Communication basics of the concept of information culture in social management

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Communication basics of the concept of information culture in social management

N.V. Zoshchuk,

O.O. Kliukha

Annotation

The article is devoted to the information culture science research in communicative aspect of social information management. In the context of studying the peculiarities of managing the information culture of the present, the emphasis is placed on intercultural communication as the interaction between communities at the personal and personal-group levels. The starting point is that the intercultural aspect of communication is a component of contemporary information culture. The intercultural communication is based on the exchange of information as transmitting cultural and social values. It has been established that the effectiveness of communication is measured by the achievement of practical goals, such as the implementation of communication strategies of information culture, including social interactions between generations, the formation of a multicultural social environment based on tolerance and mutual respect, and the acquisition of intercultural communication skills.

This paper presents a review of the sources related to the concept of information culture to identify different perspectives, their historical origins, and connection to information science practice and values, behavior, culture of individuals.

The three conceptualisations we identify from the literature are:

1) information culture as the acquisition of communication skills,

2) information culture as the multilevel construction, and

3) information culture as engagement in information-rich social practices. The goal of this synthesis is the creation of a stronger, more united field of study, as well as visualization of a clearer alignment between information culture and intercultural communication, the formal and informal contexts where people employ and develop information and communicative skills. The concept of information culture in the communicative aspect is defined by the methods, means, and strategies of interacting with information on the one hand and the cultural characteristics of communication on the other hand, with the aim of effectively managing social processes and interactions with communities. To complement the theoretical framework of the research, the concept of information culture is applied as an analytical approach to facilitate the understanding of complex socio -cultural and cognitive communication issues.

A number of positions through which information culture management is considered in a communicative aspect are highlighted: the information awareness of managers, compliance with information ethics norms, the choice of communication tools, interactions with communities, ensuring feedback and communication openness. These communication foundations help effectively implement the concept of information culture in social management, ensuring improved interaction with communities and achieving positive social outcomes.

Key words: information culture, intercultural communication, social management, information management, information culture management, socio-cultural sphere.

Анотація

Н.В. Зощук, Т.А. Шадюк, О.О. Клюха. Комунікаційні основи концепту інформаційної культури у соціальному менеджменті

Стаття присвячена науковому дослідженню інформаційної культури в комунікативному аспекті соціально-інформаційного менеджменту. В контексті вивчення особливостей управління інформаційною культурою сучасності акцент робиться на міжкультурній комунікації як інтеракції між спільнотами на особистісному та особистісно-груповому рівні. Вихідним положенням є той факт, що міжкультурний аспект комунікації є складовою сучасної інформаційної культури. Міжкультурна комунікація ґрунтується на обміні інформацією як передачі культурних і соціальних цінностей. Встановлено, що ефективність комунікації вимірюється досягненням практичних цілей, таких як впровадження стратегій комунікації інформаційної культури, включаючи соціальні взаємодії між поколіннями, формування мультикультурного соціального середовища на засадах толерантності і взаємної поваги та набуття навичок міжкультурної комунікації.

У статті представлено огляд джерел, пов'язаних з концепцією інформаційної культури для визначення різних поглядів, їх історичного походження та зв'язку з практикою інформаційної науки, цінностями, поведінкою та культурою окремих осіб.

Три концептуалізації, які ми визначаємо в літературі, полягають у наступному:

1) інформаційна культура як засвоєння навичок комунікації,

2) інформаційна культура як багаторівнева конструкція і

3) інформаційна культура як участь у інформаційно насичених соціокультурних практиках.

Метою цього синтезу є створення сильнішого, об'єднаного поля вивчення, а також візуалізація чіткішої взаємодії між інформаційною культурою та міжкультурною комунікацією, формальними і неформальними контекстами, де люди використовують і розвивають інформаційні та комунікативні навички. Концепція інформаційної культури в аспекті комунікації визначається методами, засобами та стратегіями взаємодії з інформацією, з одного боку, і культурними особливостями комунікації, з іншого боку, з метою ефективного управління соціальними процесами та взаємодією зі спільнотами. Для доповнення теоретичної основи дослідження концепція інформаційної культури застосовується як аналітичний підхід для полегшення розуміння складних соціокультурних та когнітивних проблем комунікації.

