The Role of Information Hierarchy in the Study of History

Vladimirova Alina V. ORCID: 0000-0003-4069-3166 Researcher, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences 107031, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Rozhdestvenka, 12 alina.v.vladimirova@gmail.com Other publications by this author

The importance of publications like the book "Information: A Historical Guide" ("Information: A Historical Companion") ^[5], it is difficult to overestimate. With all the easily found shortcomings concerning both the definitions and theories presented and the work with historical facts, it cannot be denied that such a publication is extremely in demand at the present time, when the transformations of the reality around us are so profound that everywhere they began to talk about the advent of the era of the data revolution. The changes that are happening so quickly before our eyes, it is necessary not just to have time to comprehend, but to try to understand how they affect both society and historians studying it. In such a situation, books that provide a basis for discussion and, albeit imperfectly, but still indicate the main starting points are extremely important.

In this aspect, the format of the book was chosen very well. It consists of two parts: the first of them is a collection of works on forms of information and their meaning in various historical epochs, and the second, almost twice as large in volume, is the same terminological reference book declared in the title of the book with the usual alphabetical sorting. The publication should first of all be attributed to the category of textbooks, which can be very useful for students who often need to quickly understand some concept when preparing reports, abstracts and exam questions. Although a similar task can undoubtedly be faced by a long-established scientist, for example, when it is necessary to clarify the meaning of the term adopted by historians. It is obvious that the authors of the book meant this use of it, because each section contains an enumeration of related concepts and a list of references for additional reading.

The division of the book into two such parts may also appeal to those who turn to this work for the sake of the 13 chapters contained in it, since in theory it allows the reader to get acquainted in more detail with the concept that interests him, without switching to a new source of information. However, it is not known how much it will be possible to do this, because a selection of terms raises questions. Along with the expected "media", "databases", "woodcut" for such a book, the reference book includes such concepts as "commodification" or "travel", which can hardly be called basic concepts for the reference book on information. Probably, the compilers were guided by the concepts most important for the research presented in the first part, but in the end the list looks somewhat unbalanced and partly illogical, and the negative impression is reinforced by the absence of a number of key positions in it.

So, we see sections that reveal the concepts of "data" and "knowledge", which, together with "information", are the basis for highlighting the information hierarchy, for which there is no definition in the handbook, although this theory is intended to clearly distinguish the designated concepts, often incorrectly used as synonyms.

It should be noted that for a publication devoted to information and its forms in the course of the historical development of society, in general, it is extremely strange not to find at least a mention of the information hierarchy, not to mention the fact that this is the expected theoretical basis for such works published in the last two decades. It is believed that the first who clearly divided the levels of the information hierarchy was the English poet, Nobel laureate T.S. Eliot, when in 1934^[4] he raised the question of the loss of wisdom in knowledge, and knowledge in information, however, in the modern form, the links between the categories were formalized in 1982^[2], when the concept of "data" was added to them. It is noteworthy that initially the "DIKW model" was presented not in the form of a pyramid, but in the form of a continuum from the past, to which data, information and knowledge belonged, to the future, the vision of which was to be based on wisdom^[3]. At the moment, one can find various variations of the information hierarchy adapted to specific studies or branches of science, but it is obvious that for history it is necessary to include the concept of "fact", "evidence" and "evidence", and it also makes sense to reflect the special significance of the historical source (Fig. 1). Unfortunately, this theory, undoubtedly directly related to the topic of the book under consideration, has not been properly reflected either in its methodology or in its content; to the point that the author himself uses data and information as synonyms when describing the process of their transformation into knowledge^[1].

Fig.1. "DIKW-model" for historical science

Questions about the content of the handbook can also include the absence of terms from the field of information technology, which have become popular in recent years, although the book itself repeatedly emphasizes the importance of digitalization or the emergence of big data. The fact that the book is aimed at scientists engaged in the study of the past does not mean at all that they are outside of modern discourses and do not use the latest tools in their work. It is clear that it is impossible to include all the terms in such a book, but it seems that it would be more expedient to explain the concepts that cause difficulties. For example, to add a section about blockchain and distributed registry, and not about "diplomats/spies", although it is very interesting, and the fact that "Russian hackers" are put on a par with WikiLeaks may sound like a compliment to domestic specialists for many.

Meanwhile, we note that questions about the content of the second part of the book most likely arise due to the fact that it really turned out to be worthy and it would be interesting to read about those concepts from the field of information and communication technologies, about which there is still little written in scientific publications on history. There is no doubt that the compilers of the collection tried to diversify the content as much as possible, so the book examines various countries and historical periods. However, it seems that the interpretations of the presented cases are still given only from the position of Western science. The correctness of this conclusion can be partially confirmed by looking at the list of authors of the handbook and their affiliation (Fig.2). Of the 107 researchers who took part in writing the book, only two are university employees from Asian countries. Moreover, the Middle East is represented by the Israeli scientist Tzur Shalev, and China is represented by Diana Lemberg, who, simply because she was educated in the United States, is in fact also a representative of the American academic tradition.

Fig.2. The countries represented by the authors of the book "Information: Historical reference"

Due to the fact that the materials for the collection are presented by a large number of scientists, the reader can find different solutions in one book in terms of the methodology of historical research, but it seems that the book would be even better if the diversification concerned not only the topics covered, but also the approaches to understanding the past adopted in different countries. This would undoubtedly increase the value of the book, especially if we consider its importance for historical science not from the point of view of a textbook, but as a basis for starting a discussion on the changes taking place in the era of the data revolution. In the light of these considerations, I would like to hope that in the future we will see more publications like the book "Information: Historical Reference", in which there will be a place for new terms and for new authors.