Mass Communication

Three Definitions of Information Knowledge

Ghana Institute of Journalism
Diploma 2 Morning
Name:Baffuor Owiredu-Amoh
Index:DCSM 2010044



(1)NATO Joint Air Power Competence Center (JAPCC: [1]) of Kalkar (Germany) project-requirement.
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The construction of emergent patterns of organization can be seen as the general process at the root of
Dervin's (1999) concept of 'sensemaking' , in which people are seen as seeking information in order to make sense of situations in their lives. 'Making sense' consists operationally in constructing an understanding, an emergent, simplifying organization of ideas and experience that satisfies people's sense
of completion, of wholeness. Likewise, the construction of such emergent patterns is also at the heart of Kuhlthau's (2004) information search process, in which the searcher gradually forms a more and more coherent conception of the focus, theme, or argument of the planned paper. The formulation of an 'Anomalous State of Knowledge' (Belkin, et al. 1982) is in response to a situation where the information seeker feels a lack of success in creating a coherent, emergent, understanding around some phenomenon of interest and attempts to describe the shape of the gap in knowledge.

(2) Information Knowledge is data endowed with relevance and purpose. Converting data into information
thus requires knowledge. And knowledge, by definition, is specialized. - Peter Drucker.

(3)Knowledge... knowledge is the appropriate collection of information, such that it's intent is to be useful. Knowledge is a deterministic process. When someone "memorizes" information (as less-aspiring test-bound students often do), then they have amassed knowledge. This knowledge has useful meaning to them, but it does not provide for, in and of itself, an integration such as would infer further knowledge.
For example, elementary school children memorize, or amass knowledge of, the "times table". They can tell you that "2 x 2 = 4" because they have amassed that knowledge (it being included in the times table).
But when asked what is "1267 x 300", they can not respond correctly because that entry is not in their times table. To correctly answer such a question requires a true cognitive and analytical ability that is only encompassed in the next level... understanding. In computer parlance, most of the applications we use (modeling, simulation, etc.) exercise some type of stored knowledge.

Gene Bellinger,Durval Castro,Anthony Mills