The information concept of Nicholas Belkin revisited – some semeiotic comments

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine and compare Nicholas Belkin's information concept and his concept of communication with the authors' semeiotic inspired communication model – the Dynacom.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors compare the two communication models by comparing the requirements given by Belkin and the conditions of the Dynacom.

Findings

The authors conclude that Belkin's idea of information and his idea of communication lack the social aspect. Based on his theory, he is unable to point out how information becomes knowledge. These are two major issues the authors believe they can elaborate on by introducing the Dynacom and their semeiotic inspired concept of information.

Originality/value

No one has previously specifically analyzed Nicholas Belkin's concept of information and compared it to a semeiotic ditto.

Citation

Thellefsen, T., Sørensen, B. and Thellefsen, M. (2014), "The information concept of Nicholas Belkin revisited – some semeiotic comments", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 70 No. 1, pp. 74-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-08-2012-0101