%0 Journal Article %1 Buckland1991 %A Buckland, Michael K. %D 1991 %J Journal of the American Society for Information Science %K information informationscience theory %N 5 %P 351-360 %T Information as thing %V 42 %X Three meanings of information are distinguished: Information-as-process; information-as-knowledge; and information-as-thing, the attributive use of information to denote things regarded as informative. The nature and characteristics of information-as-thing are discussed, using an indirect approach (What things are informative?). Varieties of information-as-thing include data, text, documents, objects, and events. On this view information includes but extends beyond communication. Whatever information storage and retrieval systems store and retrieve is necessarily information-as-thing. These three meanings of information, along with information processing, offer a basis for classifying disparate information-related activities (e.g., rhetoric, bibliographic retrieval, statistical analysis) and, thereby, suggest a topography for information science.

@article{Buckland1991, abstract = {Three meanings of information are distinguished: Information-as-process; information-as-knowledge; and information-as-thing, the attributive use of information to denote things regarded as informative. The nature and characteristics of information-as-thing are discussed, using an indirect approach (What things are informative?). Varieties of information-as-thing include data, text, documents, objects, and events. On this view information includes but extends beyond communication. Whatever information storage and retrieval systems store and retrieve is necessarily information-as-thing. These three meanings of information, along with information processing, offer a basis for classifying disparate information-related activities (e.g., rhetoric, bibliographic retrieval, statistical analysis) and, thereby, suggest a topography for information science.}, added-at = {2010-07-29T11:46:36.000+0200}, author = {Buckland, Michael K.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2732ebc69e3855af2f401abceaeb6efe6/voj}, interhash = {3cfff665d240d7deae3e361bf1dcd096}, intrahash = {732ebc69e3855af2f401abceaeb6efe6}, journal = {Journal of the American Society for Information Science}, keywords = {information informationscience theory}, number = 5, pages = {351-360}, timestamp = {2010-07-29T11:46:36.000+0200}, title = {Information as thing}, volume = 42, year = 1991 }