Miranda Kajtazi

A Review of Information Logistics Research Publications

‘Information Logistics’ has presented itself as an intellectual and professional domain addressing the question of timely providence of the right information. A question that emerges then is: What is Information Logistics? To answer this question, a comprehensive review of research publications was conducted, where ‘Information Logistics’ was featured in the publication title. A detailed analysis of the content of these publications identified eleven different research directions, where five are currently active, all in Europe. Among various findings, the results show that these research directions have been pursued independently of each other, addressing different kinds of research questions and contexts, utilising different research approaches, and therefore generating a variety of unrelated research results. All the reviewed research here shows that there are numerous unmet empirical needs in our human and social affairs, as well as a need for intra-disciplinary developments, which calls for a joint mobilisation of the research efforts.

In Search for Unity within the Diversity of Information Societies

In Search for Unity within the Diversity of Information Societies : Linnaeus University Celebrates a Pioneer: Professor Gunilla BradleyThere is a real need for an enlightening new volume to explore the recent developments and topical analyses of the psychological and social effects of ICT.Information and Communication Technologies, Society and Human Beings: Theory and Framework addresses the extensive area of effects of ICT on human beings and the interaction between ICT, individuals, organizations, and society. This premier reference source features contributions from over 45 distinguished researchers from around the world, each presenting high quality research on social informatics, human computer interaction, organizational behavior, and macro-ergonomics. This unique publication is perfect for students, teachers, researchers, engineers, practitioners, managers, policy-makers, and media alike.

An Exploration of Opportunities for a Theory of Information Inadequacy

Our everyday experiences show that the lack of needed information in various human affairs may give rise to consequences that we would like to avoid – e.g. the 2004 Tsunami in Southeast Asia. However, we still do not have a coherent theoretical body that addresses such experiences of information inadequacy as this changes everything in respect to the current conception of the information society, where technology plays a central role. To this end, we provide an initial exploration of opportunities for such a theory: when needed information is not available in human affairs, for any reason. We start with diagnoses of five existing central theoretical bodies that constitute promising candidates to account for instances of information inadequacy. The results show though that these do not offer a comprehensive account for situations where needed information is missing. Secondly, an empirical investigation was conducted, utilizing grounded theory approach, where fifty cases of information inadequacy were analysed. This revealed a number of patterns of plausible causes of information inadequacies in human affairs, which offer a preliminary foundation for a future theory of information inadequacy. This result suggests that information inadequacies may be understood as various instances of information-lack and information-overflow. These two, in turn, include numerous factors that cause information inadequacies, ranging from political and cultural structures, through human individual capabilities, and ending with procedural set-ups and technological artefacts. We advocate that further research should be conducted to explore various instances of information inadequacy aimed to the formulation of a coherent theory.

Information Inadequacy: The Lack of Needed Information in Human, Social and Industrial Affairs

This study investigates the phenomenon of the lack of needed information, predominantly experienced through difficulties in human, social and industrial affairs. The key concern is, thus, to understand what really causes the lack of needed information. Answers to this concern have been provided from an array of studies mostly focused in the area of information management. However, the literature shows that there is no comprehensive a priori theory to guide an empirical investigation on this matter. Thus, the empirical investigation conducted here is based on grounded theory approach that investigates fifty cases, where the lack of needed information is clearly manifested. The empirical investigation suggests that the phenomenon of the lack of needed information seems to emerge because of diverse factors, ranging from political and cultural structures, through human individual capabilities, and ending with procedural and technological artefacts. The results present an initial outline for a possible future theory of information inadequacy.