Mission Statement
Information Studies comprise all areas that use a scientific methodology to understand, explain and model information processes in natural, social and artificial systems for the (re-)design of those processes. In particular, the following disciplines pertain to Information Studies:
- philosophical branches like Philosophy of Information, Information (and Media) Ethics, Epistemology, Information Ontology, Philosophy of Science
- cross-disciplinary approaches towards information from system-theoretical, cybernetic, evolutionary, network or complexity perspectives
- real-world sciences in the domain of Physics and Chemistry, as there are, e.g., Quantum Information, Molecular Recognition; in the domain of Life Sciences, as there are, e.g., Bioinformation, Biosemiotics, Cognitive Sciences; in the domain of Social and Human Sciences, as there are, concerning the individual, e.g., Psychology, Mind-Brain-Research, Consciousness Studies; concerning the interaction of individuals, e.g., Communication Studies, Linguistics; concerning the integration with society, e.g., Collective Intelligence, Global Brain Research, Semiotics, Knowledge Management, Information Society, Internet Research, New Media Studies, Media Theory
- engineering sciences such as Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and applied sciences such as Informatics, Bioinformatics, Information and Communication Technologies, Library and Documentation Science
The overall purpose of IS4SI is to turn Information Studies into a field in its own right.
For that purpose, IS4SI seeks to establish co-operation that shapes the field. It seeks to create a community of scholars that reflect on the impact of their research and development on society, on how their studies relate to each other, and on the features that distinguish their concepts, theories and approaches in order to find out a possible common basis.
IS4SI provides services that support members to contribute to the common goal:
- it networks researchers and research institutions as well as knowledge transfer institutions in the promotion of a science of information, information technology and information society
- it facilitates the exchange between informational disciplines concerning different but complementary tasks, objects of study, and methodologies
- it helps, based upon insights into information, promote technological and social innovations that bring about a more humane society
- it works as clearing house for projects that advance knowledge about information generation and utilization
- it archives theoretical discoveries in the field of information
