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Information and experience, a dialogue

Tim Gorichanaz (College of Computing and Informatics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)

Journal of Documentation

ISSN: 0022-0418

Publication date: 8 May 2017

Abstract

Purpose

Scholars in information science have recently become interested in “information experience,” but it remains largely unclear why this research is important and how it fits within the broader disciplinary structure of information science. The purpose of this paper is to clarify this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The discussion unfolds in the form of a philosophical dialogue between the Epistemologist, who represents the traditional and majority epistemological viewpoint of information science, and the Aestheticist, representing the emerging paradigm of experiential information inquiry.

Findings

A framework emerges that recognizes dual conceptualizations of truth (veritas and aletheia) and consequently information and knowledge (gnostic and pathic). The epistemic aim of understanding is revealed as the common ground between epistemology and aesthetics.

Originality/value

The value of studying human experiences of information is grounded in work spanning philosophy, psychology and a number of social science methodologies, and it is contextualized within information science generally. Moreover, the dialogic format of this paper presents an opportunity for disciplinary self-reflection and offers a touch of heart to the field.

Keywords

  • Cognition
  • Philosophy
  • Aesthetics
  • Literature
  • Experience
  • Epistemology
  • Phenomenology
  • Philosophy of Information

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to Deborah Turner for pushing him, to Bhuva Narayan for encouraging him, and to Jenna Hartel for inspiring him. The author is also grateful to David Bawden for his visionary research and editorial work.

Citation

Gorichanaz, T. (2017), "Information and experience, a dialogue", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 73 No. 3, pp. 500-508. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-09-2016-0114

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Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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