View source for Information

{{Short description|Facts provided or learned about something or someone}}
{{Other uses}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Communication|New photo=Ai new photo}}

'''Information''' is an [[Abstraction|abstract concept]] that refers to that which has the power to [[Communication|inform]].  At the most fundamental level, information pertains to the interpretation (perhaps [[Interpretation (logic)|formally]]) of that which may be [[sense]]d, or their [[abstraction]]s.  Any natural process that is not completely random and any observable pattern in any medium can be said to convey some amount of information.  Whereas [[digital signals]] and other [[data]] use discrete [[Sign (semiotics)|signs]] to convey information, other phenomena and artifacts such as [[analog signals|analogue signals]], [[poems]], [[picture]]s, [[music]] or other [[sound]]s, and [[current (fluid)|currents]] convey information in a more continuous form.<ref name="Anderson">{{cite book|title=Understanding Information Transmission|author1=John B. Anderson|author2=Rolf Johnnesson|publisher=Ieee Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0471711209}}</ref>  Information is not [[knowledge]] itself, but the [[meaning (philosophy)|meaning]] that may be derived from a [[representation (mathematics)|representation]] through interpretation.<ref name="Yockey">{{cite book|title=Information Theory, Evolution, and the Origin of Life|author=Hubert P. Yockey|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|page=7|isbn=978-0511546433}}</ref>

The concept of ''information'' is relevant or connected to various concepts,<ref name="Floridi">{{cite book|author=Luciano Floridi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ak__GBAcHU0C|title=Information – A Very Short Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-19-160954-1}}</ref> including [[Constraint (information theory)|constraint]], [[communication]], [[control system|control]], [[data]], [[shape|form]], [[education]], [[knowledge]], [[Meaning (linguistics)|meaning]], [[understanding]], [[stimulation|mental stimuli]], [[pattern theory|pattern]], [[perception]], [[Proposition#Treatment in logic|proposition]], [[knowledge representation|representation]], and [[Entropy (information theory)|entropy]].

Information is often processed iteratively: Data available at one step are [[data processing|processed]] into information to be interpreted and processed at the next step.  For example, in [[written text]] each [[symbol]] or [[letter (alphabet)|letter]] conveys information relevant to the word it is part of, each word conveys information relevant to the phrase it is part of, each phrase conveys information relevant to the sentence it is part of, and so on until at the final step information is interpreted and becomes knowledge in a given [[knowledge domain|domain]].  In a [[digital signal]], [[bit]]s may be interpreted into the symbols, letters, numbers, or structures that convey the information available at the next level up.  The key characteristic of information is that it is subject to interpretation and processing.

The derivation of information from a signal or message may be thought of as the resolution of [[ambiguity]] or [[uncertainty]] that arises during the interpretation of patterns within the signal or message.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Webler |first1=Forrest |title=Measurement in the Age of Information |journal=Information |date=25 February 2022 |volume=13 |issue=3 |page=111 |doi=10.3390/info13030111 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Information may be structured as [[data]]. Redundant data can be [[data compression|compressed]] up to an optimal size, which is the theoretical limit of compression.

The information available through a collection of data may be derived by analysis.  For example, a restaurant collects data from every customer order.  That information may be analyzed to produce knowledge that is put to use when the business subsequently wants to identify the most popular or least popular dish.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What Is The Difference Between Data And Information?|url=https://byjus.com/biology/difference-between-data-and-information/|access-date=2021-08-05|website=BYJUS|date=21 July 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Information can be transmitted in time, via [[data storage]], and space, via [[communication]] and [[telecommunication]].<ref name="Hilbertvideo2011">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIKPjOuwqHo  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/iIKPjOuwqHo |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=World_info_capacity_animation |publisher=[[YouTube]] |date=11 June 2011 |access-date=1 May 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Information is expressed either as the content of a [[message]] or through direct or indirect [[observation]]. That which is [[perception|perceived]] can be construed as a message in its own right, and in that sense, all information is always conveyed as the content of a message.

Information can be [[code|encoded]] into various forms for [[Transmission (telecommunications)|transmission]] and [[Language interpretation|interpretation]] (for example, information may be encoded into a [[sequence]] of [[sign (semiotics)|signs]], or transmitted via a [[Signal (electronics)|signal]]). It can also be [[Encryption|encrypted]] for safe storage and communication.

