Only the most famous paper in Information Science.

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

Why the paper matters

• “Information as Thing” (by Michael K. Buckland) is described as one of the most celebrated papers in information science.
• It won a top recognition from ASIS&T (ASIST) for the best paper in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science since the journal’s founding in 1950.
• It has 10,000+ citations (as stated in the subtitles), though its popularity is said to be waning as scholars increasingly emphasize social and culturally sensitive conceptions of information.
• Despite shifts in the field, it remains influential and is commonly assigned to students early in their studies.

What the video explores

The episode (titled as part of a series) focuses on:

• the paper’s origins
• its construction
• the problems it raises
• what makes it great

The “information” problem in information science

• The narrator frames the paper as part of a long history of attempts to define information’s central meaning.
• Marcia Bates is cited for identifying multiple approaches to defining information over decades, emphasizing that information is widely treated as complex and manifold.
• The paper’s defining move: “information as thing” becomes a multi-type definition of information—i.e., information is not one uniform thing.

Buckland’s method (conceptual analysis)

The paper uses conceptual analysis, a traditional philosophical method based on:

• reading
• thinking
• argumentation

Buckland:

• reviews conceptions of information already in the literature
• repurposes/uses definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
• organizes ideas in summaries/tables
• validates and clarifies concepts
• provides historical accounts and accessible illustrations

Buckland’s three-fold conception: information as process / knowledge / thing

Information as process

• Being informed (e.g., learning or being told something)
• Presented as dynamic, involving human/interpersonal qualities.

Information as knowledge

• What one is apprised/told
• Connected to learning and the mind
• Treated as personal and subjective.

Information as thing

• Objects attributed as informative and imparting knowledge
• Treated as having a material/statistical quality (examples include physical and recorded items like artifacts, textbooks, statutes, photos, etc.)

A key argument: information as thing deserves attention

• Buckland criticizes information theorists for dismissing information as thing.
• He argues it matters because libraries and information systems can directly collect and manage it.
• A key conceptual outcome of the paper’s table:
  • differentiates intangible vs. tangible information
  • differentiates processes vs. entities
  • implies a further phenomenon: information processing (described in modern terms as something like “artificial intelligence” in the subtitles)
• The paper is also said to connect information as thing with evidence.

“Types/species” of information as thing

The paper expands “information as thing” into types/sources:

• Data: records stored in computers (Latin datum, plural data).
• Texts/Documents: contents of archives/libraries/offices; includes paper and electronic formats; also extended to images and sound.
• Objects: informative material entities from the material world (e.g., trees, fossils, buildings, etc.).
• Events: happenings that can be informative, argued to be beyond many existing definitions.

The paper includes an “apologetic” conclusion: if anything is informative in some circumstance, then (roughly) everything might be information, making the term potentially unhelpful for definition.

How Buckland tries to avoid the “everything is information” collapse

Through qualifiers and conditions:

• Situational: something counts as informative only “in such and such circumstances.”
• Consensus: assessments of situational importance depend on agreement among people.
• Uncertainty/uniqueness and copies:
  • information as thing may be original, unique, or a copy—distinctions matter for libraries/archives/museums.
• Representations (offspring):
  • information as thing can be interpreted or summarized.
  • The subtitles describe six insights about representations, including:
    • representations can be easier to store in information systems
    • they connect particularly well with information systems managing objects and events
    • they help translate theory into practice

Historical interlude: documentation movement

• A significant portion is historical, focusing on documentation (the European documentation movement from over 100 years ago).
• Buckland aligns “information as thing” with two “luminaries”:
  • Paul Otlet (bibliographer, lawyer, peace activist)
  • Suzanne Brier (special librarian)

An illustrative example mentioned:

• whether an antelope is a “document” depends on context/purpose:
  • antelope in the wild ≠ document
  • antelope in a zoo ≈ document (because of its indexing/information purpose)

Impact on the field: precision and subfields

• The video claims “information as thing” gives more precision to the “topography” of information science.
• It points to subareas such as:
  • Shannon & Weaver’s information theory
  • historical bibliography concerned with books as physical objects

Problems/criticisms presented

The subtitles list specific concerns:

• Inconsistent terminology
  • “information as thing” appears with/without hyphens.
• Conceptual boundaries feel unclear
  • the subspecies/types (data, document, text, objects, events) blur.
  • readers may struggle to identify what truly distinguishes the “core” and its progeny.
• Concept too “thin” or insufficiently distinguished
  • the paper’s categories may not be convincingly separated early on.

Published criticism:

• Dr. Amiel Yorkie is said to protest that centering attention on things is not ideal for a field that needs to focus more on people and human concepts/measures.

What makes the paper great (as argued by the video)

Even with problems, the video emphasizes:

• It is widely popular and influential despite being only about 10 pages.
• It introduces central ideas of information science concisely.
• It offers a widely resonant multi-type conception of information that is “spacious” and relatively welcoming.
• It helped enable later conceptions (including embodied and even spiritual information, as stated).
• It adds historical perspective and curiosity about alternative histories of information.
• It brings important qualifiers with social implications:
  • situations and consensus are portrayed as adding social/cultural/critical dimensions.
  • consensus is linked (by the video) to later political ideas like:
    • critical information science
    • epistemic justice

Additional related work mentioned:

• Buckland’s 2017 book, Information in Society, is described as revisiting themes from Information as Thing and containing “striking block quotations.”
• It reportedly won an ASIS best information science book award in 2018.

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Methodologies / structured approaches mentioned

Conceptual analysis method (philosophy)

• Read relevant existing literature/conceptions of information
• Think and build arguments
• Use authoritative language sources (e.g., OED) to support/clarify terms
• Summarize concepts via tables
• Provide descriptive lists and historical accounts
• Include illustrations and accessible examples

Buckland’s conceptual framework for “information as thing”

• Define information in three modes:
  • as process (being informed; dynamic learning)
  • as knowledge (what one learns; mental, subjective)
  • as thing (material entities attributed as informative)
• Derive “types/species” of information as thing:
  • data
  • texts/documents (including images and sound)
  • objects
  • events
• Add constraints to prevent “everything is information”:
  • situationality
  • consensus among people
  • account for original vs copy
  • use representations as interpretable/summarized “offspring” that are manageable in information systems

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Speakers / sources featured

Speaker/Narrator

• Professor Jenna Hartel

Primary author discussed

• Michael K. Buckland (Information as Thing)

Other people/sources cited

• Marcia Bates
• Paul Otlet
• Suzanne Brier
• Susan Brier (mentioned in connection with the antelope example; subtitles appear to reference Suzanne/Susan)
• Dr. Amiel Yorkie
• Shannon and Weaver
• Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
• ASIS/ASIST (awarding organization referenced via journal/paper recognition)

Works/books mentioned

• Buckland’s 2017: Information in Society
• Buckland’s paper: Information as Thing
• The “what makes this paper great” episode framing (video series reference)