At the forthcoming Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology there will be a session to discuss the outcome of a research project that built a "Knowledge map of information science", carried out by Dr. C. Zins, from Haifa, using a critical Delphi technique see: http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM05/abstracts/176.html As part of this, as noted in the introductory final report "Forty five scholars formulated about 130 definitions" of data, information and knowledge, that yielded 6 discrete models. There is a blog to ask questions to the session participants. My 2 oz. of crude on that recurrent theme is that perhaps part of the trouble comes from the desperate attempt at figuring out the conditions under which one entity (data information or knowledge) becomes another one, when in fact all the 3 entities, and a few more may be, do a) coexist independantly b) interact c) combine and recombine Michel

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Message: 4 Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 21:54:20 -0400 From: blb@buffalo.edu Subject: Re: [Air-l] Information and knowledge To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Message-ID: <1129082060.434c6ccc5a74e@mail1.buffalo.edu> Content-Type: text/plain

Hello everyone,

I recently requested your opinions on the differences between "information" and "knowledge." Here is a summary of the 31 responses received.

For the most part, respondents were in agreement that information is a component of knowledge. Many equated "information" with "raw facts" or "data" and saw "knowledge" as having with more "meaning." Knowledge is the "application of information." Three respondents called knowledge information that had been "internalized." Another referred to it as "information with context."

No respondents saw the terms as synonymous and the majority used the exact terms "meaning" and "value" in association with the concept "knowledge." One respondent referred to knowledge as "vibrant" and "fluid." "Information," on the other hand, is "static" and comprised of "uninterpretted data," "facts," or "discrete items." According to the responses, only when information is "applied," "synthesized," "contextualized" and/or "combined with experience," does it become "knowledge."

Thank you to all who responded. Your comments have been very helpful.

Best, Brenda

-- Brenda L. Battleson Head, Print Periodicals/Serials Acquisitions Dept. University at Buffalo 134 Lockwood Library Buffalo, NY 14260-2210 716.645.2305 (voice) 716.645.5955 (fax)

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