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This paper explains at least some of the major problems related to the subject indexing process and proposes a new approach to understanding the process, which is ordinarily described as a process that takes a number of steps. The subject is first determined, then it is described in a few sentences and, lastly, the description of the subject is converted into the indexing language. It is argued that this typical approach characteristically lacks an understanding of what the central nature of the process is. Indexing is not a neutral and objective representation of a document’s subject matter but the representation of an interpretation of a document for future use. Semiotics is offered here as a framework for understanding the “interpretative” nature of the subject indexing process. By placing this process within Peirce’s semiotic framework of ideas and terminology, a more detailed description of the process is offered which shows that the uncertainty generally associated with this process is created by the fact that the indexer goes through a number of steps and creates the subject matter of the document during this process. The creation of the subject matter is based on the indexer’s social and cultural context. The paper offers an explanation of what occurs in the indexing process and suggests that there is only little certainty to its result.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the basics of semiotic analysis and concept theory that represent two dominant approaches to knowledge representation, and explore how these approaches are fruitful for knowledge organization.

In particular the semiotic theory formulated by the American philosopher C.S. Peirce and the concept theory formulated by Ingetraut Dahlberg are investigated. The paper compares the differences and similarities between these two theories of knowledge representation.

The semiotic model is a general and unrestricted model of signs and Dahlberg's model is thought from the perspective and demand of better knowledge organization system (KOS) development. It is found that Dahlberg's concept model provides a detailed method for analyzing and representing concepts in a KOS, where semiotics provides the philosophical context for representation.

This paper is the first to combine theories of knowledge representation, semiotic and concept theory, within the context of knowledge organization.

This study aims to focus on the interpretation component of Peirce’s triadic model of sign to identify: the components affecting the interpretation of an object and the components affecting the meaning creation by people for use in ontologies. Ashura was selected because it is a historical event and a meaningful sign in Iranian religious culture.

This qualitative study was conducted in two steps. In the first step, the Instagram pages of five groups of people were chosen as the sample and examined using qualitative content analysis. In the second step, 18 creators of Ashura works were selected, their lived experience in creating these works was collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews and analysed through phenomenology method.

Based on the results, the concept is context-oriented; one cannot interpret the signs according to one’s personal preferences because the context, social rules and habits limit this interpretation. Accordingly, the use of reference systems and rules of logic, as well as artificial intelligence and computer science tools alone cannot help represent meaning in ontologies. Rather, individual characteristics, contexts, presuppositions and components existing in personal, social and technological worlds are effective on concept formation and meaning creation. Thus, these factors must be considered in ontology, especially for multi-faceted and context-oriented concepts, such as Ashura.

This research adopted a new approach and method to study ontology. This study focused on interpretation and adopted Peirce’s sign model for ontology design.

This study aims to identify the effective components in object interpretation based on Pierce’s triadic sign model to determine how meaning is created and identify the components affecting conceptualization in ontology.

A qualitative approach was adopted, and 6320 comments posted on the Instagram pages of five groups forming the research population were analyzed by qualitative content analysis.

Concepts are dynamic and context-oriented. Over time, a person’s concepts and mental patterns about an object are altered or eliminated. Social, political and economic conditions, governance, technology, interactions, language, environment, culture and social habits contribute to object interpretation and meaning creation.

In designing ontologies, especially in a context-dependent field, attention should be paid to users’ mental preconceptions, mental patterns, context and personal characteristics. Instead of using words, researchers can use visual and multimedia signs. In addition to logic, statistics and computer science, personal and anthropological characteristics should be considered in the ontology design.

This study dealt with conceptualization, which is a principal component of ontology. Using Pierce’s triadic model sign and unstructured Instagram data, ontology was studied from a user and pragmatic viewpoint, independently of technical aspects.

Journalists construct a public image through each of their produced texts. Regarding cinema journalism, the feature stories are the result of multiple semiotic relationships established between the cinematographic products, the artists involved with the cinema production, and the possible expectations of the readers related to the journalistic texts, as well as viewers of the films and the depicted artistic contexts. A semiotic analysis of a feature story on the documentary Todos os Paulos do Mundo, written by the journalist Luiz Carlos Merten, reveals the construction of what semiotics calls signic actions. Such actions recover the film creation process and its produced meaning related to contemporary Brazilian production of cinematography.

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to provide a nuanced understanding of the information concept that encapsulates both its universal foundations and context-dependent intricacies, and second, to propose a theoretical framework that integrates these diverse viewpoints, thereby contributing to the theoretical discourse and practical applications in information science/studies (IS).

The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between universalism and pluralism in connection with semiotics. The paper adopts a conceptual approach based on semiotics to address the long-standing debate over the definition of information in IS. By engaging with two foundational semiotic theories—C.S. Peirce's pragmatic semiotics and Ferdinand de Saussure's structuralist semiotics – the research seeks to bridge the conflicting perspectives of universalism and pluralism within the field.

The findings reveal that Peirce's semiotics, with its universalist core, views information as dynamic and shaped by context, while Saussure's approach, which is rooted in linguistics, emphasizes the relational aspects of sign systems and connects them to pluralism. This comparative analysis facilitates a broad understanding of information that transcends the limitations of singular perspectives. In conclusion, the paper seeks to demonstrate that the integration of universalist and pluralist perspectives through semiotics offers a more holistic approach to the study of information in IS. It contributes to the field by suggesting that the tension between these perspectives is not only reconcilable but also essential for a richer and more complete understanding of information. This theoretical foundation paves the way for future research and practical advancements in IS and advocates for approaches that recognize the complexity and multifaceted nature of information.

The study engages with theoretical frameworks, predominantly semiotic theories by C.S. Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure. While this provides a deep conceptual understanding, the lack of empirical data may limit the practical applicability of the findings. The research focuses on two semiotic perspectives, which, although foundational, do not represent the entirety of semiotics or information theory. Other significant semiotic theories and perspectives could provide alternative or complementary insights. The concepts of universalism and pluralism in information science are highly intricate and multifaceted. This study's approach to synthesizing these concepts, while comprehensive, might oversimplify some aspects of these complex paradigms.

The paper's originality lies in its unique integration of semiotic theories into the discourse of IS. This integration offers a novel perspective on understanding the concept of information, bridging the gap between universalist and pluralist approaches. The study presents a new conceptual framework for understanding information that combines elements of universalism (consistent, objective understanding of information) and pluralism (context-dependent, subjective interpretations). This dual approach is relatively unexplored in IS literature, providing fresh insights into the complex nature of information.

This paper endeavours to translate Peirce's ideas into paradigmatic sociological theory in general, and praxis linked to that paradigmatic theory. Greater comprehension of the general usefulness of a Peircian Pragmaticist semiotic perspective (and ‘fallibilism’) will enhance social action and collective responsibilities. As a philosopher, C. S. Peirce interpreted the world, but he himself did not attempt to change it. How can we incorporate a unifying ‘perspective’ such as Peirce's theory into ‘method’ (both methodology and techniques)? How does that an emphasis on methodology improves sociology as an empirically based, rigorous discipline (a human ‘science’) and various forms of praxis, especially applied sociology and public sociology? If politics is going to have any long-term impact, there has to be a degree of sophistication about the theories involved (e.g. conservation of fundamental human rights and liberties, reform within liberal parliamentary democracies, transformation within neo-conservative regimes, applied sociology in professions and occupations like social work and criminology, Feminist critique and action, GLTB action, neo-Gramscian critiques and Michael Burawoy's ‘public sociology’ in the narrow, technical sense.) Praxis can include many forms of political activity that are not specifically informed by any well-developed and coherent theory. In terms of Peirce's Pragmaticist semiotics, we can translate theoretical awareness into praxis, to interpret and to change the world. Good theory and methodology is the most practical way to promote useful social action, applied sociology and public sociology. Anything less than Peircian Pragmaticism and semiotics tends to lead to fragmentation of ‘paradigms’ or postmodernist nihilism.

This paper aims to propose a theoretically informed and analytically rigorous research framework that sustainability researchers could use or further develop to examine visually persuasive messages in photographs.

Drawing on the theoretical constructs of Peirce’s (1991) visual semiotic system of icon, index and symbol and Aristotle’s (1984) persuasive appeals of ethos, pathos and logos, the authors propose a research methodology that provides an explicit step-by-step guidance to examine visually persuasive messages in sustainability-related photographs. The sustainability-related photographs in The Coca-Cola Company’s 2018 Business and Sustainability Report are examined to illustrate the application of the framework.

This paper develops a research framework and provides empirical evidence of the use of the framework to enhance the understanding of visually persuasive messages depicted in photographs.

The proposed framework serves as a springboard for further research into visually persuasive messages.

The research framework of visual persuasion is novel and can be used by sustainability researchers to analyse photographs in corporate reports. It can be extended/modified to capture visual representations in different contexts and other disciplines as well.

This paper reviews research developments in semiosis (sign activity) as theorized by Peirce, Eco and Sebeok, focusing specifically on the current study of “semiotic threshold zones,” which range from the origins of life through various nonhuman life forms to artificial life forms, including those symbolic thresholds most familiar to library and information science (LIS) researchers. The intent is to illustrate potential opportunities for LIS research beyond its present boundaries.

The paper provides a framework that describes six semiotic threshold zones (presemiotic, protosemiotic, phytosemiotic, zoosemiotic, symbolic and polysemiotic) and notable work being done by researchers in each.

While semiotic researchers are still defining the continuum of semiotic thresholds, this focus on thresholds can provide a unifying framework for significance as human and nonhuman interpretations of a wide variety of signs accompanied by a better understanding of their relationships becomes more urgent in a rapidly changing global environment.

Though a variety of semiotic-related topics have appeared in the LIS literature, semiotic thresholds and their potential relationships to LIS research have not been previously discussed there. LIS has traditionally tasked itself with the recording, dissemination and preservation of knowledge, and in a world that faces unprecedented environmental and global challenges for all species, the importance of these thresholds may well be considered as part of our professional obligations in potentially documenting and archiving the critical differences in semiosis that extend beyond purely human knowledge.

This article is a contribution to the development of a comprehensive interdisciplinary theory of LIS in the hope of giving a more precise evaluation of its current problems. The article describes an interdisciplinary framework for lis, especially information retrieval (IR), in a way that goes beyond the cognitivist ‘information processing paradigm’. The main problem of this paradigm is that its concept of information and language does not deal in a systematic way with how social and cultural dynamics set the contexts that determine the meaning of those signs and words that are the basic tools for the organisation and retrieving of documents in LIS. The paradigm does not distinguish clearly enough between how the computer manipulates signs and how librarians work with meaning in practice when they design and run document mediating systems. The ‘cognitive viewpoint’ of Ingwersen and Belkin makes clear that information is not objective, but rather only potential, until it is interpreted by an individual mind with its own internal mental world view and purposes. It facilitates further study of the social pragmatic conditions for the interpretation of concepts. This approach is not yet fully developed. The domain analytic paradigm of Hjørland and Albrechtsen is a conceptual realisation of an important aspect of this area. In the present paper we make a further development of a non‐reductionistic and interdisciplinary view of information and human social communication by texts in the light of second‐order cybernetics, where information is seen as ‘a difference which makes a difference’ for a living autopoietic (self‐organised, self‐creating) system. Other key ideas are from the semiotics of Peirce and also Warner. This is the understanding of signs as a triadic relation between an object, a representation and an interpretant. Information is the interpretation of signs by living, feeling, self‐organising, biological, psychological and social systems. Signification is created and con‐trolled in a cybernetic way within social systems and is communicated through what Luhmann calls generalised media, such as science and art. The modern socio‐linguistic concept ‘discourse communities’ and Wittgenstein's ‘language game’ concept give a further pragmatic description of the self‐organising system's dynamic that determines the meaning of words in a social context. As Blair and Liebenau and Backhouse point out in their work it is these semantic fields of signification that are the true pragmatic tools of knowledge organ‐isation and document retrieval. Methodologically they are the first systems to be analysed when designing document mediating systems as they set the context for the meaning of concepts. Several practical and analytical methods from linguistics and the sociology of knowledge can be used in combination with standard methodology to reveal the significant language games behind document mediation.