Definition of Information from the Semiotics Lens and Peirce’s Triad model of sign: A Review of the Most Important Researches in the Field

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study the concept of information through the lens of semiotics, especially the Peirce’s sign model.Methodology: This study is an analytical study of researches on the concept of information based on semiotics in the field of information science as well as a review of researches that has defined information in the context of information systems. Information science is an interdisciplinary field that has used the concepts, patterns, and theories of other sciences to explain some of the concepts in its subject areas. One of the sciences that is very similar to information science is semiotics: The purpose of this research is to study the concept of information through the lens of semiotics, especially the Peirce’s sign model.Results: An analytical study of researches that have used theories of semiotics in various fields of information science showed that among the concepts, patterns and theories in semiotics, " Saussure's dyadic model of sign and Peirce’s triad model of sign were the most widely used semiotic models in this field. Among these two models, Peirce’s triad model of sign was more used in information science.Conclusions: If information is considered as a sign, a better explanation of it can be provided based on the characteristics of the sign because the information is carried by a variety of signs. On the other hand, the definition of information from the lens of semiotics, in particular, Peirce’s Triad model of sign information divides into two types "passive information" and "active information". And thereby take into account both the ontology and the epistemology of information

Keywords

• information
• semiotics
• peirce’s triad model of sign
• sign