Yule Lecture, April 29th

[alums at ischool.utexas.edu]

Friends, you are welcome to attend the following lecture and reception
marking the retirement of Professor Fran Miksa.

RSVP to mclaymon at ischool.utexas.edu


Yule Distinguished Lecture, Tue, April 29th, 6pm
ACES Avaya Auditorium.


INFORMATION ORGANIZATION AND THE MYSTERIOUS INFORMATION USER
by Francis Miksa
Professor, School of Information
The University of Texas at Austin
miksa at ischool.utexas.edu
 
ABSTRACT

Ideally, information organization creates information systems that connect
users of information with the information resources of a collection that are
relevant to their information needs.  Of these two poles of the information
organization process­-information systems creation on the one hand and users
and uses of information on the other­-information systems have had the more
spectacular development during the modern period.  In contrast, while
efforts to characterize the nature of information users and use go back just
as far, conclusions in that realm have remained in a muddle profound enough
to prompt the conclusion that users and uses of information are often, quite
frankly, 'phantoms of mystery.'

Views taken on the nature of information users and use are addressed here in
order to demonstrate why they are here labeled mysterious but also to sort
out various approaches taken on the matter over the recent past.  First, a
selection of statements and themes on users and uses of information found in
legacy traditions of information organization will be surveyed as a way to
categorize approaches taken to the problem.  Second, the foregoing
categories will be contrasted with themes found in contemporary comments on
the digital age. Afterwards, a summary of the views covered will be provided
with suggestions for possible ways to de-mystify the idea of users and uses
of information for the information organization process.

Reception to follow.


________________

Andrew Dillon
Dean & Professor 
School of Information
The University of Texas at Austin
web: http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~adillon/
blog: http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/~adillon/blog/
_________________