The uncertainty of an event is measured by its probability of occurrence. Uncertainty is inversely proportional to the probability of occurrence. [[Information theory]] takes advantage of this by concluding that more uncertain events require more information to resolve their uncertainty. The [[bit]] is a typical [[unit of information]]. It is 'that which reduces uncertainty by half'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DT&SC 4-5: Information Theory Primer, Online Course |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qanHTredVE&list=PLtjBSCvWCU3rNm46D3R85efM0hrzjuAIg&index=42 |website=YouTube|publisher=University of California |publication-date=2015}}</ref> Other units such as the [[Nat (unit)|nat]] may be used. For example, the information encoded in one "fair" coin flip is log<sub>2</sub>(2/1) = 1 bit, and in two fair coin flips is log<sub>2</sub>(4/1) = 2 bits. A 2011 ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' article estimates that 97% of technologically stored information was already in digital [[bit]]s in 2007 and that the year 2002 was the beginning of the [[digital age]] for information storage (with digital storage capacity bypassing analogue for the first time).<ref name="HilbertLopez2011">{{cite journal|title=The World's Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information|first1=Martin|last1=Hilbert|first2=Priscila|last2=López|date=2011|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=332|issue=6025|pages=60–65|doi=10.1126/science.1200970|pmid = 21310967|bibcode=2011Sci...332...60H|s2cid=206531385|doi-access=free}} Free access to the article at martinhilbert.net/WorldInfoCapacity.html</ref>

== Exact definition of information and digital application ==

Information can be defined exactly by set theory:

"Information is a selection from the domain of information".

The "domain of information" is a set that the sender and receiver of information must know before exchanging information. Digital information, for example, consists of building blocks that are all number sequences. Each number sequence represents a selection from its domain. The sender and receiver of digital information (number sequences) must know the domain and binary format of each number sequence before exchanging information. 
By defining number sequences online, this would be systematically and universally usable. Before the exchanged digital number sequence, an efficient unique link to its online definition can be set. This online-defined digital information (number sequence) would be globally comparable and globally searchable.<ref>Orthuber, Wolfgang (16 May 2022). "We Can Define the Domain of Information Online and Thus Globally Uniformly". Information. 13(5), 256. https://doi.org/10.3390/info13050256 .</ref>

== Etymology ==
{{See also|Information history#History of the word and concept "information"|l1=History of the word and concept "information"}}
The English word "information" comes from Middle French ''enformacion/informacion/information'' 'a criminal investigation' and its etymon, Latin ''informatiō(n)'' 'conception, teaching, creation'.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', Third Edition, 2009, [https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/95568 full text]</ref>

In English, "information" is an uncountable [[mass noun]].

==Information theory==
{{main|Information theory}}
Information theory is the scientific study of the [[quantification (science)|quantification]], [[computer data storage|storage]], and [[telecommunication|communication]] of information. The field was fundamentally established by the works of [[Harry Nyquist]] and [[Ralph Hartley]] in the 1920s, and [[Claude Shannon]] in the 1940s. The field is at the intersection of [[probability theory]], [[statistics]], computer science, [[statistical mechanics]], [[information engineering (field)|information engineering]], and [[electrical engineering]].

A key measure in information theory is [[information entropy|entropy]]. Entropy quantifies the amount of uncertainty involved in the value of a [[random variable]] or the outcome of a [[random process]]. For example, identifying the outcome of a fair [[coin flip]] (with two equally likely outcomes) provides less information (lower entropy) than specifying the outcome from a roll of a [[dice|die]] (with six equally likely outcomes). Some other important measures in information theory are [[mutual information]], channel capacity, [[error exponent]]s, and [[relative entropy]]. Important sub-fields of information theory include [[source coding]], [[algorithmic complexity theory]], [[algorithmic information theory]], and [[information-theoretic security]].

There is another opinion regarding the universal definition of information. It lies in the fact that the concept itself has changed along with the change of various historical epochs, and to find such a definition, it is necessary to find standard features and patterns of this transformation. For example, researchers in the field of information Petrichenko E. A. and Semenova V. G., based on a retrospective analysis of changes in the concept of information, give the following universal definition: "Information is a form of transmission of human experience (knowledge)." In their opinion, the change in the essence of the concept of information occurs after various breakthrough technologies for the transfer of experience (knowledge), i.e. the appearance of writing, the printing press, the first encyclopedias, the telegraph, the development of cybernetics, the creation of a microprocessor, the Internet, smartphones, etc. Each new form of experience transfer is a synthesis of the previous ones. That is why we see such a variety of definitions of information, because, according to the law of dialectics "negation-negation", all previous ideas about information are contained in a "filmed" form and in its modern representation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Semenova |first1=Veronika |last2=Petrichenko |first2=Evgeny |title=Information: The History of Notion, Its Present and Future |date=2022 |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/informatsiya-istoriya-ponyatiya-ego-nastoyaschee-i-buduschee |journal=Izvestiya University. The North Caucasus Region. Series: Social Sciences |volume=1 |issue=213 |pages=16–26 |doi=10.18522/2687-0770-2022-1-16-26 |s2cid=249796993 |issn=2687-0770}}</ref>

