The Concept Formerly Known as Information (The Panel)
Jenna Hartel, Karen Pollock & Rebecca Noone
Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
140 St George St Toronto, ON M5S 3G6
jenna.hartel@utoronto.ca
ABSTRACT
This session introduces a new approach to the concept
of information, utilizing an arts-informed, visual
approach. 137 graduate students from a North American
iSchool were asked “What is information?” and
responded by drawing upon a 4" by 4" piece of paper,
coined an "iSquare." The drawings of information
(Figure 1) were analyzed using compositional and
thematic analysis techniques adapted from precedent
visual studies. The results include the identification of
the most common graphical representations used to
express information, as well as three themes pertaining
to the social, technological, and "informational"
dimensions of information. This panel employs the
iSquare study and its outcomes as a springboard to
engage -- afresh -- the concept of information today.
After the original research is reported, invited experts
from information science, museum studies, and social
epistemology will offer commentary. "The Concept
Formerly Known as Information" is a riff on the antics of
American singer-songwriter Prince, who in 1993
changed his name to an unpronounceable glyph and
was called (for a short time) "The Artist Formerly
Known as Prince." This panel seeks a similar jolt to the
status-quo when the concept of information is
transformed from word to image.
of matter and energy” (1974, p. 10). Taking a cognitive
view, Brookes defined information as “that which elicits a
change in a knowledge structure” (1980, p. 131). As
research into information became more diverse, historian
Buckland argued for three major forms: information-asprocess, information-as-knowledge, and information-asthing (1991). Just recently, in a postmodern climate, Furner
(2004) surprisingly called for an information studies
without the concept of information.
These statements and many others have enriched our
understanding of information, yet have common
shortcomings. First, they are generated by scholars and fail
to capture a broad and everyday conception of information.
Second, they are word-based, though information is part
and parcel of a highly visual, multimedia society. Third,
they are singular and fixed declarations, though change and
perspectivism are markers of this era. The research project
and associated conference panel outlined here creatively
engages the concept of information and offers a
contemporary interpretation that is visual, egalitarian, and
dynamically multi-perspective.
Keywords
Information; information behavior, arts-based research;
visual methods; draw-and-write technique.
INTRODUCTION
A survey of the concept of information (Bates, 2010) in the
Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences covers
many propositions and each reflects the metatheoretical
trends of its time. For instance, inspired by cybernetics,
Parker posited information as “the pattern of organization
ASIST 2013, November 1-6, 2013, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Figure 1. A sample of iSquares drawn by graduate
students at a North American iSchool. 137 unique,
hand-drawn iSquares constitute the data set for this
investigation.
METHODOLOGY: A VISUAL APPROACH
This original research employs an arts-based (McNiff,
2008), empirical, visual approach (Prosser & Loxley, 2008)
and specifically the data gathering technique of drawing.
Drawing is an effective means to slow down response time,
generate contemplation, and express things that may be
difficult to put into words. Though an uncommon strategy
in information science, drawing has been used to capture
children’s perspective on food (Caraher, Baker, & Burns,
2004), celebrity (Gauntlet, 2005), health (Pridmore &
Landsdown, 1997), and inclusive education (Prosser, 2007);
and among adults has been employed in the study of
teachers (Weber & Mitchell, 1995) and the experience of
disease (Guillemin, 2004).
A convenience sample of graduate students at a North
American iSchool were asked to answer the question “What
is information?” in the form of a drawing. The activity
occurred during 15 minutes of class time. Research
assistants provided verbal and written instructions and
supplied a 4” by 4” piece of white premium bond paper
and a black pen. A pilot study occurred in summer 2011 to
refine all features of the data gathering process, which was
later implemented without major changes. 137 drawings of
information - iSquares - were collected. Given the
involvement of human subjects, the research design was
approved by the Office of Research Ethics at the University
of Toronto.
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
The iSquares were analyzed in sequential stages using two
different analytical techniques. The process involved many
hours of viewing the iSquares one at a time, in thematic
sets, and as a single collection, as shown in Figure 2. Each
stage of analysis was driven by a distinct research question.
evaluated in terms of its genre. We decided that the
iSquares were instances of the genre graphic
representations, following a theoretical statement and
classification scheme of that genre by Engelhardt (2002).
Applying Engelhardt's framework we assessed each iSquare
as a: map, picture, statistical chart, time chart, link diagram,
grouping diagram, table, symbol, written text, hybrid, or
other.
Our research subjects most often cast "information" as a
picture, link diagram, or symbol. In our presentation we
will introduce Engelhardt's framework of graphic
representations. Then, the various graphical types appearing
in the data will be qualified, quantified, and illustrated with
exemplar iSquares. This stage of the analysis reflects the
humanistic and arts-based sensibility within the study by
engaging the iSquares as artworks that mirror the
conventions of a genre.
Second, to answer the research question: What do the
iSquares actually show? we applied a generic inductive
approach known as "thematic analysis." In thematic
analysis codes are invented to represent concepts that the
researchers see in the data. In the study we named more
than 100 codes and logged them in a spreadsheet. Examples
of iSquare codes include: animal, arrow, book, box, brain,
computer, document, eye, heart, key, light bulb, magnifying
glass, money, network, path, people, plant, smiley fact, sun,
text, thought bubble, tree, umbrella, and world. (Our panel
includes a critical statement - in the form of a short comedy
skit - on the complexity of interpreting the images and
assigning codes.)
