Still minding the gap? Reflecting on transitions between concepts of information in varied domains

This conceptual paper, a contribution to the tenth anniversary special issue of information, gives a cross-disciplinary review of general and unified theories of information. A selective literature review is used to update a 2013 article on bridging the gaps between conceptions of information in different domains, including material from the physical and biological sciences, from the humanities and social sciences including library and information science, and from philosophy. A variety of approaches and theories are reviewed, including those of Brenner, Brier, Burgin and Wu, Capurro, Cárdenas-García and Ireland, Hidalgo, Hofkirchner, Kolchinsky and Wolpert, Floridi, Mingers and Standing, Popper, and Stonier. The gaps between disciplinary views of information remain, although there has been progress, and increasing interest, in bridging them. The solution is likely to be either a general theory of sufficient flexibility to cope with multiple meanings of information, or multiple and distinct theories for different domains, but with a complementary nature, and ideally boundary spanning concepts

К вопросу об информационной этике

Рассмотрены этические аспекты применения информационных технологий. Этическое регулирование науки представлено как новый этап развития науки в целом. Сегодня ответственность и свобода применения информационных технологий в процессе научного поиска не являются альтернативными. Отсюда определена вся важность движения мирового научного сообщества за более действенный социально-этический контроль над научными исследованиями и их технологическим применением

Influence of Information Availability and Use on Economic Integration of Small Scale Business Owners: The Role of Libraries

The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of information availability and use on the Economic Integration (EI) of small scale business owners, and the roles of libraries. This was achieved with the aid of five research questions and four null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted the embedded type of the mixed research design. The quantitative component employed a survey research of the correlational type for research questions one to four and the research hypotheses. This was complemented or supported by a qualitative component that addresses research question five. . The target population for the study comprised of sixty-two (62) small scale business owners in University of Ibadan community. Total enumeration was adopted as the sampling technique due to the manageable population. The closed-ended questionnaire was used to elicit data for the quantitative component of the study while structured interview elicited data for the qualitative component. Data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, means and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation, multiple regression and ANOVA).The study found that small scale business owners in University of Ibadan community had high level of economic integration, information was highly available to them and their level of information use was high. Also, information availability and use, individually and jointly influenced economic integration. The authors concluded that how economically integrated small scale business owners will be, is determined by how much information they utilize. Recommendations were made on how libraries could foster EI in line with the study

Smoother pebbles and the shoulders of giants: the developing foundations of information science

Some developments in the information science discipline over a period of 30 years are discussed, by selecting topics covered in the early issues of Journal of Information Science, and tracing their influence on subsequent developments, largely though by no means exclusively through JIS papers. Five main themes are covered: the information discipline per se; the foundations of that discipline; the nature of information; relations between discipline and profession; and education for information science. The continuing resonance of the writings of Farradane and Brookes is noted

Misinformation in Encounters : A Qualitative Study of Misinformation as a Social Phenomenon

Current research tends to see misinformation as a negative type of information in online environments, and fact-checking and improved information literacy are seen as solutions to the problem of misinformation. Considering misinformation only from this viewpoint is problematic because it does not consider misinformation as a type of information in our everyday information environment. The aim of this thesis is to broaden the understanding of misinformation as a nuanced concept and as a social and situated phenomenon affected by different factors. Encounters are used as means of clarifying misinformation. New knowledge of misinformation is needed to better address it and problems with it in different contexts and situations. This thesis adopts the definition of misinformation as inaccurate, incomplete, vague, or ambiguous information that is affected by social, cultural, historical, contextual, and situational factors. It studies the misinformation people encounter in their everyday lives, what factors affect it (specifically, what role encounters play in this process), how misinformation can be studied, and how to manage misinformation more efficiently. These questions were studied in the context of support with information (i.e. holistic ways to help people access, use, and understand information) and, more specifically, in two contexts where such support is given: asylum seekers supported by volunteers and youth supported by youth services. In these contexts, misinformation may be extremely challenging, but simply providing accurate information without considering factors surrounding misinformation is inadequate, and suitable ways of providing and discussing information should be developed. Misinformation was studied indirectly through interviews with people who provided support with information (i.e. volunteers and youth service workers). The analysis of the interview discussions contributed to the qualitative methodological approaches to studying misinformation. Both direct questions and indirect discussions on misinformation were found to be important for eliciting rich data. The empirical findings revealed different types of misinformation connected with authorities and official structures (outdated, incomplete, or conflicting information and perceived intimidation). Different strategies can be used when giving support with information to make misinformation less challenging, the most important of which is to encounter all people with respect and as human beings when supporting their access to and understanding of information. The research findings highlighted the importance of encounters. The framework for caring encounter was used for analysing the social factors that influence misinformation. Caring encounters mitigate misinformation, whereas uncaring encounters or a complete lack of encounters make it challenging for people to access, understand, and use information. The research findings can be used to improve information support and services by addressing factors surrounding misinformation. Misinformation is, thus, a social construct that should be placed in the wider context of information and seen as an unavoidable part of our information environment.Misinformation ses oftast inom aktuell forskning som en negativ typ av information på internet, och faktagranskning och bättre informationskompetens ses som lösningar till misinformation. Att se på misinformation enbart ur denna synvinkel är problematiskt eftersom då förstås misinformation inte som en del av vår vardagliga informationsmiljö. Syftet med denna avhandling är att förstå misinformation som ett nyanserat begrepp och socialt fenomen som påverkas av olika faktorer. Möten används som en faktor för att klargöra misinformation. Ny kunskap om misinformation behövs för att bättre förstå och lösa de problem som uppstår i olika kontexter och situationer där misinformation förekommer. Denna avhandling använder definitionen av misinformation som felaktig, ofullständig, oklar och mångtydig information som påverkas av sociala, kulturella, historiska, kontextuella och situationsbundna faktorer. Det undersöks hurdan misinformation människor kommer i kontakt med i sin vardag, vilka faktorer som påverkar misinformationen och mera specifikt, hurdan roll bemötande har i den processen. Vidare fokuserar avhandlingen på hur misinformation kan studeras och vad man kan göra åt den. Dessa frågor forskas i kontexten av stöd med information (holistiska sätt att hjälpa andra med tillgång, förståelse och användning av information), som består av ytterligare två sammanhang: asylsökande som stöds av volontärer och unga som stöds av ungdomsservice. Misinformation kan vara ett stort problem i dessa sammanhang, men det är inte tillräckligt att enbart ge rätt information utan den måste ges och diskuteras på ett för mottagaren lämpligt sätt, dvs. läggas in i en större kontext. I denna avhandling studerades misinformation indirekt via människor som ger stöd med information, dvs. volontärer och ungdomsservicearbetare. Genom att analysera diskussionen i intervjuerna, bidrog denna studie till den kvalitativa forskningen om misinformation. Både direkta frågor och indirekt diskussion behövs för att samla in mångsidiga data. De empiriska resultaten visade att det finns olika typer av misinformation i samband med myndigheter och officiella strukturer: föråldrad, ofullständig och motstridig information samt upplevt hot. Det finns olika strategier som kan användas för att lindra problemen med misinformation. Viktigast är att bemöta en människa med respekt för att stöda hens tillgång till och förståelse av information. Resultaten i denna avhandling visade hur viktiga möten är. Ramverket för vårdande möte användes för att analysera de sociala faktorer som definierar misinformation. Ett vårdande möte kan göra det lättare att hantera misinformation medan icke-vårdande möten och brist på möten överlag försämrar människors möjlighet att nå, förstå och använda information. Resultaten kan användas för att utveckla stöd med information och informationstjänster genom att särskilt betona faktorer som påverkar misinformation. Misinformation är ett socialt begrepp som borde läggas in i en större sammanhang och ses som en oundviklig och naturlig del av vår informationsmiljö