Applications of fundamental topics of information theory include source coding/[[data compression]] (e.g. for [[ZIP (file format)|ZIP files]]), and channel coding/[[error detection and correction]] (e.g. for [[digital subscriber line|DSL]]). Its impact has been crucial to the success of the [[Voyager program|Voyager]] missions to deep space, the invention of the [[compact disc]], the feasibility of mobile phones and the development of the Internet. The theory has also found applications in other areas, including [[statistical inference]],<ref>Burnham, K. P. and Anderson D. R. (2002) ''Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach, Second Edition'' (Springer Science, New York) {{ISBN|978-0-387-95364-9}}.</ref> [[cryptography]], [[neurobiology]],<ref name="Spikes">{{cite book|title=Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code|author1=F. Rieke|author2=D. Warland|author3=R Ruyter van Steveninck|author4=W Bialek|publisher=The MIT press|year=1997|isbn=978-0262681087}}</ref> [[perception]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Delgado-Bonal|first1=Alfonso|last2=Martín-Torres|first2=Javier|date=2016-11-03|title=Human vision is determined based on information theory|journal=Scientific Reports|language=En|volume=6|issue=1|page=36038|bibcode=2016NatSR...636038D|doi=10.1038/srep36038|issn=2045-2322|pmc=5093619|pmid=27808236}}</ref> linguistics, the evolution<ref>{{cite journal|last1=cf|last2=Huelsenbeck|first2=J. P.|last3=Ronquist|first3=F.|last4=Nielsen|first4=R.|last5=Bollback|first5=J. P.|year=2001|title=Bayesian inference of phylogeny and its impact on evolutionary biology|journal=Science|volume=294|issue=5550|pages=2310–2314|bibcode=2001Sci...294.2310H|doi=10.1126/science.1065889|pmid=11743192|s2cid=2138288}}</ref> and function<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Allikmets|first1=Rando|last2=Wasserman|first2=Wyeth W.|last3=Hutchinson|first3=Amy|last4=Smallwood|first4=Philip|last5=Nathans|first5=Jeremy|last6=Rogan|first6=Peter K.|year=1998|title=Thomas D. Schneider], Michael Dean (1998) Organization of the ABCR gene: analysis of promoter and splice junction sequences|url=http://alum.mit.edu/www/toms/|journal=Gene|volume=215|issue=1|pages=111–122|doi=10.1016/s0378-1119(98)00269-8|pmid=9666097|doi-access=free}}</ref> of molecular codes ([[bioinformatics]]), [[thermal physics]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jaynes|first1=E. T.|year=1957|title=Information Theory and Statistical Mechanics|url=http://bayes.wustl.edu/|journal=Phys. Rev.|volume=106|issue=4|page=620|bibcode=1957PhRv..106..620J|doi=10.1103/physrev.106.620|s2cid=17870175 }}</ref> [[quantum computing]], [[black hole information paradox|black holes]], [[information retrieval]], [[Intelligence (Information Gathering)|intelligence gathering]], [[plagiarism detection]],<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bennett|first1=Charles H.|last2=Li|first2=Ming|last3=Ma|first3=Bin|year=2003|title=Chain Letters and Evolutionary Histories|url=http://sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=08B64096-0772-4904-9D48227D5C9FAC75|journal=Scientific American|volume=288|issue=6|pages=76–81|bibcode=2003SciAm.288f..76B|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0603-76|pmid=12764940|access-date=2008-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007041539/http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=08B64096-0772-4904-9D48227D5C9FAC75|archive-date=2007-10-07|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[pattern recognition]], [[anomaly detection]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aicanderson2.home.comcast.net/~aicanderson2/home.pdf|title=Some background on why people in the empirical sciences may want to better understand the information-theoretic methods|author=David R. Anderson|date=November 1, 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723045720/http://aicanderson2.home.comcast.net/~aicanderson2/home.pdf|archive-date=July 23, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=2010-06-23}}
</ref> and even art creation.

== As sensory input ==
Often information can be viewed as a type of input to an [[organism]] or [[system]]. Inputs are of two kinds; some inputs are important to the function of the organism (for example, food) or system ([[energy]]) by themselves. In his book ''Sensory Ecology''<ref>{{cite book|last=Dusenbery|first=David B.|date=1992|title=Sensory Ecology|url=https://archive.org/details/sensoryecologyho0000duse|url-access=registration|publisher=W.H. Freeman|location=New York|isbn=978-0-7167-2333-2}}</ref> biophysicist [[David B. Dusenbery]] called these causal inputs. Other inputs (information) are important only because they are associated with causal inputs and can be used to [[prediction|predict]] the occurrence of a causal input at a later time (and perhaps another place). Some information is important because of association with other information but eventually there must be a connection to a causal input.

