Page 126 - DLIS105_REFERENCE_SOURCES_AND_SERVICES

Unit 11: Information Services and Products of Documentation

11.1.2 Definition of Information Notes

Information is defined as facts or knowledge provided or learned or what is conveyed or represented
by a particular sequence of symbols, impulses etc.
Information is any represented pattern. This view assumes neither accuracy nor directly
communicating parties, but instead assumes a separation between an object and its representation,
as well as the involvement of someone capable of understanding this relationship. This view seems
therefore to require a conscious mind. Consider the following example: economic statistics represent
an economy, however inaccurately. What are commonly referred to as data in computing, statistics,
and other fields, are forms of information in this sense. The electro-magnetic patterns in a computer
network and connected devices are related to something other than the pattern itself, such as text to
be displayed and keyboard input. Signals, signs, and symbols are also in this category. Painting
and drawing contain information to the extent that they represent something such as an assortment
of objects on a table, a profile, or a landscape. In other words, when a pattern of something is
transposed to a pattern of something else, the latter is information. This type of information still
assumes some involvement of conscious mind, of either the entity constructing the representation,
or the entity interpreting it.
When one constructs a representation of an object, one can selectively extract from the object
(sampling) or use a system of signs to replace (encoding), or both. The sampling and encoding
result in representation. An example of the former is a “sample” of a product; an example of the
latter is “verbal description” of a product. Both contain the information of the product, however
they are inaccurate. When one interprets representation, one can predict a broader pattern from a
limited number of observations (inference) or understand the relation between patterns of two
different things (decoding). One example of the former is to sip a soup to know if it is spoiled; an
example of the latter is examining footprints to determine the animal and its condition. In both
cases, information sources are not constructed or presented by some “sender” of information. To
repeat, information in this sense does not assume direct communication, but it assumes involvement
of some conscious mind.
Regardless, information depends upon, the medium or media used to express it. In other words,
the position of a theoretical series of bits, or even the output once interpreted by a computer or
similar device, is unimportant, except when someone or something is present to interpret the
information. Therefore, a quantity of information is totally distinct from its medium.

11.1.3 Needs and Purpose of Information
Information is any type of sensory input. When an organism with a nervous system receives an
input, it transforms the input into an electrical signal. This is regarded information by some. The
idea of representation is still relevant, but in a slightly different manner. That is, while abstract
painting does not represent anything concretely, when the viewer sees the painting, it is nevertheless
transformed into electrical signals that create a representation of the painting. Defined this way,
information does not have to be related to truth, communication, or representation of an object.
Entertainment in general is not intended to be informative. Music, the performing arts, amusement
parks, works of fiction and so on is thus forms of information in this sense, but they are not forms of
information according to the previous definitions above. Consider another example: food supplies
both nutrition and taste for those who eat it. If information is equated to sensory input, then nutrition
is not information but taste is.

Information as an influence which leads to a transformation:
Information is any type of pattern that influences the formation or transformation of other patterns.
In this sense, there is no need for a conscious mind to perceive, much less appreciate, the pattern.

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