Виділяється низка позицій, через які управління інформаційною культурою розглядається в аспекті комунікації: інформаційна обізнаність керівників, дотримання норм інформаційної етики, вибір засобів комунікації, взаємодія зі спільнотами, забезпечення зворотного зв'язку та відкритості комунікації. Ці основи комунікації допомагають ефективно впроваджувати концепцію інформаційної культури в соціальному управлінні, забезпечуючи покращення взаємодії зі спільнотами та досягнення позитивних соціальних результатів.

Ключові слова: інформаційна культура, міжкультурна комунікація, соціальний менеджмент, інформаційний менеджмент, управління інформаційною культурою, соціокультурна сфера.

Introduction of the issue

Modern society is at the stage of socio-cultural transformations and modernisation, changing the type of its information culture organisation.

The specificity of this transformation is the result, on the one hand, of the recent (by historical standards) socialist modernisation of traditional society with all its successes and failures, and on the other hand, it is a manifestation of modernisation in a broad sense taking place in the modern era of “high modernity'.

The period of modernisation is contradictory, as the revival of ethnic traditions in the newconditions acquires the modernising features of a postindustrial society. The revival of ancient traditions occurs simultaneously with the creation of new structures of the communicative society as a consequence of the clash between the `traditional' and the `modernising', tradition becomes one of the sources of cultural modernisation. The processes of culture creation take on new significance in the context of the formation of a new type of society, information culture society in which communication processes are basic to social formation.

The communication foundations of the concept of information culture in social management determine the methods, means, and strategies of interaction with information as well as communication, in particular intercultural communication, in the context of managing social processes and engaging with communities. A modern individual lives in an information society where the primary source of productivity lies in the technology of knowledge generation, information processing, and symbolic communication. In the information age, knowledge serves as the wellspring of new technologies, including information processing and generation, and the production of fresh knowledge.

Production in the information age is understood as the birth of knowledge as an independent and meaning-generating activity. Therefore, the emergence of something new is, in a sense, the result of the interaction of knowledge. Thus, the foundation of the information society is the exploration of connections, values, strategies, and material resources.

The theoretical foundation for this research is based on the views of John Rogers Searle, an American philosopher and linguist, specifically his functional and objective approaches to understanding the interplay between language, speech, and socio-cultural environments. His developments are extremely valuable for shaping a systemic complementary approach to studying information culture in social management, taking into account its communicative aspect. Searle views language as an instrument of communication and expression of thoughts and ideas [1]. His perspective emphasizes the functional aspects of language, focusing on how language is used to achieve practical goals in communication.

Searle's significant contribution to linguistics is the introduction of the concept of `speech acts', which treat speech as an action capable of influencing others. He categorizes speech acts into three types: locutions (what is said), illocutions (what action is performed through speech), and perlocutions (what effect or meaning is conveyed by speech). Searle argues that language and thought are linked to subjective experience and seeks to distinguish reality from our perception of it [2]. He critiques positions that attempt to reduce language to pure syntactical structures, highlighting the importance of semantics and meaningful content.

To have a deeper understanding of the ideas we rely on, let 's emphasize that John Searle made a substantial contribution to the intellectual movement known as the `linguistic turn in philosophy'. This trend emerged in the mid-20th century when philosophers actively began to investigate language and its role in philosophy. Searle's involvement in this movement, through his work in the philosophy of language, particularly his famous work `Speech Acts' published in 1969, redefined how language is understood [2]. In this work, he views language as a means of communication and expression of thoughts and ideas, introducing the concept of `speech acts' and examining how speech can influence others and alter social reality. Searle also made a significant contribution to the philosophical discourse on the nature of semantics and meaning in language, emphasizing the importance of understanding semantics in the philosophy of language and thought.

In the context of the linguistic turn in Ukraine, intercultural communication is a widely discussed topic, within which the impact is emphasized on mentality and perception, thinking, behavior of all members of society that all together determine their belonging to a given society. In this interpretation, culture appears as an integrity that owes its existing features to religious, national and state borders or a set of ethnic characteristics. In particular V. Shcherbyna underlined that, the concept of `communication' has many definitions, but most often it is interpreted as a mechanism that ensures the existence and development of human relations, which includes all semantic symbols, a means of their and a means of transmitting them in space and preserving them in time [3].