In practice, information is usually carried by weak stimuli that must be detected by specialized sensory systems and amplified by energy inputs before they can be functional to the organism or system. For example, light is mainly (but not only, e.g. plants can grow in the direction of the light source) a causal input to plants but for animals it only provides information. The colored light reflected from a flower is too weak for photosynthesis but the visual system of the bee detects it and the bee's nervous system uses the information to guide the bee to the flower, where the bee often finds nectar or pollen, which are causal inputs, a nutritional function.

== As representation and complexity ==
The [[Cognitive science|cognitive scientist]] and applied mathematician Ronaldo Vigo argues that information is a concept that requires at least two related entities to make quantitative sense. These are, any dimensionally defined category of objects S, and any of its subsets R. R, in essence, is a representation of S, or, in other words, conveys representational (and hence, conceptual) information about S. Vigo then defines the amount of information that R conveys about S as the rate of change in the [[complexity]] of S whenever the objects in R are removed from S. Under "Vigo information", pattern, invariance, complexity, representation, and information{{snd}}five fundamental constructs of universal science{{snd}}are unified under a novel mathematical framework.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Vigo|first=R. |title=Representational information: a new general notion and measure of information |journal=Information Sciences |volume=181 |issue=21 |pages=4847–4859 |year=2011 |doi=10.1016/j.ins.2011.05.020|url=http://cogprints.org/7961/1/Vigo_Information_Sciences.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Vigo | first1 = R. | year = 2013 | title = Complexity over Uncertainty in Generalized Representational Information Theory (GRIT): A Structure-Sensitive General Theory of Information | journal = Information | volume = 4 | issue = 1| pages = 1–30 | doi = 10.3390/info4010001 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Vigo|first=R.|date=2014|title=Mathematical Principles of Human Conceptual Behavior: The Structural Nature of Conceptual Representation and Processing|publisher=Scientific Psychology Series, Routledge|location=New York and London|isbn=978-0415714365}}</ref> Among other things, the framework aims to overcome the limitations of [[Shannon–Hartley theorem|Shannon-Weaver information]] when attempting to characterize and measure subjective information.

== As a substitute for task wasted time, energy, and material ==
[[Michael Grieves]] has proposed that the focus on information should be what it does as opposed to defining what it is. Grieves has proposed <ref>{{Cite book |last=Grieves |first=Michael |title=Product Lifecycle Management: Driving the Next Generation of Lean Thinking |publisher=McGraw Hill |year=2006 |isbn=0-07-145230-3 |location=New York |pages=6–12}}</ref> that information can be substituted for wasted physical resources, time, energy, and material, for goal-oriented tasks. Goal-oriented tasks can be divided into two components: the most cost-efficient use of physical resources: time, energy and material, and the additional use of physical resources used by the task. This second category is by definition wasted physical resources. Information does not substitute or replace the most cost-efficient use of physical resources but can be used to replace the wasted physical resources. The condition that this occurs under is that the cost of information is less than the cost of the wasted physical resources. Since information is a non-rival good, this can be especially beneficial for repeatable tasks. In manufacturing, the task category of the most cost-efficient use of physical resources is called lean manufacturing.

== As an influence that leads to transformation ==
Information is any type of pattern that influences the formation or transformation of other patterns.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shannon|first=Claude E.|author-link=Claude E. Shannon|title=The Mathematical Theory of Communication|year=1949|title-link=A Mathematical Theory of Communication}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Casagrande|first=David|title=Information as verb: Re-conceptualizing information for cognitive and ecological models|journal=Journal of Ecological Anthropology|year=1999|volume=3|issue=1|pages=4–13|url=http://www.lehigh.edu/~dac511/literature/casagrande1999.pdf|doi=10.5038/2162-4593.3.1.1|doi-access=free}}</ref> In this sense, there is no need for a conscious mind to perceive, much less appreciate, the pattern. Consider, for example, [[DNA]]. The sequence of [[nucleotide]]s is a pattern that influences the formation and development of an [[organism]] without any need for a conscious mind. One might argue though that for a human to consciously define a pattern, for example a nucleotide, naturally involves conscious information processing. However, the existence of [[unicellular]] and [[multicellular]] organisms, with the complex [[biochemistry]] that leads, among other events, to the existence of [[enzymes]] and polynucleotides that interact maintaining the biological order and participating in the development of multicellular organisms, precedes by millions of years the emergence of human consciousness and the creation of the scientific culture that produced the chemical nomenclature.

