Tuesday, September 22, 2015
W2 - Governing Information
In Vaidhyanathan's piece, critical information studies is framed as an
"emerging multi and interdisciplinary field". I think this view is
incredibly important as we explore how information is the common thread, bringing a plethora of different
disciplines together. More importantly, the information studies is
critical for understanding how our society is able to access
information, along with who has control over it. The prevalence of technology in our society means that we are able to indulge in not just written works, but works that come in multiple mediums. These considerations leave me asking many questions: Does the advancement of
technology really grant us increased freedom and access to information?
Or, does it simply make us subject to a new host of rules and regulations that
govern (or at least attempt to) what information we consume and what
meaning we derive from it? Does being aware of rules (such as copyright, or data stored in secure websites/databases) provide incentive to respect these boundaries, or does it create a challenge for folks (like hackers) to get around them?
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One thing that Vaidhyanathan doesn't really expand upon is his (her?) reasons for choosing the title "Critical Information Studies" as an umbrella label for this collection of related disciplines. I'm thinking here specifically about the word "Critical" which has two different but equally applicable definitions in this context:
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a critical analysis."
"7) of decisive importance with respect to the outcome; crucial:
a critical moment." (www.dictionary.com)
I suppose one could say the reasons are obvious, but I would've liked the author to spell them out for me.
To try and answer your question Ling, I do feel that technology grants us freedom and access to information.The internet and information technology in general is a great example of this, along with things like torrents that allow the average individual to circumvent any rules and regulations which try to "govern" us anyway. The pervasive idea that internet provides anonymity online is also quite interesting, as it encourages this behavior despite those rules, as exemplified by the plethora of illegal content currently available online.
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