The codes were organized into logical themes and subthemes related to the social, technological, and
informational dimensions of information. For the
presentation, the thematic analysis process will be described
and then themes will be illustrated with exemplar iSquares.
This stage of the analysis reflects a contrasting social
scientific and positivist sensibility within the study.
Overall, the project generated new views of information
that are novel, accessible, artful, and memorable -hallmarks of visual research (Weber, 2008). At the same
time, the iSquares reflect several prior definitions of
information by Parker (1974) Brookes (1980), Buckland
(1999), and Furner (2004), showing their resonance with
the intellectual history of information science.
Figure 2. During analysis the iSquares were spread
across a table. Here, research assistant Karen Pollock
picks up an iSquare to take a closer look.
First, to answer the research question: What kinds of images
appear in the iSquares? we implemented a modified
version of compositional interpretation (Rose, 2001).
Compositional interpretation is native to the humanities and
the tradition of art criticism, whereby an artwork is
AGENDA AND INTERACTIVITY
The panel features the research team and three outside
commentators who represent information science, museum
studies, and social epistemology. The audience will have an
opportunity to experience the research project by creating
their own iSquare. We will demonstrate the data-gathering
approach and then supply the necessary paper and pen. The
act of drawing will likely produce new insights on the
concept of information for the ASIS&T community.
Commentators
Presentation Title
Presenter
Time
(min.)
Overview of the
Study and Results
Dr. Jenna Hartel
30
Create Your Own
iSquare
Karen Pollock,
Rebecca Noone, &
the audience
10
The View from
Information Science
Dr. Jens-Erik Mai
10
The View from
Museum Studies
Dr. Kiersten Latham
10
The View from Social
Epistemology
Dr. Steve Fuller
10
Open Discussion
Panelists & the
audience
20
90.....
Table 1. The Agenda for the panel.
THE SPEAKERS
Research team
Dr. Jenna Hartel is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of
Information, University of Toronto, and the primary
investigator of the project. Her research explores the nature
of information in the pleasures of life through concatenated
ethnographic research of serious leisure (Hartel, 2003,
2010). She is a practicing ethnographer and an advocate of
the application of visual methods to the study of
information (Hartel & Thomson, 2011). Dr. Hartel will
moderate the session and present the Overview of the Study
and Results.
Karen Pollock is a 2010 graduate of the Master of
Information program of the Faculty of Information,
University of Toronto and a research assistant for the
project; she is also a practicing archivist. Karen is
passionate about the philosophy of information and will
eventually enter a PhD program at an iSchool. She was
instrumental during the data-gathering and analysis stages
of the study. Karen will engage the audience in the handson activity Create Your Own iSquare.
Rebecca Noone is a 2010 graduate of the Master of
Museum Studies program at the Faculty of Information,
University of Toronto and a research assistant for the study.
She is a creative person with a background in the arts and
her aesthetic sensibility infuses the work. Rebecca hosts
guerilla Science Fairs in Toronto and designed an exhibit
and website that feature the iSquares. Alongside Karen, she
will run the hands-on activity Create Your Own iSquare.
Dr. Jens-Erik Mai is a Professor at the Royal School of
Library and Information Science, University of
Copenhagen. He is interested in basic questions about the
nature of information phenomena and has explored these
from a variety of conceptual points (e.g. semiotics,
cognitive work analysis, late-modernity, philosophy of
language, trust) often with a focus on issues and questions
in the organization of information. Dr. Mai has recently
published "The Quality and Qualities of Information" in
JASIS&T (Mai, 2013). As the first commentator to speak,
he will offer The View From Information Science.
Dr. Kiersten Latham is an Assistant Professor at the School
of Library and Information Science, Kent State University.
Her interests lie in phenomenological methodology, the
museum object as document, affect in the museum, and
lived experience as a way of knowing. She is the author of
recent article "Museum Object as Document: Using
Buckland’s Information Concepts to Understand Museum
Experiences" (2012) in the Journal of Documentation. Her
dissertation Numinous Experiences with Museum Objects
(Latham, 2009) explored the meanings made by people who
have had deeply moving experiences with museum objects.
Dr. Latham will provide The View from Museum Studies.
Dr. Steve Fuller is the Auguste Comte Chair in Social
Epistemology at the Department of Sociology, University
of Warwick (UK). He is a philosopher, sociologist, and
historian of ideas with a doctorate in the History and
Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh;
the founder of the journal Social Epistemology; and the
author of more than twenty books on science, religion,
knowledge production, and academic and intellectual life.
A recent publication of his of relevance to this panel is The
Knowledge Book: Key Concepts in Philosophy, Science and
Culture (Fuller, 2007). Dr. Fuller will contribute The View
from Social Epistemology.
CONFERENCE THEME AND TRACKS
The 2013 ASIS&T annual meeting theme "Beyond the
Cloud: Rethinking Information Boundaries" reflects the
spirit of our study. (Of note, four iSquares contain images
of actual clouds.) In a striking visual format we provide
empirical evidence of information objects, information
environments, and information behaviors in states of
transformation. To conclude the panel, we assert that the
collection of drawings form a new theoretical device for
rethinking information and its boundaries today. The panel
content is wide-ranging and germane to all conference
tracks, especially information behavior.
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