[[Systems theory]] at times seems to refer to information in this sense, assuming information does not necessarily involve any conscious mind, and patterns circulating (due to [[feedback]]) in the system can be called information. In other words, it can be said that information in this sense is something potentially perceived as representation, though not created or presented for that purpose. For example, [[Gregory Bateson]] defines "information" as a "difference that makes a difference".<ref>{{cite book|last=Bateson|first=Gregory|title= Form, Substance, and Difference, in Steps to an Ecology of Mind|year=1972|publisher=University of Chicago Press|pages=448–466}}</ref>

If, however, the premise of "influence" implies that information has been perceived by a conscious mind and also interpreted by it, the specific [[Context (linguistics)|context]] associated with this interpretation may cause the transformation of the information into [[knowledge]]. Complex definitions of both "information" and "knowledge" make such semantic and logical analysis difficult, but the condition of "transformation" is an important point in the study of information as it relates to knowledge, especially in the business discipline of [[knowledge management]]. In this practice, tools and processes are used to assist a [[knowledge worker]] in performing research and making decisions, including steps such as:
* Review information to effectively derive value and meaning
* Reference [[metadata]] if available
* Establish [[Relevance|relevant]] context, often from many possible contexts
* Derive new knowledge from the information
* Make decisions or recommendations from the resulting knowledge

Stewart (2001) argues that transformation of information into knowledge is critical, lying at the core of value creation and [[competitive advantage]] for the modern enterprise.

In a biological framework, Mizraji <ref>{{cite journal|last=Mizraji|first=E.|title=The biological Maxwell's demons: exploring ideas about the information processing in biological systems |journal=Theory in Biosciences.|volume=140 |pages=307–318 |year=2021 |issue=3 |doi= 10.1007/s12064-021-00354-6|pmid=34449033 |pmc=8568868 }}</ref> has described information as an entity emerging from the interaction of patterns with receptor systems (eg: in molecular or neural receptors capable of interacting with specific patterns, information emerges from those interactions). In addition, he has incorporated the idea of "information catalysts", structures where emerging information promotes the transition from pattern recognition to goal-directed action (for example, the specific transformation of a substrate into a product by an enzyme, or auditory reception of words and the production of an oral response)

The Danish Dictionary of Information Terms<ref>{{cite web|first=Bo Krantz|last=Simonsen |url=http://www.informationsordbogen.dk/concept.php?cid=902 |title=Informationsordbogen – vis begreb |website=Informationsordbogen.dk |access-date=1 May 2017}}</ref> argues that information only provides an answer to a posed question. Whether the answer provides knowledge depends on the informed person. So a generalized definition of the concept should be: "Information" = An answer to a specific question".

When [[Marshall McLuhan]] speaks of [[media (communication)|media]] and their effects on human cultures, he refers to the structure of [[cultural artifact|artifacts]] that in turn shape our behaviors and mindsets. Also, [[pheromone]]s are often said to be "information" in this sense.

== Technologically mediated information ==
{{See|Information Age}}
These sections are using measurements of data rather than information, as information cannot be directly measured.

=== As of 2007 ===
It is estimated that the world's technological capacity to store information grew from 2.6 (optimally compressed) [[exabytes]] in 1986 – which is the informational equivalent to less than one 730-MB [[CD-ROM]] per person (539 MB per person) – to 295 (optimally compressed) [[exabytes]] in 2007.<ref name="HilbertLopez2011"/> This is the informational equivalent of almost 61 [[CD-ROM]] per person in 2007.<ref name="Hilbertvideo2011"/>

The world's combined technological capacity to receive information through one-way [[broadcast]] networks was the informational equivalent of 174 [[newspaper]]s per person per day in 2007.<ref name="HilbertLopez2011"/>

The world's combined effective capacity to exchange information through two-way [[telecommunication]] networks was the informational equivalent of 6 newspapers per person per day in 2007.<ref name="Hilbertvideo2011"/>

As of 2007, an estimated 90% of all new information is digital, mostly stored on hard drives.<ref>Failure Trends in a Large Disk Drive Population. Eduardo Pinheiro, Wolf-Dietrich Weber and Luiz Andre Barroso</ref>

=== As of 2020 ===
The total amount of data created, captured, copied, and consumed globally is forecast to increase rapidly, reaching 64.2 zettabytes in 2020. Over the next five years up to 2025, global data creation is projected to grow to more than 180 zettabytes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Total data volume worldwide 2010–2025|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/871513/worldwide-data-created/|access-date=2021-08-06|website=Statista|language=en}}</ref>

== As records ==
{{LibraryandInformation-TopicSidebar}}
Records are specialized forms of information. Essentially, records are information produced consciously or as by-products of business activities or transactions and retained because of their value. Primarily, their value is as evidence of the activities of the organization but they may also be retained for their informational value. Sound [[records management]]<ref>{{cite web|title=What is records management? |url= https://searchcompliance.techtarget.com/definition/records-management |access-date=29 January 2021}}</ref> ensures that the integrity of records is preserved for as long as they are required.

