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The different senses of the term information in physical, biological and social interpretations, and the possibility of connections between them, are addressed. Special attention is paid to Hofkirchner's Unified Theory of Information (UTI), proposing an integrated view in which the notion of information gets additional properties as one moves from the physical to the biological and the social realms. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

UTI is compared to other views of information, especially to two theories complementing several ideas of it: the theory of the hypertextual documental universe (“docuverse”) and the theory of integrative levels of reality. Two alternative applications of the complex of these three theories are discussed: a pragmatical, hermeneutic one, and a more ambitious realist, ontological one. The latter can be extended until considering information (“bit”) together with matter-energy (“it”) as a fundamental element in the world. Problems and opportunities with each view are discussed.

It is found that the common ground for all three theories is an evolutionary approach, paying attention to the phylogenetic connections between the different meanings of information.

Other theories of information, like Leontiev's, are not discussed as not especially related to the focus of the approach.

The paper builds on previously unnoticed affinities between different families of information-related theories, showing how each of them can provide fruitful complements to the other ones in clarifying the nature of information.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how corporate heritage identity (CHI) implementation strategies are communicated by Grundfos, a 70-year-old global company from Denmark, in their internal history references.

Drawing on an interdisciplinary methodological framework related to heritage identity communication, hypertextuality, and multi-modality, it proposes a multi-leveled analysis model through which communicative strategies are explored at the level of four semiotic modes (written text, speech, still image, and moving image) and at the level of their hypermodal interplay.

This exploratory case study explains how CHI implementation strategies are communicated in accordance with the potential and constraints of semiotic modes and hyperlinking affordances. The analytical work suggests that the management employs complex CHI implementation strategies in order to strengthen organizational identity and to influence employees’ identification with the company across past, present, and future.

By examining the semiotic modes’ interconnectivity and functional differentiation in a hypermodal context, this paper expands existing research by extending the multi-modal focus to a hypertextual one.

By exploring CHI implementation strategies from a hypermodal perspective and by providing a replicable model of hypermodal analysis, this paper fills a gap in the heritage identity research. Furthermore, it can also be of value to practitioners who intend to design company webpages that strategically communicate heritage identity implementation strategies in order to engage the employees in the company’s heritage.

This paper aims to examine what elements in online environments promote engagement, learning and repeated visits for children aged 6‐12 years.

An in‐depth textual analysis, exploring components such as navigation, construction of site, character choice and development, style of text, types of questioning, animation, color and other factors, of six English‐language web sites, describing themselves as “educational and fun”, was carried out against a background of literature available on web site design for children, relying particularly on media text analysis and an evaluation method produced in relation to children's motivation and web site use.

The analysis of the six web sites resulted in a number of usability requirements for children's web sites, including the following: web sites should have an understanding of the community of users they serve; web sites should offer dynamic forms of learning; web sites should encourage interaction between users and site designers; web sites should offer open activities rather than closed ones; web sites should view young people as persons with rights.

Insights gained from the analysis of six web sites are hard to generalize. User behavior was not studied.

Web designers should bear the usability requirements in mind when designing web sites for children.

Although educational content for children on the internet is growing exponentially, the area is relatively under‐researched. This is one of the first detailed analyses of entertaining educational web sites targeting children.