Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
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Complex problems or issues usually have many causes that interact. Few
simple solutions are possible.
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Cause and effect are not easily explained. In the emergent paradigm, re-
cognition is given to the notion that humans harbor a unique perspective on
their perceptions of information.
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Objectivity is not possible. Humans interpret their observations as influen-
ced by the paradigms they have accepted.
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Processes are digital, applying computer-aided technologies in all of the in-
formation transfer processes. These technologies enable the transformation
of the information transfer processes.
Postmodernism assumes there is no ultimate and universal truth and that know-
ledge is not privileged. Furthermore, the future is indeterminate. These complexit-
ies provide the emergent paradigm lens for examining the information transfer pro-
cesses.
In this chapter we investigate the changing information transfer processes as
the emergent paradigm influences scholarly research, the mass media, and our
casual, everyday lives. As we gain an understanding of these changes, we gain a
clearer understanding of the changing information infrastructure.
Creation of New Information and Knowledge
New research and new ideas have their origin in a paradigm, because
paradigms provide us with an intellectual framework for thinking about issues and
problems that we confront. The values within a paradigm suggest to us what is
true, what is important, what research methods we should pursue, what questions
we should address, and what is not relevant. The emergent paradigm presents the
framework for developing questions that we may want to address and for how we
will proceed in gathering information to address the pertinent questions.
The paradigm shift can be seen in the arts. Picasso's style shifted over time; in
his early years, he drew women's forms that were recognizable, but in his cubist
period, he portrayed women abstractly, leaving interpretation to the viewer. The
artist presents a concept, and the viewer determines the meaning of a painting in-
stead of the artist. This paradigm shift transfers the authority from painter to the
viewer, and that transfer occurs in other art forms and in information transfer gen-
erally.
The New Look of Information Sources
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