The international standard on records management, ISO 15489, defines records as "information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in the transaction of business".<ref>{{citation|title=ISO 15489}}</ref> The International Committee on Archives (ICA) Committee on electronic records defined a record as, "recorded information produced or received in the initiation, conduct or completion of an institutional or individual activity and that comprises content, context and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity".<ref name="ica">{{cite web |author1=Committee on Electronic Records |title= Guide For Managing Electronic Records From An Archival Perspective |url=https://www.ica.org/sites/default/files/ICA%20Study%208%20guide_eng.pdf |website=www.ica.org |publisher=International Committee on Archives |access-date=9 February 2019 |page=22 |date=February 1997}}</ref>

Records may be maintained to retain [[corporate memory]] of the organization or to meet legal, fiscal or accountability requirements imposed on the organization. Willis expressed the view that sound management of business records and information delivered "...six key requirements for good [[corporate governance]]...transparency; accountability; due process; compliance; meeting statutory and common law requirements; and security of personal and corporate information."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Willis |first1=Anthony |title=Corporate governance and management of information and records |journal=Records Management Journal |date=1 August 2005 |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=86–97 |doi=10.1108/09565690510614238}}</ref>

== Semiotics ==
[[Michael Buckland]] has classified "information" in terms of its uses: "information as process", "information as knowledge", and "information as thing".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Buckland|first1=Michael K.|author-link=Michael Buckland|title=Information as thing|journal=[[Journal of the American Society for Information Science]]|date=June 1991|volume=42|issue=5|pages=351–360|doi=10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199106)42:5<351::AID-ASI5>3.0.CO;2-3}}</ref>

[[Paul Beynon-Davies|Beynon-Davies]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Beynon-Davies|first=P.|date=2002|title=Information Systems: an introduction to informatics in Organisations|publisher=Palgrave|location=Basingstoke, UK|isbn=978-0-333-96390-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Beynon-Davies|first=P.|date=2009|title=Business Information Systems|publisher=Palgrave|location=Basingstoke|isbn=978-0-230-20368-6}}</ref> explains the multi-faceted concept of information in terms of signs and signal-sign systems. Signs themselves can be considered in terms of four inter-dependent levels, layers or branches of [[semiotics]]: pragmatics, semantics, syntax, and empirics. These four layers serve to connect the social world on the one hand with the physical or technical world on the other.

[[Pragmatics]] is concerned with the purpose of communication. Pragmatics links the issue of signs with the context within which signs are used. The focus of pragmatics is on the intentions of living agents underlying communicative behaviour. In other words, pragmatics link language to action.

[[Semantics]] is concerned with the meaning of a message conveyed in a communicative act. Semantics considers the content of communication. Semantics is the study of the meaning of signs – the association between signs and behaviour. Semantics can be considered as the study of the link between symbols and their referents or concepts – particularly the way that signs relate to human behavior.

[[Syntax]] is concerned with the formalism used to represent a message. Syntax as an area studies the form of communication in terms of the logic and grammar of sign systems. Syntax is devoted to the study of the form rather than the content of signs and sign systems.

Nielsen (2008) discusses the relationship between semiotics and information in relation to dictionaries. He introduces the concept of [[lexicographic information cost]]s and refers to the effort a user of a dictionary must make to first find, and then understand data so that they can generate information.

Communication normally exists within the context of some social situation. The social situation sets the context for the intentions conveyed (pragmatics) and the form of communication. In a communicative situation intentions are expressed through messages that comprise collections of inter-related signs taken from a language mutually understood by the agents involved in the communication. Mutual understanding implies that agents involved understand the chosen language in terms of its agreed syntax and semantics. The sender codes the message in the language and sends the message as signals along some communication channel (empirics). The chosen communication channel has inherent properties that determine outcomes such as the speed at which communication can take place, and over what distance.

