This website covers knowledge management, personal effectiveness, theory of constraints, amongst other topics. Opinions expressed here are strictly those of the owner, Jack Vinson, and those of the commenters.

Another look at Data-Information-Knowledge

Matthias Melcher of x28 has a go at the conjunction of Data, Information, Knowledge:

Many bloggers have discussed the difference of "data", "information", and "knowledge". via x28 - a mini Data-Informat-Knowledge map Here is my attempt.  (Click for the original entry.)

I like that he adds information about how flow and context apply to these terms, particularly since people place different meaning or importance on these terms (as Matthias acknowledges).  I'm not an artist, so I give him good marks for his drawing. 

People get hung up on the idea that books contain knowledge or data tables only contain data, but I really think it depends on how you are approaching the matter.  If you don't know anything about the field, then an advanced chemistry textbook isn't going to do you much good.  It probably looks like something less than data - strings of words that don't connect to anything the novice knows or understands.  On the other hand, a saturated steam table is quite valuable to a trained engineer.  In both these simple examples, it is the knowledge / context that the person brings to the situation that is the differentiator, not the item itself.

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