INFIDEOS’ 2023 Holiday Gift to Information Science

Jenna Hartel

Each holiday season, INFIDEOS, my YouTube channel of educational Information Science videos, gives a gift to all students, researchers, and practitioners of Information Science. In 2021, it was an activity book, Information Science Puzzles and More, which is still available. In 2022, the present was Information Science Macareindeer, a whimsical video in which great information scientists dance and sing about their favorite concepts. That multimedia gambol also has a more serious worksheet, useful to students.

At left, the 2022 gift from INFIDEOS, the video Information Science Macareindeer with Worksheet. At right, the 2023 gift, a video series, An Archipelago of Information Science: Introduction to the Series (which is followed by six episodes).

For 2023, I am happy to share a new video series, An Archipelago of Information Science. The 7-episode playlist is on YouTube at INFIDEOS. The series explores ideas on the frontier of Information Science. Altogether, the collection enacts the metaphor of an island chain—an archipelago—of incipient concepts existing still somewhat offshore, but within sight, of the Information Science mainland. (The mainland is our literature where many well-established tenets reside.) Viewers are taken on an archipelago adventure, following a tour guide who is my own seagull avatar. There are several destinations, namely the islands of: Embodied Information, Contemplation, a Multispecies Perspective, Love, and Psychedelic Information Theory. The video thumbnail for these “islands” are shown below. Each stop on the journey is a expeditious primer, and the featured concept is defined and situated within the history and literature of Information Science. The series is ideal for anyone curious about emergent concepts and new directions in Information Science.

The five islands  (episodes) of the video series. Each is a 3-4 minute multimedia primer on the topic. All are emerging concepts on the frontier of Information Science.

Let us preview the whole Archipelago: At the island of Embodied Information you will learn that information is much more than documents. The body, its senses, feelings, experience, appearance, and social interactions are vital information sources, too. The island of Contemplation proposes ways of knowing at higher levels of the data-information-knowledge-wisdom (DIKW) pyramid. This stop includes a mindful moment for breath meditation. The Multispecies Perspective introduces an “animal turn” across the social sciences, in which more-than-human realities are honored and incorporated. Here, Marcia Bates’ evolutionary framework of information  and the pioneering research into information behaviour of multispecies families by Niloofar Solhjoo are featured. The Island of Love is a heart-warming celebration of ten ways in which love and information touch in Information Science. Finally, the island of Psychedelic Information Theory draws entirely upon a book of that same name by the science writer James L. Kent.  This distant outpost dares us to consider the information experience associated with hallucinogenic mushrooms. To my knowledge, it is the first treatment in Information Science of Kent’s fascinating book, and an example of information in the higher things in life.

The archipelago concept was developed this past summer for an invited presentation at the European Conference on Information Literacy, in Krakow, Poland in October, 2023. I am grateful for the Program Committee’s invitation and support of these ideas. During November and early December of 2023, I parlayed all the content from the conference presentation into video format. Of note, in December 2023 this video series features five islands; an additional island, Time, will be uploaded shortly.

A Conclusion to the Series provides succinct highlights and thought questions from each island, in the form of postcard messages to students. A souvenir map that encapsulates the series is available, free, to all: get yours! The description box, below each video, contains selected resources on the topic from the Information Science literature.

I hope your imagination is refreshed, and your horizon enlarged, through a trip to An Archipelago of Information Science. Thanks to all Information Matters readers for supporting a second year of multimedia education (and entertainment) at INFIDEOS. Happy holidays to all lovers of Information Science!