== Physics and determinacy ==

The existence of information about a [[closed system]] is a major concept in both [[classical physics]] and [[quantum mechanics]], encompassing the ability, real or theoretical, of an agent to predict the future state of a system based on knowledge gathered during its past and present. [[Determinism]] is a philosophical theory holding that causal determination can predict all future events,<ref>{{cite book |author=Ernest Nagel |title=The Structure of Science: Problems in the Logic of Scientific Explanation |publisher=Hackett |year=1999 |isbn=978-0915144716 |edition=2nd |pages=285–292 |chapter=§V: Alternative descriptions of physical state |quote=A theory is deterministic if, and only if, given its state variables for some initial period, the theory logically determines a unique set of values for those variables for any other period. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u6EycHgRfkQC&pg=PA285}}</ref> positing a fully predictable [[universe]] described by classical physicist [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]] as "[[Laplace's demon|the effect of its past and the cause of its future]]".<ref name="Truscott">Laplace, Pierre Simon, ''[[A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities]]'', translated into English from the original French 6th ed. by Truscott, F.W. and Emory, F.L., Dover Publications (New York, 1951) p.4.</ref>

Quantum physics instead encodes information as a [[wave function]], which prevents observers from directly identifying all of its possible [[measurement (quantum physics)|measurement]]s. Prior to the publication of [[Bell's theorem]], determinists reconciled with this behavior using [[hidden variable theories]], which argued that the information necessary to predict the future of a function ''must'' exist, even if it is not accessible for humans; A view surmised by [[Albert Einstein]] with the assertion that "[[God does not play dice]]".<ref name="Einstein letter, 4 Dec 1926">[https://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol15-trans/437 The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume 15: The Berlin Years: Writings & Correspondence, June 1925-May 1927 (English Translation Supplement), p. 403]</ref>

Modern [[astronomy]] cites the mechanical sense of information in the [[black hole information paradox]], positing that, because the complete evaporation of a [[black hole]] into [[Hawking radiation]] leaves nothing except an expanding cloud of [[homogeneity|homogeneous]] particles, this results in the irrecoverability of any information about the matter to have originally crossed the [[event horizon]], violating both classical and quantum assertions against the ability to destroy information.<ref name="SH-2006">{{cite video |people=Hawking, Stephen |title=The Hawking Paradox |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/other-shows/videos/other-shows-into-the-universe-with-stephen-hawking.htm |date=2006 |publisher=[[Discovery Channel]] |access-date=13 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802071021/http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/other-shows/videos/other-shows-into-the-universe-with-stephen-hawking.htm |archive-date=2 August 2013 }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20130812">{{cite news |last=Overbye |first=Dennis |author-link=Dennis Overbye |title=A Black Hole Mystery Wrapped in a Firewall Paradox |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/science/space/a-black-hole-mystery-wrapped-in-a-firewall-paradox.html |date=12 August 2013 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=12 August 2013 }}</ref>

== The application of information study ==
The information cycle (addressed as a whole or in its distinct components) is of great concern to [[information technology]], [[information systems]], as well as [[information science]]. These fields deal with those processes and techniques pertaining to information capture (through [[sensors]]) and generation (through [[computation]], [[formulation]] or composition), [[Data processing|processing]] (including encoding, encryption, compression, packaging), [[Data transmission|transmission]] (including all [[telecommunication]] methods), presentation (including [[Information visualization|visualization]] / [[display device|display]] methods), [[Digital Storage|storage]] (such as magnetic or optical, including [[Holographic data storage|holographic methods]]), etc.

[[Information visualization]] (shortened as InfoVis) depends on the computation and digital representation of data, and assists users in [[pattern recognition]] and [[anomaly detection]].
<gallery>
Internet map 1024.jpg|Partial map of the Internet, with nodes representing IP addresses
Structure of the Universe.jpg|Galactic (including dark) matter distribution in a cubic section of the Universe
XD Aolet.jpg|Information embedded in an abstract mathematical object with symmetry symmetry-breaking nucleus
Attractor Poisson Saturne.jpg|Visual representation of a strange attractor, with converted data of its fractal structure
</gallery>

[[Information security]] (shortened as InfoSec) is the ongoing process of exercising due diligence to protect information, and information systems, from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, destruction, modification, disruption or distribution, through algorithms and procedures focused on monitoring and detection, as well as incident response and repair.

[[Data analysis|Information analysis]] is the process of inspecting, transforming, and modeling information, by converting raw data into actionable knowledge, in support of the decision-making process.

[[Information Quality (InfoQ)|Information quality]] (shortened as InfoQ) is the potential of a dataset to achieve a specific (scientific or practical) goal using a given empirical analysis method.

[[Infocommunications|Information communication]] represents the convergence of informatics, telecommunication and audio-visual media & content.

