaluating the significance of Web 2.0 for library and information science by applying theoretical perspectives from other disciplines.

The concept of information and questions of users with visual disabilities

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the functionality of the particular epistemological schools with regard to the issues of users with visual impairment, to offer a theoretical answer to the question why these issues are not in the center of the interest of information science, and to try to find an epistemological approach that has ambitions to create the theoretical basis for the analysis of the relationship between information and visually impaired users.Design/methodology/approach– The methodological basis of the paper is determined by the selection of the epistemological approach. In order to think about the concept of information and to put it in relation to issues associated with users with visual impairment, a conceptual analysis is applied.Findings– Most of information science theories are based on empiricism and rationalism; this is the reason for their low interest in the questions of visually impaired users. Users with visual disabilities are out of the interest of rationalistic epistemology because it underestimates sensory perception; empiricism is not interested in them paradoxically because it overestimates sensory perception. Realism which fairly reflects such issues is an approach which allows the providing of information to persons with visual disabilities to be dealt with properly.Research limitations/implications– The paper has a speculative character. Its findings should be supported by empirical research in the future.Practical implications– Theoretical questions solved in the paper come from the practice of providing information to visually impaired users. Because practice has an influence on theory and vice versa, the author hopes that the findings included in the paper can serve to improve practice in the field.Social implications– The paper provides theoretical anchoring of the issues which are related to the inclusion of people with disabilities into society and its findings have a potential to support such efforts.Originality/value– This is first study linking questions of users with visual disabilities to highly abstract issues connected to the concept of information.

Elements of social representation theory incollaborative tagging systems

This article discusses the information representation process based on the Moscovici's Social Representation Theory and domain analysis in Information Science. The aim was to identify mechanisms and constituent dimensions of social representation in collaborative tagging systems/social bookmarking systems. Scientific knowledge was defined as the object/phenomenon of representation in these systems; and the tag as the shareable structure of meaning that connects participants and resources. The empirical research involved descriptive statistical techniques applied to a corpora of tags available in CiteULike, which is a social tagging system developed for the academic community. The data analysis, performed in a sample of groups derived from the dataset, showed that the users' reuse of their own tags resembles the anchorage mechanism. The reuse of tags by other participants - in the same group - reveals some evidence of the objectification mechanism. Some speculation arose about the cognitive effort made by the individual, under group influence, with regard to the tagging activity, user's choice of resources, and sharing styles. Further studies on social bookmarking systems depend both on a "gain scale" of users and items tagged, requiring techniques and procedures redesigned by Information Science, Statistics, Network Analysis, Linguistics/Sociolinguistics and Social Psychology.

Obszary badań współczesnej informatologii (nauki o informacji)

Cel/teza: Celem artykułu jest przedstawienie kierunków rozwoju pola badawczego nauki o informacji (informatologii), od momentu jej wyodrębnienia się jako samodzielnej dyscypliny naukowej po czasy najnowsze.Koncepcja/metody badań: Na podstawie krytycznej analizy piśmiennictwa w chronologicznej kolejności przedyskutowano zmieniające się nazewnictwo dyscypliny i porównano kryjące się za tymi zmianami kolejne próby redefiniowania zadań i celów badawczych nauki o informacji. Prezentacja ewolucji koncepcji nauki o informacji stanowi tło dla przedyskutowania wyników analizy współczesnych nurtów badawczych w nauce o informacji, przeprowadzonej na próbie 361 artykułów opublikowanych w czterech najważniejszych dla tej dyscypliny badawczych czasopismach międzynarodowych: „Journal of American Society for Information Science and Technology”, „Journal of Information Science” i „Journal of Documentation” (2011–2012) oraz „Annual Review of InformationScience and Technology” (2007–2011). Wyniki i wnioski: Prześledzono kształtowanie się nauki o informacji od jej najwcześniejszej koncepcji sformułowanej przez Paula Otleta po współczesne interpretacyjne badania zachowań informacyjnych oraz próby integracji społecznej i technologicznej perspektywy badań informatologicznych. Zwrócono uwagę na narastającą multidyscyplinarność nauki o informacji oraz konsekwentny rozwój dwóch odrębnych obszarów badawczych: związanego z doskonaleniem technologii informacyjnej i skupionego na użytkowaniu informacji i zachowaniach informacyjnych. Mimo rosnącej różnorodności problematyki badawczej nauki o informacji jej niezmienną oś problemową stanowi zapewnianie skutecznego komunikowania utrwalonej wiedzy pomiędzy ludźmi w różnych środowiskach ich aktywności i przy użyciu możliwie najbardziej efektywnych metod i narzędzi. Analiza najnowszego piśmiennictwa dyscypliny potwierdziła, iż główne nurty badawcze stanowią nadal zagadnienia związane z rozwojem technologii informacyjnych i z poznawaniem zachowań informacyjnych oraz użytkowania informacji. Nie został natomiast jednoznacznie potwierdzony opisywany w literaturze zwrot ku badaniu zjawisk informacyjnych w świecie społecznym i w kontekście kulturowym. Badanie piśmiennictwa potwierdziło również wzrost zainteresowania teorią i metodologią nauki o informacji, co może być wyrazem rosnącej metodologicznej dojrzałości nauki o informacji, ale także obaw związanych z rozmywaniem się jej odrębności wśród coraz liczniejszych innych nauk, w których również podejmowane są badania współczesnych zjawisk informacyjnych.Oryginalność/Wartość poznawcza: Artykuł porządkuje wiedzę o dotychczasowym rozwoju nauki o informacji, uzupełniając ją o opartą na badaniach empirycznych charakterystykę najnowszych tendencji w kształtowaniu jej pola badawczego.

The Human Brain and Information Science: Lessons from Popular Neuroscience

Insights from the recent wealth of popular books on neuroscience are offered to suggest a strengthening of theory in information science. Information theory has traditionally neglected the human dimension in favour of 'scientific' theory often derived from the Shannon-Weaver model. Neuroscientists argue in excitingly fresh ways from the evidence of case studies, non-intrusive experimentation and the measurements that can be obtained from technologies that include electroencephalography, positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The way in which the findings of neuroscience intersect with ideas such as those of Kahneman on fast and slow thinking and Csikszentmihalyi on flow, is tentatively explored as lines of connection with information science. It is argued that the beginnings of a theoretical underpinning for current web-based information searching in relation to established information retrieval methods can be drawn from this.