Digital Commons Network^™

New Views Of Information, Jenna Hartel, Jens-Erik Mai, Pamela Mckenzie, Michael Ollson

Jenna Hartel

For a century "information" has been theorized and defined by information scientists and yet its nature remains obscure and highly contested. This alternative event provides "new views" -- actual images -- of information that have emerged from an empirical research project. Employing a visual data-gathering method known as the draw-and-write technique, 137 research participants were asked “What is information?” and responded by drawing upon a 4" by 4" piece of paper, coined an information square or iSquare, for short. The drawings of information were analyzed using compositional and thematic analysis techniques adapted from precedent visual studies. The results of the …