Defining the concept of information has long been the subject of debate within Information Science (IS) and new challenges are constantly presented by new scientific discoveries and new theoretical positions. It is, nevertheless, of key importance for any academic discipline to find definitions on which there is a consensus. The paper therefore aims to clarify the relevance of one of these new theoretical approaches for IS, namely poststructuralism. It does so by describing the theories found in the writings of poststructuralists Mark C. Taylor, Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, and discussing their relevance for the three definitions of information suggested by Michael Buckland (Information-as-knowledge, Information-as thing and Information-as-process), thereby answering the following questions: What relevance does Mark C. Taylor's theory have for defining information-as-knowledge? What relevance does Jacques Derrida's theory of différance have for defining information-as-thing? What relevance does Michel Foucault's discourse theory have for defining information-as-process? The method used in the paper is a qualitative ideology analysis focused on identifying key dimensions in Buckland's definitions and then describing the poststructuralist theories in relation to these dimensions. The paper argues that, from a poststructuralist perspective, Information-as-knowledge should be defined as something radically relational and characterized by the theory of a passive subject; the definition of Information-as-thing should be characterized by the ongoing interplay of differences between signs; and Information-as-process should be defined by the disciplinary forces of society.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hb-19686 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Åhman, Henrik |
| Publisher | Högskolan i Borås, Institutionen Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap / Bibliotekshögskolan, University of Borås/Swedish School of Library and Information Science (SSLIS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Magisteruppsats i biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap vid institutionen Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap, 1654-0247 ; 2009:74 |
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