The aim of the article is to analyse and systematise the main theoretical and methodological approaches to the problem of communication basics of the information culture concept, which have been formed in foreign and domestic sociological literature. Moreover, our goal is to introduce and explore one particular approach to interpretation of the information culture concept in some depth, relating to intercultural communication. It particular view provides considerable potential benefit for practitioners, and facilitates insight into the often very complex and challenging social and cognitive issues that are faced when attempting to lead and implement information management initiatives and strategies.

Discussion and Results

communication information culture social tolerance

Most often, intercultural communication is used to study social relations between representatives of different nationalities (in particular, at the level of language communication), but this is not entirely true. Intercultural communication is the interaction of the `cultures' of two subjects (actors) or an individual with a group (group with a group), which results in adaptation of some value orientations and norms of behavior to others, and their mutual influence, absorption or displacement and replacement of some with others [4].

Throughout the history of linguistics, linguistic thought has constantly addressed the problems of interaction between national language and culture and information culture. It is known that the national language is the spiritual heritage of an ethnic community which reflects its worldview, traditions, and culture. In the minds of representatives of a particular ethnic culture, there is a set of words, stable expressions, ideas, symbols that have a certain meaning. In the linguistic means built on national and cultural traditions, a significant place is given to ritual units, which by their conceptual content, reflect the peculiarities of the national vision of reality, figurative understanding of the world picture.

Developing competent intercultural communication skills requires participants to understand what, when, and how they can and should say or do. To successfully implement these attitudes, they need socio-cultural (contextual) knowledge, communication skills and abilities, information culture, and language knowledge. Socio-cultural and information culture knowledge are formed as a result of an individual 's social and personal experience and constitutes background knowledge about the world. The fact is that representatives of different cultures behave differently in the process of communication, and ignorance of the peculiarities of national and cultural specifics leads to communication failures and conflicts. Most often, communication conflicts arise in the behavioral sphere, which includes non-verbal means of communication, folk traditions, greeting manners, etc. Communication skills and abilities are a set of ways of expressing ideas, thoughts, feelings, experiences, ways of influencing partners and interlocutors used in the process of communication in order to achieve communication goals. This type of knowledge is the result of all previous experience of communicating with representatives of other cultures. It includes knowledge of various models and types of behavior used to successfully achieve communication goals [5: 82].

To shed a light on today's multicultural social environment, there is a real humanitarian threat of intolerance, fundamental rejection and disrespect by individuals or national communities (including regional ones) people of other nationalities, unwillingness to see and share human values, which are the basis for mutual understanding and the realization of human abilities and feelings.

The problems of intercultural communication as an ontological given have become more relevant in the process of the formation of transnational business, which in different countries is forced to use local staff with a specific cultural competence that distinguishes them from staff in other countries, which generally complicates the activities of economic entities of a new level of complexity. In political continuum, the waves of European democracy in the world and globalization processes have also exacerbated issues of intercultural communication both at the international level and within macro-regional or individual states. Interaction with communities and groups is an important issue for social management because communication with different groups must be effective and aimed at mutual understanding and interaction.

The effectiveness of communication is also measured by the achievement of practical goals. Communication strategies of information culture should be directed towards achieving specific goals in social management, such as improving the quality of services or solving social problems, including generational stratification and social interactions among them. The main subject of formation the information culture today is youth. The symbolic space of youth (youth images, values) are most closely intertwined with the images and symbols of the information society and the culture of globalisation. For example, the symbolic space of young people (youth images), many sociological data confirm that the coverage and mastery of ICTs by young people is at a much higher level than that of the older generation. Thus, young people can put up as a competitive quality a high information culture of the individual against the experience of the older generation [5:82]. And this can become a significant factor in achieving mutual understanding and overcoming the problem of the generation gap.

Here, it is essentially important to define the notion and place of information culture in the cultural and information environment. Information culture can be regarded as a multi -level construct [6]. In 2014 a comprehensive three level pyramid model of information culture has been developed by Oliver and Foscarini who use this to provide a framework for discussion of issues relating to information culture considered specifically from records management perspectives. The key focus of this pyramid is on people's behavior, and their inherent values and attitudes which may influence the ways in which information is created and managed. These three levels in the model introduce factors as language considerations, information culture management skills lead to inter-personal relations between individuals which provide information culture management. `If the person in the information management role is not trusted, then people are not likely to be fully cooperative if they perceive a risk of losing information that is important to them' [6: 12].

