Re: info search
Subject: Re: info search
From: Clark Robinson <robinsonchicago@gmail.com>
Date: 6/17/10, 08:52
To: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
CC: Scott Mintz <scott.w.mintz@gmail.com>

Re: Boudreaux article:

"For these pieces to be fitted together so that the result is valuable requires many people receiving feedback at each step of the way . . ."

In his next column he'll discuss the feedback--of course he's talking in general, not specifically about electronic systems of feedback exchange, but one can not help but think about how electronic connections improve information activities.


Based on my own experience here are some conclusions about large scale information handling by multiple users of information in an electronic network:


There needs to be (and often there is) an information ethic, which every handler of the information subscribes to, and  a system which encourages, facilitates and to the extent reasonably possible enforces this ethic.

The information ethic to be applied by each user includes:
--respect for the integrity and pedigree of the information (preserve evidence of its original source, date of creation, context of creation (such as who paid for it), and not altering or distorting the information)
--concern for the next user of the information, to make his work more efficient, which may mean recording additional meta data (information about the information)
--concern for all future users of the information, making it easier for this information to be found and understood literally

The system should support the exercise of the information ethic by
--making it easy for each information handler to add value--by prompting users to attach critical meta data
--keeping track of who is interested in the information
--signaling interested users of the arrival of new information that has meta data indicating interest
--signaling users when additions to the meta data indicate they may be interested
--users should be easily able to manually share and direct the information, but the system should also be directing information independently (like Scott's bypass sampling). 


I think a proponent of any information to be entered in a system has a duty to also enter complete pedigree data, considering not only his own use of the information but the interests of others who may ultimately access the information. The value of this to subsequent users and ultimately to the institutions served by the system justifies the additional labor.

When a user accesses some information there should be a display of the associated data for his benefit. It should be easy to attach more information, particularly in the form of data structured so the system can appreciate it.  I am more interested in users filling in data fields than in attaching prose commentary to the information (though both are valuable), because the system can not use the latter so readily for the benefit of other potential users.

Ironically, some things are worse in the electronic information world: in paper systems each document has its own identity, but electronic information, absent a well-conceived meta data structure, can lose its identity.  This can occur when information dumping is permitted, which happens because it is so easy and the information ethic is ignored.

What I am writing here is consistent with what Scott was describing in his Thoughts to be Pondered post and I guess what I didn't agree with there was not the proposed feedback structure but rather the application of a disciplinary system to the practice of writers' art.






On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 12:34 PM, Clark Robinson <robinsonchicago@gmail.com> wrote:
Interesting, I have been thinking about his article as applied to my own experiences in trying to find ways to make the most. meaningful use of vast quantities of information (in government), a lot of it stored like the puzzle pieces in the field, without appropriate meta data, requiring every user of the information to re-discover for himself some of the same things each prior user discovered, sort of similar to his last paragraph.  I am about to drive to Chicago so that is something to occupy me for the next few hours besides passing 18 wheelers.


On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 11:18 AM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/boudreaux/s_686130.html

--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302