Introduction

Information is a complex and contested concept. It is central to information science, but it is also important in many other disciplines, in the physical sciences, in the biological sciences, in computing and communication technology and in the social sciences. It is reasonable to ask whether the concept of information is in some sense ‘the same’ in all of these, or if it is just a coincidence that the same English word is used for different things. The word has had a number of different meanings over the years. Its entry in the Oxford English Dictionary (March 2021 edition) gives its current meanings as the imparting of knowledge, or the giving of form or character to something. The former is what is usually understood in the information sciences, the latter is relevant to wider uses of the term. As the quotation from Shannon, the originator of information theory, reminds us, we should not expect to find a single, simple idea of information which will do in all circumstances.

One reason for this complexity is that information may be discussed and analysed at a number of different levels. For example, Liebenau and Backhouse (1990) show that any communication of information can be understood simultaneously at four levels:

• • empiric: the physical transmission

• • syntactic: the language or coding used

• • semantic: the meaning of the message

• • pragmatic: the significance of the message to a recipient in a particular context.