Fig. 1 The information culture pyramid model (Foscarini (2014))

In the intercultural aspect of communication as a component of contemporary information culture, the presence or absence of feedback and openness are important factors in management. It is expected that communication should be two-way, including the ability to receive feedback from communities and the readiness to respond to their needs and requests. Therefore, in information culture management, it is important to determine which communication channels and tools are most suitable for different types of social management. This can include the use of media, social networks, web platforms, as well as traditional communication methods.

It is crucial that intercultural communication is based on the exchange of information. Information plays an important role in shaping and transmitting cultural and social values. As the sole universal substance of society, information is intrinsically linked to non-electronic forms of societal functioning. It can be embodied in language (verbally), symbols (semiotically), art (visually), and traditions (customarily). However, in the current era of digitization, there are no longer any social or political processes that exist outside electronic computer systems, including intercultural communication. Manuel Castells in his work `The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture' explores the transformation of society in the Information Age. Castells argues that we are living in a new type of society characterized by networks. These networks are both technological (like the internet) and social (relationships and interactions). This networked structure profoundly influences how information flows and how societies operate. Thus, the role of communication technologies, particularly the internet, grows in shaping the network society. What is the most important, that technologies enable global communication, and affect various aspects of our lives, from work to politics. He also introduces the concept of `informationalism', which describes an economic system and a way of life based on the production and manipulation of information, because it has become a central resource in the contemporary world [7].

It is impossible to overstate the significance of information exchange in intercultural communication. In this regard, it is relevant to mention the works of Luciano Floridi, dedicated to the conceptualization of information in areas such as the philosophy of information, information ethics, information logic, and information politics. In these fields, information is considered as fundamental a concept as `life', `knowledge', `good' and `evil', and even more `powerful' than the aforementioned. All these concepts can be expressed through the concept of information.

In his book `The Fourth Revolution', Floridi encourages contemplation of the impact of the digital era on our society and our understanding of reality, he introduces the concept of the `infosphere', which is a global environment of information created by the interaction of information technologies and human agents [8]. He presents the provocative thesis that this infosphere is a new layer of reality that shapes and influences human existence, fundamentally altering both humans and reality itself. For comparison, it's worth recalling the concept of the noosphere proposed by French thinkers Edouard Le Roy and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, which views it as a sphere of human consciousness, a superstructure above the biosphere, an ontological layer of reality. This philosophical idea was further developed by Ukrainian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky and significantly influenced the philosophical discourse of the 20th century. The place of individuals in the modern sociocultural space of multifaceted interactions and complex communication systems is inevitably linked to the processing of information and their constant presence in the infosphere. As a result, researchers are focusing their attention on two key concepts: intercultural communication and information culture.

The concept of information culture has been explored and studied by researches in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Ausralasia in the second part of the twentieth century [6]. This concept is often regarded as a distinct phenomenon in the information society, which, depending on the context, can be presented as the information culture of an individual, the information culture of a social group (organization or specific consumer categories), and the information culture of society as a whole. The information society, characterized by new information and communication technologies, opens up unprecedented opportunities for individuals to access information and knowledge, enabling each person to realize their potential and improve the quality of their life. Information culture objectively characterizes the level of all information processes and existing information relationships in society. In addition to the technological aspects of working with information, it encompasses ethics and aesthetics, issues of information security, both in terms of protecting information and safeguarding human psychology. Therefore, information ethics is another principle of information culture in social management. It is important to adhere to ethical principles in the processing and dissemination of information, especially in the context of social management, where actions can impact people's lives and well-being.

The definition of information culture (Ginman (1988) sees it as a strategic goal that should be planned for as much as the transformation of physical resources. The researcher defined `information culture' as the culture in which `the transformation of intellectual resources is maintained alongside the transformation of material resources. The primary resources for this type of transformation are varying kinds of knowledge and information. The output achieved is a processed intellectual product which is necessary for the material activities to function and develop positively' [9: 93].

