2013 Spring Issue - School of Information and Library Science ...

24
Information from Processes, Dr. Robert Losee’s new book
SILS Professor, Robert M. Losee’s book,
Information from Processes, About the
Nature of Information Creation, Use,
and Representation, is now available.
Losee’s book, published by Springer,
strives to find a domain-independent
information model useful in the many
disciplines such as computer science,
the physical sciences, epistemology, for
which information is a core concept.
The emphasis here, according to the
book’s official Web site, is on information
and information science rather
than on computer science or psychology:
the processes that create information
and how it can be understood and
used in a variety of environments.
The book situates information concepts and phenomena in a hierarchy of
information processes, where one process uses others. It discusses these processes
in the context of theoretical and applied information science. According to the
book’s description, “Research about processes and computing is applied to
answer the question of what information can and cannot be produced, and to
determine the nature of this information (theoretical information science).
The book also presents some of the basic processes that are used in specific
domains (applied information science), such as those that generate information
in areas like reasoning, the evolution of informative systems, cryptography,
knowledge, natural language and the economic value of information.” This
approach makes the book a sturdy foundation for future discussions of the
creation and use of information. The Introduction and the last chapter (both
available on the book's Web site) present an argument for why Information
Science can be studied most usefully with a focus on information, instead of
as a technological discipline.
The Web site for CHIPL, a programming language that supports the study
of information through information systems modeling and which Losee uses
for some of the information processing in the book, is at http://chipl.org.
Dr. Losee’s primary intellectual interests are in Information Science (the
rigorous study of information) and Library Science (the rigorous study of
libraries). In many areas, he says his interests overlap with Computer Science
and Philosophy.
Losee is well published and in addition to his latest book, he has published
Text Retrieval and Filtering: Analytic Models of Performance (Information
Retrieval Series), Kluwer, 1998. Research and Evaluation for Information
Professionals (Library and Information Series), Academic Press, 1993. (Losee
and Worley.) The Science of Information: Measurement and Applications,
(Library and Information Series), Academic Press, 1990.
The editors at Against the Grain selected Information from Processes,
About the Nature of Information Creation, Use, and Representation as
“Book of Week” on September 3, 2012.
24
Faculty News
Accident claims the life of SILS alumnus, adjunct professor and
Board of Visitor member, Lee Dirks and his wife Judy Lew
A fatal automobile accident in Peru claimed the lives of SILS alumnus,
adjunct instructor and Board of Visitors member, Lee Dirks (MSLS '93) and his
wife Judy Lew on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. According to news reports, the couple
were on their way to visit pre-Columbian ruins in Calca while vacationing
in Peru when the car in which they were riding left the road resulting in a
1,311 foot drop into a ravine.
Dirks was a great supporter of SILS and the iSchool movement, serving
on various iSchool boards including SILS Board of Visitors and the board of
the SILS Metadata Research Center. He had recently been appointed adjunct
instructor at SILS. He was the Director for Portfolio Strategy in Microsoft
Research Connections, the team within Microsoft Research responsible for
working closely with academia and research organizations to help solve some
of the world's most challenging scientific and social problems via collaborative
research projects.and a leader in the field of data curation.
"Our hearts and prayers go out to their daughters and to Lee's and Judy's
families," said Dr. Gary Marchionini, dean and Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished
Professor. "Lee was one of our greatest champions and a leading
figure in data curation and the i-School movement."
A Web site has been created where additional information about the couple
can be found. There is a section on the site where you may leave your favorite
memory. Please visit: http://leeandjudy.wordpress.com/
The family has set up a financial support fund accessible on the site.
Donations may be made to the Esmé and Lila Dirks Memorial Support Fund.
Photo by images by Kathryn - www.imagesbykathryn.com/