Introduction: This paper elaborates the picture of information sharing and knowledge sharing as forms of communicative activity. Method: A conceptual analysis was made to find out how researchers have approached information sharing and knowledge sharing from the perspectives of transmission and ritual. The findings are based on the analysis of one…

Introduction: Sharing of information across cultural boundaries does not always live up to expectations. Information behaviour is an underlying factor, which can contribute to poor use or non-use of the information or information services at the disposal of indigenous people in a development context. Method: A literature study of information…

Chaos theory describes the way systems change over time. It proposes that systems governed by physical laws can undergo transitions to a highly irregular form of behavior and that although chaotic behavior appears random, it is governed by strict mathematical conditions. This paper applies chaos theory to administrative and organizational issues.…

Reports on applications of bibliometrics (measurement of book or compositional entities according to methods that yield comparable results) in the field of information science. Highlights include quantification and qualification, Bradford's Law of Scattering, applications and classifications of citation analysis, and bibliometrics in library…

Noting that the introduction of Videotex into the United States might precipitate significant public policy choices, this paper argues for a systematic assessment of the new technology and presents a methodological framework for dealing with its social impact. It then discusses 12 preliminary public policy concerns: (1) economic barriers to entry,…

Views information as residual or catalytic form of energy which regulates other forms of energy in natural and artificial systems. Parallel human information processing (production systems, algorithms, heuristics) and information measurement are discussed. Suggestions for future research in area of parallel information processing include a matrix…

This concise survey of the vast literature currently available in field-of-systems thinking and cybernetics discusses the areas of systems philosophy, systems analysis (mathematical systems theory), empirical systems research, and systems engineering, and outlines contributions of selected scholars. A bibliography of 148 books and papers is…

Arguing that most writing on library and information service is empirical or devoted to reporting what happened, this paper attempts to promote conversation between the empiricists and the idealists or metaphysicians of library and information studies. The paper includes the following sections: (1) Professor Peter Kien and the Metaphysical Course…

Reviews characteristics of international information theories and examines the social implications these characteristics have on information management. Highlights include a historical explanation of the development of information theories, a discussion of the role information science plays in other disciplines and professions, and an examination…

Because of the varied interests of the people involved in intercultural communication, there is little agreement over the definition of that concept. For this reason, no theories of intercultural communication exist; rather, the focus of recent writings in the field has been on a number of "sensitizing concepts" that provide a framework…

Identifies information specialists who employ systems methodology and discusses the modern systems movement, its role in the changing world view of science, disciplines (cybernetics and operations research) that have contributed to its development, and distinctions between General Systems Theory and other approaches to the study of systems.…

Discusses four conceptual issues in the uses and gratifications approach: the nature of the active audience; the role of gratification orientations in mediating effects; the social origins of media needs and uses; and the shared interest of audience members in perceptions and cognitions about mass media content. (JMF)

Noting the tendency for some researchers to reject communication network analysis because the original data might be self-reports, this paper proposes automated network analysis as a means of circumventing such objections. The paper first identifies seven different approaches to defining networks--(1) objective, (2) analyzed, (3) user perceived,…

Expressing the need for a description of communication that is equally applicable to all the social sciences, this report develops a general model of the communication process based upon the principle of convergence as derived from basic information theory and cybernetics. It criticizes the linear, one-way models of communication that have…

This paper is part of a larger work developed over a period of three years on the interrelationship of theories of composing and interpreting. Following an introduction, the second and major part of the paper summarizes the four classifications of theoretical models of reading: information processing models, hypothesis testing models,…