[Sigia-l] RE: Data vs. Information

[Philip Hall]

Oops, this should have gone straight to the list....

Begin forwarded message:

From: Philip Hall <philipnhall at telus.net>
Date: Tue Jan 7, 2003  8:36:14 AM US/Pacific
To: Michael Albers <malbers at memphis.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] RE: Data vs. Information


On Tuesday, January 7, 2003, at 07:22 AM, Michael Albers wrote:

>
> It seems like much of this discussion is trying to define data and 
> information as stand alone terms.  I don't think that can be done.  
> Audience comes into play.
>
>
I wonder if the idea of 'audience' relates to the verbs that are the 
unwritten part of the continuum. Do you notice that we put labels on 
the continuum that are the nouns that describe the states we think 
people should (or want to) reach but that our job is the action of 
moving them along. What are the verbs that describe this movement?

I don't have this all worked out but I have thought in the past that 
one would have to be 'informed' to move from data to information and 
one would be 'advised' to get from info to knowledge. These verbs don't 
necessarily mean that a person got outside help. I believe one can 
'advise' themselves if they are presented with the right information. 
Maybe..... hmmm.

This *does* get fuzzy but there is a very practical aspect: I once 
taught public librarians how to use legal resources (statutes, texts, 
pamphlets, etc.) to provide legal information to their communities. It 
was, in fact, very important to make the distinction between the act of 
providing information and that of providing 'advice' since they were 
all worried about being sued by our local Law Society. I used this very 
same knowledge continuum as part of my explanation and applied these 
verbs to the actions that they (as librarians) would provide. It isn't 
perfect but it did the trick at the time.

Regards,
Phil.
www.philiphall.ca
>