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=10em|rules=yes}}
* [[Accuracy and precision]]
* [[Complex adaptive system]]
* [[Complex system]]
* [[Data storage device#Recording media]]
* [[Engram (neuropsychology)|Engram]]
* [[Exformation]]
* [[Free Information Infrastructure]]
* [[Freedom of information]]
* [[Informatics]]
* [[Information and communication technologies]]
* [[Information architecture]]
* [[Information broker]]
* [[Information continuum]]
* [[Information ecology]]
* [[Information engineering (field)|Information engineering]]
* [[Information geometry]]
* [[Information inequity]]
* [[Information infrastructure]]
* [[Information management]]
* [[Information metabolism]]
* [[Information overload]]
* [[Information quality]] (InfoQ)
* [[Information science]]
* [[Information sensitivity]]
* [[Information technology]]
* [[Information theory]]
* [[Information warfare]]
* [[Infosphere]]
* [[Lexicographic information cost]]
* [[Library science]]
* [[Meme]]
* [[Philosophy of information]]
* [[Quantum information]]
* [[Receiver operating characteristic]]
* [[Satisficing]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|first=Alan|last=Liu|date=2004|title=The Laws of Cool: Knowledge Work and the Culture of Information|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]}}
* {{cite journal|last=Bekenstein|first=Jacob D.|date=August 2003|title=Information in the holographic universe|journal=Scientific American|volume=289|issue=2|pages=58–65|title-link=holographic principle|bibcode=2003SciAm.289b..58B|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0803-58|pmid=12884539}}
* {{cite book|author-link=James Gleick|last=Gleick|first=James|date=2011|title=The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood|publisher=Pantheon|location=New York, NY|title-link=The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood}}
* {{cite journal|first=Shu-Kun|last=Lin|date=2008|title=Gibbs Paradox and the Concepts of Information, Symmetry, Similarity and Their Relationship|journal=Entropy|volume=10|issue=1|pages=1–5|doi=10.3390/entropy-e10010001|arxiv=0803.2571|bibcode=2008Entrp..10....1L|s2cid=41159530|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal|author-link=Luciano Floridi|first=Luciano|last=Floridi|date=2005|title=Is Information Meaningful Data?|journal=Philosophy and Phenomenological Research|volume=70|issue=2|pages=351–370|url=http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00002536/01/iimd.pdf|doi=10.1111/j.1933-1592.2005.tb00531.x|hdl=2299/1825|s2cid=5593220 |hdl-access=free}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|author-link=Luciano Floridi|first=Luciano|last=Floridi|date=2005|title=Semantic Conceptions of Information|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|edition=Winter 2005|editor-first=Edward N.|editor-last=Zalta|url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/information-semantic/|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Luciano Floridi|first=Luciano|last=Floridi|date=2010|title=Information: A Very Short Introduction|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Robert K. Logan|first=Robert K.|last = Logan|title=What is Information? – Propagating Organization in the Biosphere, the Symbolosphere, the Technosphere and the Econosphere|location=Toronto|publisher=DEMO Publishing}}
* Machlup, F. and U. Mansfield, ''The Study of information : interdisciplinary messages''. 1983, New York: Wiley. xxii, 743 p. {{ISBN|978-0471887171}}
* {{cite journal|first=Sandro|last=Nielsen|title=The Effect of Lexicographical Information Costs on Dictionary Making and Use|journal=Lexikos|volume=18|date=2008|pages=170–189}}
* {{cite book|last=Stewart|first=Thomas|date=2001|title=Wealth of Knowledge|publisher=Doubleday|location=New York, NY}}
* {{cite book|last=Young|first=Paul|title=The Nature of Information|date=1987|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport, Ct|isbn=978-0-275-92698-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kenett |first1=Ron S. |last2=Shmueli |first2=Galit|author2-link= Galit Shmueli |title=Information Quality: The Potential of Data and Analytics to Generate Knowledge |date=2016 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |location=Chichester, United Kingdom |doi=10.1002/9781118890622 |isbn=978-1-118-87444-8 }}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons}}
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/information-semantic/ Semantic Conceptions of Information] Review by [[Luciano Floridi]] for the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]
* [http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASC/NEGENTROPY.html Principia Cybernetica entry on negentropy]
* [https://wp.optics.arizona.edu/rfrieden/fisher-information/ Fisher Information, a New Paradigm for Science: Introduction, Uncertainty principles, Wave equations, Ideas of Escher, Kant, Plato and Wheeler.] This essay is continually revised in the light of ongoing research.
* [http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info-2003/index.htm How Much Information? 2003] an attempt to estimate how much new information is created each year (study was produced by faculty and students at the [[UC Berkeley School of Information|School of Information Management and Systems]] at the [[University of California at Berkeley]])
* {{in lang|da}} [http://www.informationsordbogen.dk Informationsordbogen.dk] The Danish Dictionary of Information Terms / Informationsordbogen

{{Communication studies}}
{{World view}}
{{Metaphysics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Information| ]]
[[Category:Concepts in metaphysics]]
[[Category:Information science]]
[[Category:Information theory]]
[[Category:Main topic articles]]
[[Category:Communication]]
[[Category:Abstraction]]