Enfoques objetivo y subjetivo del concepto de información

The search for an adequate concept of information has been a constant theme in the theoretical studies carried out within the lnformation Science field. The proposals made can be grouped in two large sets: those that consider information as something physical and objective and those that see it as something cognitive and subjective. Some of the most outstanding examples from both trends are examined. Spécial attention is paid to the proposals from the second group due to their relevance.La búsqueda de un concepto adecuado de información ha sido una constante en los estudios teóricos llevados a cabo en el seno de la Documentación. El análisis de las propuestas realizadas permite distinguir dos grandes grupos: las que ven la información como algo fisico, objetivo, y las que la consideran como algo cognitivo, subjetivo. Se analizan algunos de los ejemplos más representativos de ambas tendencias, aunque haciendo un especial hincapié en las propuestas del segundo grupo, por considerarlas más relevantes

Neutrosophic Theory and its Applications : Collected Papers - vol. 1

Neutrosophic Theory means Neutrosophy applied in many fields in order to solve problems related to indeterminacy. Neutrosophy is a new branch of philosophy that studies the origin, nature, and scope of neutralities, as well as their interactions with different ideational spectra. This theory considers every entity together with its opposite or negation and with their spectrum of neutralities in between them (i.e. entities supporting neither nor ). The and ideas together are referred to as . Neutrosophy is a generalization of Hegel\u27s dialectics (the last one is based on and only). According to this theory every entity tends to be neutralized and balanced by and entities - as a state of equilibrium. In a classical way , , are disjoint two by two. But, since in many cases the borders between notions are vague, imprecise, Sorites, it is possible that , , (and of course) have common parts two by two, or even all three of them as well. Hence, in one hand, the Neutrosophic Theory is based on the triad , , and . In the other hand, Neutrosophic Theory studies the indeterminacy, labelled as I, with In = I for n ≥ 1, and mI + nI = (m+n)I, in neutrosophic structures developed in algebra, geometry, topology etc. The most developed fields of the Neutrosophic Theory are Neutrosophic Set, Neutrosophic Logic, Neutrosophic Probability, and Neutrosophic Statistics - that started in 1995, and recently Neutrosophic Precalculus and Neutrosophic Calculus, together with their applications in practice. Neutrosophic Set and Neutrosophic Logic are generalizations of the fuzzy set and respectively fuzzy logic (especially of intuitionistic fuzzy set and respectively intuitionistic fuzzy logic). In neutrosophic logic a proposition has a degree of truth (T), a degree of indeterminacy (I), and a degree of falsity (F), where T, I, F are standard or non-standard subsets of ]-0, 1+[. Neutrosophic Probability is a generalization of the classical probability and imprecise probability. Neutrosophic Statistics is a generalization of the classical statistics. What distinguishes the neutrosophics from other fields is the , which means neither nor . And , which of course depends on , can be indeterminacy, neutrality, tie (game), unknown, contradiction, vagueness, ignorance, incompleteness, imprecision, etc