Distance Education in Transition - Master of Distance Education ...

"Information" and "Knowledge" - On the Semantic Transformation of Two Central Terms
Overlappings
In view of the differences that have been shown here it is difficult to understand how
some authors use these terms in such a lax way. Even with experts the semantic content
of the one term often stretches into that of the other. Manfred Faßler (1994, p. 89) writes
of the "world knowledge" which is stored in computer networks, of "electronic knowledge"
or of "knowledge as information." "International data networks", he claims, "produce
more knowledge than a single individual or a national elite can ever see" (p. 89). These
designations show once again how information and knowledge are seen and considered
in the computer age, which itself may be an additional reason for the substitution or
confusion of the two terms. After what we have seen here we should really insist that
the networks cannot store knowledge, let alone produce it and that human knowledge
can never be electronic.
The situation is more complex than has been shown up to now. Firstly, in cognitive
philosophy and AI (artificial intelligence) there is research which wants to show that
knowledge can be the result of computerised information processing. In other words:
even people's mental work, their process of recognition, is to be automated as well, at
least wherever this appears possible. Secondly, it is certainly a standard practice to
change knowledge back into information by storing it in a computer. This does in fact
lend credence to the concept that we have access to stored knowledge and even, with
regard to global networks, to a "world knowledge".
Thirdly, it cannot be denied that the stored information can provide great relief for
human memories and in this way take over part functions in the production and
"retention" of knowledge. Fourthly, it is believed that the computer can be integrated
deliberately in the production of knowledge with the use of intelligent expert systems.
In this way they become electronic agents which facilitate knowledge. Fifthly, the computer
takes over in many ways the task of localisation and selection of information in the
framework of knowledge management (Lechner & Tergan, 2001). Operative functions
of human thought are relocated to the computer here as well, which reduces the cognitive
strain on the human participants.
The previously assumed demarcations between information and knowledge are therefore
crossed over at some positions. There are even partial overlappings.
Overview of important differences
Information Knowledge
Tends to be economically-industrially marked
Tends to have short-term use interests
Not bound up with standards
Detached from individuals
Not fixed locally, global
Independent of time
Detached from society
Detached culturally
More dynamic
Independent of other types of knowledge
Disseminated at the speed of light
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Tends to be institutionalised
Stable, long-lasting use interests
Oriented to standards
Linked to the carrier's consciousness
Fixed locally
Fixed in time
Integrated in society
Culturally adapted
More static
Bound to everyday and prior knowledge, etc.
Disseminated slowly