9/25 Readings

Information as Thing by Michael K. Buckland

This investigation of information is very philosophical in nature. Buckland approaches information from the physical side. These are the actual ‘documents’ that we can see or hear or touch or just generally experience. One puzzling question that came to my mind was ‘does information have to come from external sources; can a priori knowledge (knowledge that is independent of experience) count as information?’ This seems to make the term information very broad indeed. Also as Buckland was saying, if everything that can be experienced could be considered information, then the term information really does not have much meaning. There are a lot of good definitions in his article, and it was a good examination overall, but I don’t see that we are any closer to knowing how to define information.


The Power to Name by Hope A. Olson

Olson who I surmise has a significant gender studies background or at least is very keen on feminism, points out the downfalls of different cataloging systems. The problem with cataloging or with any sort of classification is that once you put something in a specific category, you have pinned it down. Once you lump something into a category you have defined it as something, but more importantly, not something else. Each thing or idea or subject has so many facets to it that it can never truly be in just one category. A whale can be in the aquatic life category, but it can also be in the commercial fishing industry category, as well as the literature category. Many groups are going to be excluded or forgotten in a system of classification. That is the nature of the beast. This is why Kelly’s article is so interesting. He talks about all the linking and cross-referencing that would be involved in a universal digital library. Something like that would surely do more justice to the interconnectedness of all things.

Scan This Article by Kevin Kelly

Wow. The idea of a universal library is an overwhelming one. My main question about this idea is what are the implications? Like Nardi and O’Day’s questions in their watered down optimistic book, we should think critically about the implications such a library would have on its users and the world in general. In depth analysis and discussion should be undertaken in such a grave topic as this. It is always sad to see something that you like pass into obsolescence. I’m sure many were disappointed when LPs were replaced by tapes. I know my father still has a collection of hundreds of VHS tapes (and actually was still buying them after DVD’s clearly were taking over). The book is a wondrous thing with its quaint pages, and its charming bound cover. And also in the future I do not wanting to be spending all my waking hours at a computer screen. Humans were designed too be active and to gather berries and hunt small game and such. E.T. the extra-terrestrial body was based on how humans would look in the distant future when everything is automated. Our bodies will be all gross and atrophied and we’ll have huge heads and good button pushing fingers. If I ever meet a girl like that I am not going to date her.