Category: ETL401

What is information?

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Photo by Giulia May on Unsplash

Responding to Module 2.1 Definitions of Information

The term ‘information’ has a wide range of definitions, ranging from the Oxford Dictionary’s simple “facts provided or learned about something or someone” to much more complex explanations such as Klaus Krippendorff’s:

Literally that which forms within, but more adequately: the equivalent of or the capacity of something to perform organizational work, the difference between two forms of organization or between two states of uncertainty before and after a message has been received, but also the degree to which one variable of a system depends on or is constrained by … another. (1986)

Whatever definition resonates more with you, which for me is certainly the first definition, ‘information’ can be broadly categorised as either semantic or classical, with semantic lending itself to Oxford’s definition, and classical to Krippendorff’s definition. In brief, a semantic view of information is what would spring to mind for most of us, in that information gives meaning, facts or a message. The classic view however, defines information in a more scientific way as raw pieces or ‘bits’ of information ready to be organised for use.

This all sounded a little confusing to me, so looking at information as a visual made a world of difference. This is a data-knowledge continuum, which describes how semantic and classical information fit together.

Pushpavanam, K. (2015)

Another interesting learning from the module was the attributes of information, and the fact that information is bought and sold at every moment of the day and night. From pay TV to news subscription services, some information is only available by payment – unfortunately often the more credible information sources too. This has actually been a topical discussion with the recent Facebook v Government saga. I had discussed the issue with family and friends, and the question always arose: who gets to decide which information (news) is free for all, and which information needs to be purchased?

Even though information is a commodity, it has four properties that cause it to be a unique commodity. It is inconsumable (it can’t truly disappear), it is untransferable (once you know, you always know), it is indivisible (the meaning is lost if only half the information is given) and it is accumulative (can be infinitely reused) (L. Derouet, personal communication, March 5, 2021).

So, information isn’t as straightforward as I’d originally thought. Although the classical view is still a little hazy for me, the continuum shows that information is an integral step in the quest for wisdom, so making sure we as TLs, and our school community, access quality information is paramount in the pursuit of wisdom.

 

References

Krippendorff, K. (1986). A Dictionary of Cybernetics. Retrieved from Web dictionary of cybernetics and systems. (n.d.) Information. http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/ASC/INFORMATION.html

Oxford University Press. (2020). Information. In Lexico.com. https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/information

Pushpavanam, K. (2015). Strive to get higher on the Data -> Wisdom Continuum — another key tenet. https://iyer.medium.com/strive-to-get-higher-on-the-data-information-knowledge-understanding-and-wisdom-continuum-c5ccb96438

 

The beginning: The role of a teacher librarian

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As a busy teacher, concerned with my own curriculum planning and day-to-day workings of the school, I didn’t give much thought to the role of a teacher librarian. They were always lovely people, with a calming presence and sense of quiet contentment in their role, but I didn’t consider how their role intersected with mine.

This is potentially because the teacher librarians often weren’t visible in the school. This ‘invisibility’ of the school librarian may stem from the fact that many schools have librarians who are not qualified for the dual role of teacher and librarian, and therefore cannot deliver a true teacher librarian service. I can’t recall a time when I was encouraged to collaborate with the teacher librarian to resource the curriculum.

I have taught at three schools in my teaching career, and only one school had a designated teacher librarian who took my class for a 45-minute lesson each week. I don’t know what she did with my class during that time. All I knew was that my students would come back to class armed with beautifully illustrated picture books or thick fantasy novels, pop them into their bags, and then we’d move on to the next lesson.

At another school, although there was a large library stocked to the brim with material, unless I purposefully booked in a time slot to borrow books, my class didn’t spend any time interacting with the librarian. For me, quite ignorant of the role a librarian could play in the school, it was just the norm. Indeed, it was the norm for my fellow teacher colleagues too.

So, upon reflection, my understanding of the role of a teacher librarian was limited to a belief that they were there to create a nice environment that encouraged a love of reading in children – which I fully supported. I felt the library’s goal was to do just that: foster a love of books, make books accessible to children of all demographics, and to uphold the value of literacy in the school community. The annual Book Week parade was a rare moment of librarian visibility, and for that specific day you’d see the librarian outside their usual environment.

Further to that, I have always felt the role of a librarian was to inject a sense of fun around literacy by creating a lovely library atmosphere, peppered with colourful posters and comfy sofas, or organising the Scholastic Book Club forms.

These are all amiable and valuable roles, and ones that I felt, and still feel, would be enjoyable to fulfil. My prior understandings about the role of a teacher librarian may have been romanticised, but they made me slightly envious of the librarians, going about their work in an environment that I have always loved.

I know that my journey into teacher librarianship will take me much further beyond these roles and into an infinitely more complex and varied world.