[Sigia-l] data as information?

[Scott Nelson]

>  What IA's?
>

Well Bob does. Everybody knows that.

The statement was an overgeneralization; the response vague - are you  
looking for a style of IA who does, or specific names?


> Is data
> unconditionally not information?
>

Were this phrased as a statement rather than a question, I would  
certainly suggest that it was false.

Data can be information - scientific applications, for example, often  
treat data as the final goal. A single piece, analyzed in isolation  
can be simply data, the collective becomes information.

Data is certainly not inherently information, at least from a human  
perspective. Information suggests meaning, perhaps context, perhaps  
analysis. Almost certainly some combination of the three of undefined  
levels of precision. Information requires perspective, while data can  
exist in isolation.

By the same token, as I'm hoping to have illustrated above, data is  
not inherently information.

As data, you're either a 1, or a 0. Information is created by  
interpreting the meaning of this.
--
Skot Nelson
skot at penguinstorm.com