Information in the knowledge acquisition process
| Pages | 930-960 |
| Date | 12 September 2016 |
| Published date | 12 September 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-10-2015-0122 |
| Author | Boris Bosancic |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Information in the knowledge
acquisition process
Boris Bosancic
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to propose an appropriate symbolic representation, as
well as its metaphorical interpretation, to illustrate the special role of information in the knowledge
acquisition process.
Design/methodology/approach –Besides the literature review, this is a speculative study based on
a symbolic and metaphorical point of view.
Findings –The proposed symbolic representation was derived from the conceptual designation of
information “as a flow”and, accordingly, by the corresponding redrawing of the data-information-
knowledge-wisdom (DIKW) pyramid. The knowledge acquisition process is symbolically represented
by the growth of a “tree of knowledge”which is planted on a “data earth,”filled with “information sap”
and lit by the rays of the “sun of the mind,”a new symbol of the concept of wisdom in the DIKW model.
As indicated, a key concept of this metaphorical interpretation is the role of “information sap”which
rises from the roots of the “tree of knowledge”to the top of the tree and it is recognized as an invisible
link between “world of data”and “world of knowledge.”This concept is also proposed as a new
symbolic representation of the DIKW model.
Originality/value –On the basis of specific symbolic-metaphorical representation, this paper
provides a relatively new concept of information which may help bridge observed gaps in the
understanding of information in various scientific fields, as well as in its understanding as an objective
or subjective phenomenon.
Keywords Information theory, Knowledge, Wisdom, Information, Data, DIKW hierarchy,
DIKW model, DIKW pyramid, Knowledge acquisition process
Paper type Conceptual paper
1. Introduction
This paper concisely presents the diversity of views on the concept of information and
interprets the process of acquiring scientific knowledge, specifically from a symbolic
and metaphorical point of view. In this view, the notion of information takes a central
role, in addition to the related concepts of data and knowledge. Indirectly, this paper
explores the question of why different perspectives of knowledge acquisition within
the scientific fields have different views of information. Two such views, it seems, are
directly opposed: one holds information as an objective entity that exists in an “outside
world,”and a second considers it a construct of our mind.
Therefore, this paper has two aspects: a review aspect and a symbolic-metaphorical
aspect. In the first part of the paper, we provide a review. As concisely as possible, we
attempt to provide insight into the diversity of views on the concept of information by
researchers from various fields of science. These views are considered information
theories. We focus on the theory of Claude E. Shannon, directions in the development of
other information theories, definitions of information and types of information.
The second part of this paper will propose an appropriate symbolic representation as a
counterpart to the existing representation of the data-information-knowledge-wisdom
(DIKW) hierarchy for the purpose of understanding the relationship between the term
“information”and the related concepts of data and knowledge. Through the symbolic
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 72 No. 5, 2016
pp. 930-960
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-10-2015-0122
Received 2 October 2015
Revised 3 April 2016
Accepted 3 April 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
930
JDOC
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representation and metaphorical interpretation, we will try to illustrate the role of
information in the process of acquiring knowledge. In this way, we will provide a
relatively new understanding of information, which can mitigate, if not completely
overcome, the problem of different understandings of this concept in various scientific
fields. The symbolic representation and metaphorical interpretation of the role of
information in the knowledge acquisition process provides a framework for a new
understanding of the observed gap between views of information as an objective or a
subjective phenomenon. Such a framework can also be used to overcome this gap.
2. Shannon’s theory …and beyond
2.1 Shannon’s theory …for the umpteenth time!
As time goes on, there is growing frustration over inadequate and inconsistent
understanding of the phenomenon of information in almost all fields of science
(Hjørland, 1998; Saracevic, 1999; Cornelius, 2002). This is especially true because it is
widely accepted that this is the information age, characterized by widespread use of
information and communication technology (ICT). ICT, in turn, is enabled by machine
readable, processed information. From Shannon’s“information theory,”which was
released in mid-last century, a similarly revolutionary insight that may stand side by
side to his theory, in computer and information science, has not yet been developed.
Although “information theory”is not, basically, his original idea and other researchers
(Nyquist, 1924; Hartley, 1928) can be thanked for its existence, it contains a key
generalization that makes it revolutionary (although mainly in circles of
telecommunications and computer specialists, as well as mathematicians, interested
in this area)[1]. Time has shown that Shannon’s theory made exclusive, revolutionary
progress in the field of signal transmission, while the attempt of his colleague Warren
Weaver to generalize it into a general theory of communication, at least within the
social sciences and humanities, “famously failed”(Machlup and Mansfield, 1983; von
Foerster, 1984). Shannon’s theory represents a milestone for “[…] the electronic
communications networks that now lace the earth”(IEEE Information Theory Society,
2015), according to the Shannon-friendly IEEE Information Theory Society, and digital
traffic is measured by bits –units which were introduced by Shannon[2]. However, it
seems there is yet no “information theory”that would satisfy all researchers, nor an
acceptable definition of information that could be used in all scientific fields.
“How much meaning”was included in Shannon’s theory? Shannon claimed “a little.”
His famous dictum, “[…] the semantic aspects of communication are irrelevant to the
engineering aspects”(Shannon and Weaver, 1963, p. 31) could not remove the tension
between the two communities. Starting from cybernetics conferences in 1950s[3],
it seems that dialogue on the issue of information between researchers from the natural
sciences and humanities and researchers from the social sciences to the present day has
not achieved significant progress.
To briefly remind ourselves: in Shannon’s theory, information is presented by the
(logarithmic) coded signals that are managed by the effective probability calculation of
their transmission. In short, according to Shannon, information corresponds to yes-no
answers to simple questions to select one choice (or message) from a predetermined set
of choices (or messages). As in many of these choices, the coding process results in
larger code, and hence, a greater amount of information (Shannon and Weaver, 1963).
Shannon’s colleague W. Weaver explained the essence of “information theory”with the
following words: “[…] word […] information relates not so much to what you do say, as
to what you could say […]”(Shannon and Weaver, 1963, p. 8). However, Shannon’s true
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Knowledge
acquisition
process
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