An exploration of opportunities for a theory of information inadequacy
(2018) 13th IFIP TC 9 International Conference on Human Choice and Computers, HCC 2018 Held at the 24th IFIP World Computer Congress, WCC 2018 In IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology 537. p.384-394- Abstract
Our everyday experiences show that the lack of needed information in various human affairs may give rise to consequences that we would like to avoid – e.g. the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia. However, we still do not have a coherent theoretical body that addresses such experiences of information inadequacy as this changes everything in respect to the current conception of the information society, where technology plays a central role. To this end, we provide an initial exploration of opportunities for such a theory: when needed information is not available in human affairs, for any reason. We start with diagnoses of five existing central theoretical bodies that constitute promising candidates to account for instances of information... (More)
Our everyday experiences show that the lack of needed information in various human affairs may give rise to consequences that we would like to avoid – e.g. the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia. However, we still do not have a coherent theoretical body that addresses such experiences of information inadequacy as this changes everything in respect to the current conception of the information society, where technology plays a central role. To this end, we provide an initial exploration of opportunities for such a theory: when needed information is not available in human affairs, for any reason. We start with diagnoses of five existing central theoretical bodies that constitute promising candidates to account for instances of information inadequacy. The results show though that these do not offer a comprehensive account for situations where needed information is missing. Secondly, an empirical investigation was conducted, utilizing grounded theory approach, where fifty cases of information inadequacy were analysed. This revealed a number of patterns of plausible causes of information inadequacies in human affairs, which offer a preliminary foundation for a future theory of information inadequacy. This result suggests that information inadequacies may be understood as various instances of information-lack and information-overflow. These two, in turn, include numerous factors that cause information inadequacies, ranging from political and cultural structures, through human individual capabilities, and ending with procedural set-ups and technological artefacts. We advocate that further research should be conducted to explore various instances of information inadequacy aimed to the formulation of a coherent theory.
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- author
- Kajtazi, Miranda LU and Haftor, Darek
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Information inadequacy, Information lack, Information management, Information needs, Information overload
- host publication
- This Changes Everything – ICT and Climate Change : What Can We Do? - 13th IFIP TC 9 International Conference on Human Choice and Computers, HCC13 2018, Held at the 24th IFIP World Computer Congress, WCC 2018, Proceedings - What Can We Do? - 13th IFIP TC 9 International Conference on Human Choice and Computers, HCC13 2018, Held at the 24th IFIP World Computer Congress, WCC 2018, Proceedings
- series title
- IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology
- editor
- Kimppa, Kai ; Leenen, Louise ; Ess, Charles and Kreps, David
- volume
- 537
- pages
- 11 pages
- publisher
- Springer
- conference name
- 13th IFIP TC 9 International Conference on Human Choice and Computers, HCC 2018 Held at the 24th IFIP World Computer Congress, WCC 2018
- conference location
- Poznan, Poland
- conference dates
- 2018-09-19 - 2018-09-21
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85053896435
- ISSN
- 1868-4238
- ISBN
- 9783319996042
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-99605-9_29
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 1bc79e2c-c242-4f3b-bab6-e56cf76ab518
- date added to LUP
- 2018-10-22 13:29:46
- date last changed
- 2023-09-08 09:42:04
@inproceedings{1bc79e2c-c242-4f3b-bab6-e56cf76ab518, abstract = {{<p>Our everyday experiences show that the lack of needed information in various human affairs may give rise to consequences that we would like to avoid – e.g. the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia. However, we still do not have a coherent theoretical body that addresses such experiences of information inadequacy as this changes everything in respect to the current conception of the information society, where technology plays a central role. To this end, we provide an initial exploration of opportunities for such a theory: when needed information is not available in human affairs, for any reason. We start with diagnoses of five existing central theoretical bodies that constitute promising candidates to account for instances of information inadequacy. The results show though that these do not offer a comprehensive account for situations where needed information is missing. Secondly, an empirical investigation was conducted, utilizing grounded theory approach, where fifty cases of information inadequacy were analysed. This revealed a number of patterns of plausible causes of information inadequacies in human affairs, which offer a preliminary foundation for a future theory of information inadequacy. This result suggests that information inadequacies may be understood as various instances of information-lack and information-overflow. These two, in turn, include numerous factors that cause information inadequacies, ranging from political and cultural structures, through human individual capabilities, and ending with procedural set-ups and technological artefacts. We advocate that further research should be conducted to explore various instances of information inadequacy aimed to the formulation of a coherent theory.</p>}}, author = {{Kajtazi, Miranda and Haftor, Darek}}, booktitle = {{This Changes Everything – ICT and Climate Change : What Can We Do? - 13th IFIP TC 9 International Conference on Human Choice and Computers, HCC13 2018, Held at the 24th IFIP World Computer Congress, WCC 2018, Proceedings}}, editor = {{Kimppa, Kai and Leenen, Louise and Ess, Charles and Kreps, David}}, isbn = {{9783319996042}}, issn = {{1868-4238}}, keywords = {{Information inadequacy; Information lack; Information management; Information needs; Information overload}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{384--394}}, publisher = {{Springer}}, series = {{IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology}}, title = {{An exploration of opportunities for a theory of information inadequacy}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99605-9_29}}, doi = {{10.1007/978-3-319-99605-9_29}}, volume = {{537}}, year = {{2018}}, }