Give or Take?: Conceptualizations of Data and Its Creation in Information Science

ABSTRACT In information science, what data itself is, how it is defined, and the distinctions between data and information are unclear, yet data is a foundational construct at the heart of the research enterprise. This poster probes the question of how data is conceptualized in information science through an analysis of works by Jonathan Furner, Birger Hjørland, and Michael Buckland, who have contributed substantially to this critical issue. It finds that notions of the nature of data vary widely, and are often contradictory. Complexities are identified in the approach to data as both documents and as records. In the process of this analysis, it identifies the essential question of whether [research] data is given or taken: Is data found/identified by the researcher, or is it created? Arguments for both approaches are fleshed out, providing a basis for further work in information science in this essential space.