Conclusions and research perspectives

To summerise, the structure of intercultural competence, the main directions of ethno-relativism formation are as follows: development of the ability to reflect on one 's own and other cultures, which forms a benevolent attitude to manifestations of other cultures; replenishment of knowledge about the relevant culture for a deep understanding of the diachronic and synchronic relations between one's own and other cultures; acquisition of knowledge about the conditions of socialisation and inculturation in one's own and other cultures, about social stratification, socio-cultural forms of interaction accepted in both cultures. Thus, mastering intercultural competence makes it possible to manage the process of interaction, to interpret it adequately, to acquire new cultural knowledge from the context of a specific intercultural interaction, i.e. to learn another culture in the course of communication processes.

The information is the main component of cultural exchange and communication. The concept of information culture has been discussed and debated for a number of decades. The professional archival community has taken on board the three-level model of information culture which recognizes that information cultures are not simply characteristic of those environments which have special expertise in managing information for competitive advantage. The ICA is supporting the development of a toolkit to assist archival science practitioners in gaining the rich insight afforded by the application of the information culture concept. However, there are still challenges faced in helping those responsible for managing records in current environments to adopt a much more open and expansive approach to interacting with the users of their services, and particularly to accept the utility of qualitative data to enhance their understanding of their work environments. Also, it is particularly important to emphasize and to explore the applicability of the information culture concept to information and data that is being managed for purposes other than accountability. Finally, existing research has been almost exclusively in workplace contexts. The concept is equally applicable to other types of communities, but much more investigation is needed to determine whether the specific factors that have been identified in workplace contexts are equally applicable in other settings. Initial consideration suggests that the middle layer of the pyramid relating to knowledge, skills, and expertise may prove to be of greater significance in community settings, but this remains unconfirmed.

To demonstrate the applicability of the information culture concept in diverse settings and to further develop its features researchers and practitioners are encouraged to test the ICA toolkit components. It is only by building an international community for research and practice that the maximum value will be derived from efforts to date.

Literature

1. Searle John R. The Construction of Social Reality. New York:Free Press, 2010. 256 p.

2. Grewendorf G., Meggle G. Speech Acts, Mind, and Social Reality. Discussions with John R. Searle. Springer Netherlands, 2012. 327 p.

3. Щербина В.М. Міжкультурна комунікація у сучасному соціокультурному просторі. Вісник Національного технічного університету України "Київський політехнічний інститут". Політологія. Соціологія. Право. 2013. №2. С.70-75.

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5. Костенко Д.В. Міжкультурна комунікація у сучасному світі. Педагогічна освіта: теорія і практика. Психологія. Педагогіка: збірник наукових праць. 2018. №30. С.8085.

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8. Floridi L. The Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 248 p.

9. Ginman M. Information culture and business performance. Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences. 1987. Vol. 2, №2. Р. 93-106.

References (translated & transliterated)

1. Searle, John R. (2010). The Construction of Social Reality. Free Press. (in English).

2. Grewendorf, G., Meggle, G. (2012). Speech Acts, Mind, and Social Reality. Discussions with John R. Searle. Springer Netherlands. (in English).

3. Shcherbyna, V.M. (2013). Mizhkulturna komunikatsiya u suchasnomu sotsiokul'turnomu prostori [Intercultural Communication in the Contemporary Sociocultural Context]. Visnyk Natsional'noho tekhnichnoho universytetu Ukrayiny `Kyivs'kyy politekhnichnyy instytut'. Politolohiya. Sotsiolohiya. Pravo. №2. S. 70-75. (in Ukrainian).

4. Knapp, K., Knapp-Potthoff, A. (1990). Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Zeitschrift fur Fremdsprachenforschung. 1990. №1. S. 83. (in English).

5. Kostenko, D.V. (2018). Mizhkulturna komunikatsiya u suchasnomu sviti [Intercultural Communication in the Contemporary World]. Pedahohichna osvita: teoriya i praktyka. Psykholohiya. Pedahohika: zbirnyk naukovykh prats. №30. S. 80-85. (in Ukrainian).

6. Oliver, G. (2017). Understanding Information Culture: Conceptual and Implementation Issues. Journal of Information Science. Theory and Practice. №5(1). Р. 6 (in English).

7. Floridi, L. (2011). The Philosophy of Information. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (in English).

8. Floridi, L. (2014). The Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (in English).

9. Ginman, M. (1987). Information culture and business performance. Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences. Vol. 2 №2. Р. 93-106. (in English).

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