http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1034 Library Trends 52 (3) Winter 2004: The Philosophy of Information. Edited by Ken Herold. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1692 Knowledge Profiling: The Basis for Knowledge Organization Thellefsen, Torkild How are we able to construct truly realistic representations of knowledge organizations (KOs)? The paper introduces and defines the knowledge profile as a method to investigate the epistemological basis of any KO to outline the consequences this basis has upon its research object. The knowledge profile is inspired by C. S. Peirce’s doctrine of pragmaticism, and it further reflects the relevance of pragmaticism in the context of KO. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1691 The Epistemological Foundations of Knowledge Representations Svenonius, Elaine This paper looks at the epistemological foundations of knowledge representations embodied in retrieval languages. It considers questions such as the validity of knowledge representations and their effectiveness for the purposes of retrieval and automation. The knowledge representations it considers are derived from three theories of meaning that have dominated twentieth-century philosophy. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1690 A Human Information Behavior Approach to a Philosophy of Information Spink, Amanda Cole, Charles This paper outlines the relation between philosophy of information (PI) and human information behavior (HIB). In this paper, we first briefly outline the basic constructs and approaches of PI and HIB. We argue that a strong relation exists between PI and HIB, as both are exploring the concept of information and premise information as a fundamental concept basic to human existence. We then exemplify that a heuristic approach to PI integrates the HIB view of information as a cognitive human- initiated process by presenting a specific cognitive architecture for information initiation based on modular notion from HIB/evolutionary psychology and the vacuum mechanism from PI. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1689 Classification, Rhetoric, and the Classificatory Horizon Paling, Stephen Bibliography provides a compelling vantage from which to study the interconnection of classification, rhetoric, and the making of knowledge. Bibliography, and the related activities of classification and retrieval, bears a direct relationship to textual studies and rhetoric. The paper examines this relationship by briefly tracing the development of bibliography forward into issues concomitant with the emergence of classification for retrieval. A striking similarity to problems raised in rhetoric and which spring from common concerns and intellectual sources is demonstrated around Gadamer’s notion of intellectual horizon. Classification takes place within a horizon of material conditions and social constraints that are best viewed through a hermeneutic or deconstructive lens, termed the “classificatory horizon.” Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1688 The Ubiquitous Hierarchy: An Army to Overcome the Threat of a Mob Olson, Hope A. This article explores the connections between Melvil Dewey and Hegelianism and Charles Cutter and the Scottish Common Sense philosophers. It traces the practice of hierarchy from these philosophical influences to Dewey and Cutter and their legacy to today’s Dewey Decimal Classification and Library of Congress Subject Headings. The ubiquity of hierarchy is linked to Dewey’s and Cutter’s metaphor of organizing the mob of information into an orderly army using the tool of logic. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1687 Faceted Classification and Logical Division in Information Retrieval Mills, Jack The main object of the paper is to demonstrate in detail the role of classification in information retrieval (IR) and the design of classificatory structures by the application of logical division to all forms of the content of records, subject and imaginative. The natural product of such division is a faceted classification. The latter is seen not as a particular kind of library classification but the only viable form enabling the locating and relating of information to be optimally predictable. A detailed exposition of the practical steps in facet analysis is given, drawing on the experience of the new Bliss Classification (BC2). The continued existence of the library as a highly organized information store is assumed. But, it is argued, it must acknowledge the relevance of the revolution in library classification that has taken place. It considers also how alphabetically arranged subject indexes may utilize controlled use of categorical (generically inclusive) and syntactic relations to produce similarly predictable locating and relating systems for IR. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1686 Classification and Categorization: A Difference that Makes a Difference Jacob, Elin K. Examination of the systemic properties and forms of interaction that characterize classification and categorization reveals fundamental syntactic differences between the structure of classification systems and the structure of categorization systems. These distinctions lead to meaningful differences in the contexts within which information can be apprehended and influence the semantic information available to the individual. Structural and semantic differences between classification and categorization are differences that make a difference in the information environment by influencing the functional activities of an information system and by contributing to its constitution as an information environment. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1685 Arguments for Philosophical Realism in Library and Information Science Hjørland, Birger The basic realist claim is that a mind-independent reality exists. It should be common sense knowledge to accept this claim, just as any theories that try to deny it soon become inconsistent because reality strikes back. In spite of this, antirealist philosophies flourish, not only in philosophy but also in the behavioral and cognitive sciences and in information science. This is highly problematic because it removes the attention from reality to subjective phenomena with no real explanatory power. Realism should not be confused with the view that all scientific claims are true or with any other kind of naiveté concerning knowledge claims. The opposite of realism may be termed antirealism, idealism, or nominalism. Although many people confuse empiricism and positivism with realism, these traditions are by nature strongly antirealist, which is why a sharp distinction should be made between empiricism and realism. Empirical research should not be founded on assumptions about “the given” of observations, but should recognize the theory-laden nature of observations. Domain analysis represents an attempt to reintroduce a realist perspective in library and information science. A realist conception of relevance, information seeking, information retrieval, and knowledge organization is outlined. Information systems of all kinds, including research libraries and public libraries, should be informed by a realist philosophy and a realist information science. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1684 Information Studies Without Information Furner, Jonathan In philosophy of language, the phenomena fundamental to human communication are routinely modeled in ways that do not require commitment to a concept of “information” separate from those of “data,” “meaning,” “communication,” “knowledge,” and “relevance” (inter alia). A taxonomy of conceptions of information may be developed that relies on commonly drawn philosophical distinctions (between linguistic, mental, and physical entities, between objects and events, and between particulars and universals); in such a taxonomy, no category requires the label “information” in order to be differentiated from others. It is suggested that a conception of information-as-relevance is currently the most productive of advances in theoretical information studies. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1683 Documentation Redux: Prolegomenon to (Another) Philosophy of Information Frohmann, Bernd A philosophy of information is grounded in a philosophy of documentation. Nunberg’s conception of the phenomenon of information heralds a shift of attention away from the question “What is information?” toward a critical investigation of the sources and legitimation of the question itself. Analogies between Wittgenstein’s deconstruction of philosophical accounts of meaning and a corresponding deconstruction of philosophical accounts of information suggest that because the informativeness of a document depends on certain kinds of practices with it, and because information emerges as an effect of such practices, documentary practices are ontologically primary to information. The informativeness of documents therefore refers us to the properties of documentary practices. These fall into four broad categories: their materiality; their institutional sites; the ways in which they are socially disciplined; and their historical contingency. Two examples from early modern science, which contrast the scholastic documentary practices of continental natural philosophers to those of their peers in Restoration England, illustrate the richness of the factors that must be taken into account to understand how documents become informing. Philosophy of information Library science --Philosophy Information science --Philosophy Thu, 01 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT