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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.

Companies are often accused of using sustainability disclosures as public relations tools to manage financial and non-financial stakeholders' impressions. The purpose of our study was firstly to determine how comprehensive the human rights disclosures of a sample of large international companies were and secondly, whether different narrative styles are associated with levels of disclosure to manage readers' impressions about the company. We analysed the public human rights disclosures for 154 large, international companies obtained from the UN Guiding Principles Reporting website. On average, companies complied with only one-third of the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework criteria. Communication about policies has the highest compliance, whilst communication about determining which human rights aspects are salient to the company, remedies for transgressions and stakeholder engagement have the lowest disclosure. When we split the sample between high disclosure and low disclosure companies, we found that the readability of the human rights disclosures is exceptionally low and even more so for low disclosure companies. Low disclosure companies used words implying Satisfaction significantly more than high disclosure companies, which provides some support for suspecting that low disclosure companies practise impression management by only presenting a ‘rosy picture’, as well as obfuscation via low readability. We add to the literature on impression management by large corporations in their sustainability reporting, and specifically human rights disclosures, by revealing how the interplay of low disclosure, low readability and overuse of words signalling Satisfaction contributes to impression management, rather than sincere attempts at accountability to all stakeholders.

Nation branding efforts are carried out by means of communication. The element, which is the object of communication tools, must have an analogical connection with nation branding. The object of analogy should have attractive features that will strengthen the nation brand. Online tourism content, which has the quality to add value to nation branding, can produce a strong analogy. Online tourism content can easily be internalized in a positive way, as it creates attractive connotations such as memories, entertainment, holidays, etc. in the mind of the audience. In this direction, the research aims to reveal that the online tourism brand is a strategic transmission tool of nation branding.

The research study was carried out with the semiotics method. Content analysis has been made for the videos of GoTürkiye, Turkey's tourism brand, on YouTube.

Research findings show that content covering a large part of Turkey has been created. Messages to be given in the content; it is that Turkey has authentic and attractive elements and hosts international events. The content on GoTürkiye's YouTube has reached a significant number of views.

The research aims to reveal how to build an online nation brand through online tourism brands. In this respect, it is thought that the results can guide the politicians or marketers responsible for nation branding.

The idea of how to build an online nation branding through online tourism brands remains unclear. In this respect, the research demonstrates its original value in proposing a model that will contribute to online nation branding.

The aim of this article is to develop an architectural pedagogy for the Anthropocene. The author reflect on a project within a postgraduate architectural theory module to address the following questions: How can architectural pedagogy articulate critical modes of production that contribute to quality education in the time of the Anthropocene? What are the ideas, values and practices needed?

The method employed is close reading of texts focussed on three areas: critical theory and pedagogy, political theory and the Anthropocene, and architectural theory and typological urbanism. These theoretical narratives are placed in dialogue with a reflection on a design research pedagogical project. The theoretical narratives and design research project seek to articulate the multidimensionality of critical education. The methodology enacted in the paper performs the pedagogy of the classroom.

The study yields compelling conclusions regarding the potential for rethinking the idea of typology under the pressure of the Anthropocene and of critical pedagogy combined with design research to take positions on urgent political and social matters. The author concludes with a toolkit of concepts, values and knowledge practices.

At a time when disciplines tend towards discrete specialisation, while the need for knowledge production is ever more transdisciplinary, this paper develops inventive techniques and conceptual frameworks for supporting approaches where different fields and ideas make contact as a collective task in the era of the Anthropocene. It updates theories of typology to address contemporary pressures.

The aim of this research is to analyze the territorialization strategy developed by the Spanish brewing company Cruzcampo through its campaign #ConMuchoAcento (#With a strong accent) launched in January 2021.

The work is framed within the case study methodology. Semiotics will be the discipline used to establish the set of cultural units or signs that the company puts into play in its campaign #ConMuchoAcento.

Cruzcampo beer makes use of place branding by highlighting the Andalusian accent as a way of creating a unique positioning strategy. By doing so, the brewing company faces the issue of being associated with the negative Andalusian stereotype, sometimes regarded as if it were uneducated and low class. The use of dialectic must be seen as a step further in place branding strategy since it brings locality to the commercial message.

The social effects of the cultural units brought into play by the #ConMuchoAcento campaign remain to be analyzed, that is, the political dimension of this exercise of signifying agency of Andalusian culture. In other words, it remains to be seen how the accent represents that romantic Andalusian ideal of “authenticity” as that form of subjectivity at the margins of the cultural and rational organization of modern global capitalism.

This study is one of the first to be conducted on the multi-award-winning #ConMuchoAcento campaign. Furthermore, it will analyze the place branding strategy carried out by the brand from a semiotic perspective.

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 paper is a critique of Western modernity and the problems and promises of postmodernism in (re)liberating disaster studies. It criticizes metanarratives and grand theories of Western discourses to advance postmodern discourses in disaster studies.

This paper outlines a conceptual domain through which approaches of postmodernism can be employed to (re)liberate disaster studies.

Metanarratives and grand theories frame the scope and focus of disaster studies. But the increasing number and the aggravated impacts of disasters and environmental challenges in the late 20th and early 21st centuries are proofs that our current “frames” do not capture the complexities of disasters. Postmodernism, in its diversity and various meanings, offers critical and complementary perspectives and approaches to capture the previously neglected dimensions of disasters.

Postmodernism offers ways forward to (re)liberate disaster studies through ontological pluralism, epistemological diversity and hybridity of knowledge.

The agenda of postmodernism in disaster studies is proposed in terms of the focus of inquiry, ontological and epistemological positionalities, research paradigm, methodologies and societal goals.