Information Communication

This book introduces fundamentals of information communication. At first, concepts and characteristics of information and information communication are summarized. And then five classic models of information communication are introduced. The mechanisms and fundamental laws of the information transmission process are also discussed. In order to realize information communication, impediments in information communication process are identified and analyzed. For the purpose of investigating implications of Internet information communication, patterns and characteristics of information communication in the Internet and Web 2.0 environment are also analyzed. In the end, case studies are provided for readers to understand the theory.

Preface.- Acknowledgments.- On Information.- Basic Concepts of Information Communication.- Models of Information Communication.- Mechanisms of Information Communication.- The Law of Information Transmission: Conservation and Diffusion.- The Realization and Impediments of Information Communication.- Application: Internet Information Communication.- Case 1: “Six Degrees of Separation” and “Small World”.- Case 2: Appearance and Development of Social Network Site.- Case 3: Wikipedia: Collaborative Communication.- Case 4: A New Network Communication Tool: The Microblog.- Bibliography.- Author Biography.

Ma Feicheng is currently a professor at Wuhan University and the Director of the Center for the Studies of Information Resources of Wuhan University (CSIR), a key research institute of humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education of China. While acting as a Convener of the Review Group for Library and Information Science and Archival Management of the Academic Degree Committee of the State Council of China, he is also a member of the Social Science Committee of the Ministry of Education of China, the Second Leader of the Review Group of the Library and Information Science and Documentation of the National Social Science Foundation of China and a member of the Review Group of the Management Science Division of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). In addition, he is the Vice Director of the Association of Scientific and Technical Information in China and the Vice Chair of the Chinese National Association of Information System, a branch of the Association of Information System (CNAIS).