Information (Communication Concepts): 2 - Softcover

Ritchie, L. David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803939051 ISBN 13: 9780803939059

Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc, 1991

Synopsis

Overall, Ritchie provides an excellent introduction to Shannon′s theories of communication and the associated ideas concerning information. --Library Quarterly SERIES QUOTE: "The second volume in the series is titled information and the third volume is Gatekeeping. Taking their lead from Chaffee, both Ritchie and Shoemaker carefully explicate the concepts which focus their texts. As is the first volume in the series, these are well-thought out, succinct, and very readable volumes. Additional titles are planned. . . . If the standards set by these three are continued, this promises to be an exciting series which provides clarity and focus to the study of communication." --ETC: A Review of General Semantics Challenging, intriguing, complex--defining information has occupied many of the best minds in the field of communication for half a century. Information seeks to summarize and resolve the difficult issues associated with this endeavor. Ritchie succinctly explains the distinctions among the myriad definitions/understandings of information and why these distinctions are important. Providing a definition for information, he then explores how the concept of information can connect various aspects of the communication process in a coherent way. This analysis ranges across several levels of conceptual usage: technical meaning in engineering; the complex meanings of information; and its metaphorical usage by communication theorists.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This volume thoroughly covers the sub-field of information, and is one of the first in a series which synthesizes the research literature on major concepts in the field of communication. Each concise volume includes a research definition (concept explication) and presents a state-of-the-art analysis of theory and empirical findings related to the concept.

After defining the word `information', the author contrasts non-linear and reflexive ideas about human communication with linear perspectives. Information is equated with uncertainty. The result presents a pattern for the process of conceptualizing and reconceptualizing information in the context of evolving communication theories.

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803939051
• ISBN 13: 9780803939059
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 75