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Data integration in microbial genomics ... - Jacobs University

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2 1. Introduction<br />

syntax: data level<br />

more signs<br />

user<br />

sign<br />

subject<br />

semiotics<br />

mean<strong>in</strong>g<br />

pragmatics:<br />

<strong>in</strong>formation level<br />

semantics<br />

Figure 1.1: data and <strong>in</strong>formation, modified from: [Berthel, 1975]<br />

b<strong>in</strong>ed to form expressions, which are called data. Rules that describe<br />

how these signs are validly comb<strong>in</strong>ed are called syntax.<br />

Valid data expressions can often be comb<strong>in</strong>ed to form even larger expressions.<br />

Whereas alphabets have a f<strong>in</strong>ite size, data expressions can<br />

<strong>in</strong> theory be <strong>in</strong>f<strong>in</strong>ite 1 .<br />

On the level of semantics, these data expressions<br />

become mean<strong>in</strong>gful.<br />

When data are <strong>in</strong>terpreted <strong>in</strong> their context<br />

by a user, they become <strong>in</strong>formation. Information can be def<strong>in</strong>ed<br />

as <strong>in</strong>terpreted data. To transform data <strong>in</strong>to <strong>in</strong>formation, it must be<br />

clear, to which subject these data are related to and <strong>in</strong> which context<br />

they were created.<br />

context-based [Rowley, 2007].<br />

Thus, <strong>in</strong>formation is always subject-related and<br />

Information help to answer questions<br />

like “Who...?”, “How much ...?”, “How many ...?”, “ What ...?”, “<br />

Where ...?” and “When ...?” [Ackoff, 1989]. Figure 1.2 shows an example.<br />

On the lowest level is an expression that consists of signs that<br />

are comb<strong>in</strong>ed accord<strong>in</strong>g to a syntax. The data expression alone is not<br />

mean<strong>in</strong>gful, until this data is correctly <strong>in</strong>terpreted to be an exchange<br />

rate. Once <strong>in</strong>terpreted, the data expression becomes <strong>in</strong>formation.<br />

Whereas data and <strong>in</strong>formation can be clearly dist<strong>in</strong>guished, it is somewhat<br />

harder to differentiate <strong>in</strong>formation and knowledge.<br />

There is<br />

1 In reality data has to be stored on a physical medium such as a harddrive and therefore<br />

can not be <strong>in</strong>f<strong>in</strong>ite <strong>in</strong> size [Beynon-Davies, 2002].

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