Informetrics
Informetrics
Information, in its most restricted technical sense, is a sequence of symbols that can be interpreted as a message. Information can be recorded as signs, or transmitted as signals. Information is any kind of event that affects the state of adynamic system. Conceptually, information is the message being conveyed. The English word was apparently derived from the Latin stem( information-) of the nominative( information): this noun is in its turn derived from the verb " informare "( to inform) in the sense of " to give form to the mind ", " to discipline ", " instruct ", " teach ":. Metrics means measuring. Informetrics is the study of quantitative aspects of information. This includes the production, dissemination and use of all forms of information, regardless of its form or origin.
According to Brookes( 9) the word‘ Informetrics’ was first proposed by Otto Nacke of West Germany in 1979. FID constituted a committee with this name and Nacke was its first Chairman. Rajan( 26), the next Chairman of the Committee, reformulated the objectives of informetrics as to( 1) provide reliable data for research and development, policy-making, planning;( 2) to evaluate institutions, projects, articles, products, and other academic activities, and( 3) to identify or to develop the techniques to trace the origins and development of concepts. In a short communication on“ Informetrics vis-àvis Bibliometrics: Scope and its Development”, Ravichandra Rao( 29) mentioned that it is a field wherein the flow of information and behavior of information are analyzed, measured and quantitative relationships are established. It is a scientific field wherein the developments of measurement of impact of information are assessed continuously. Bibliometrics may therefore be treated as synonymous to informetrics having a scope to analyze quantitative characteristics of information. An FID Committee constituted with broadly defined objectives in the provision of research and technical data subsequently gave this name.
Third International conference on Informetrics was held in Bangalore in 1991.
�I�for�etrics� �as used as a ge�eric ter� to �ea�“ The use a�d de�elop�e�t of a variety of measures to study and analyse several properties of information in general and documents in particular the study of the quantitative aspects of information in any form, not just records or bibliographies. Informetrics is the study of quantitative aspects of information. This includes the production, dissemination and use of all forms of information, regardless of its form or origin. As such, informetrics encompasses the fields of which studies quantitative aspects of science. It is mostly concerned with development of models to explain and identify the various characteristics of the literature. It also discusses scientific productivity, collaborative research, etc.