Equations, images, understanding?

In previous posts, I have touched on understanding, and the complementary nature of conscious human understanding and the more opaque, to us at least, understanding produced by AI systems. Such systems, particularly those described as deep-learning, produce an 'understanding' of large and complex data sets, but without employing the kind of concepts on which humans… Continue reading Equations, images, understanding?

Complementary understandings

I have argued for a while that the promotion of understanding is as important for the information sciences as the communication of information and the sharing of knowledge; see an earlier post on this idea. One of the difficulties in discussing this topic is the lack of clarity as to what exactly it means to… Continue reading Complementary understandings

Supporting truth and promoting understanding: knowledge organization and the curation of the infosphere

This is an updated text of a keynote address given at the Fifteenth International ISKO Conference, Porto, 9th July 2018. A brief account of the conference is given in an earlier blog post. Supporting truth and promoting understanding: knowledge organization and the curation of the infosphere David Bawden and Lyn Robinson Abstract This paper considers… Continue reading Supporting truth and promoting understanding: knowledge organization and the curation of the infosphere

“A different kind of knowing”: speculations on understanding in light of the Philosophy of Information

This is a slightly updated and extended version of a paper by myself and Lyn Robinson, presented at the 9th Conceptions of Library and Information Science conference, Uppsala, 28 June 2016. It includes some additional points raised in discussion of the paper. Introduction This is a different kind of knowing… It’s like understanding, I suppose… Continue reading “A different kind of knowing”: speculations on understanding in light of the Philosophy of Information

The noblest pleasure: theories of understanding in the information sciences

This is a modified and updated version of a chapter published in 'Theory development in the information sciences' (edited by Diane Sonnenwald, University of Texas Press, 2016, pages 281-299). Some newer references are included here, but for the full bibliography, see the original chapter. My aim in writing the chapter was to set out my… Continue reading The noblest pleasure: theories of understanding in the information sciences

i3 in the Grey City

i3 – Information: interactions and impact – is a conference held at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen every two years. This year’s conference was held in late June, the fifth in the series, and the first I’d had a chance to go to. Located in the Aberdeen Business School, the conference venue gave a chance… Continue reading i3 in the Grey City

Altmetrics, qualitative understanding and the Croatian seaside

The LIDA (Libraries in the Digital Age) series of conferences,initially annual and now biannual, has become something of an institution since it was established in 2000. Its location, now in the beautiful Adriatic city of Zadar, having migrated up and down the Croatian coast over the years, is certainly one factor in its popularity. Its… Continue reading Altmetrics, qualitative understanding and the Croatian seaside