If information is data in context, and knowledge is information in context, then hmmm... knowledge is data doubly contextualized? Ick.

So maybe there's a distinction between (1) the kind of context that turns information into knowledge and (2) the kind of context that turns data into knowledge. Or maybe there a distinction between (a) the relationship between data and the context that turns it into information and (b) the relationship between information and the context that turns it into knowledge.

To me, the essence of information is that it informs. More particularly, it informs someone about something relevant to the person. I usually construe that to mean that in order for data to be information, it must help a person to make a decision (or a kind of decision, or a suite of decisions). That is, the person's desire to decide something is exactly the kind of context that turns (relevant) data into information. (Perhaps this is too limited, and there are also other ways in which information could inform someone.)

So what does knowledge add to that? What does knowledge do beyond informing someone with regard to some set of decisions? Or am I using "information" in the way you use "knowledge?"

Some thoughts about the differences between data, information and knowledge, in response to a comment by Dale Emery on Knowledgeline's list of Guiding Principles of Knowledge. This is not an easy topic. [Read More]