DIKW

Categories: Information science

DIKW is data, information, knowledge, wisdom: an information hierarchy where each layer adds certain attributes over and above the previous one. Data is the most basic level; Information adds context; Knowledge adds how to use it; and Wisdom adds when to use it. As such, DIKW is a model that is useful to understanding analysis and the importance and limits of conceptual works. DIKW is used primarily in the fields of Information Science and Knowledge Management.

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History

The hierarchy can be traced back to a poem by T.S. Eliot, The Rock. In the opening stanza he wrote: Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? / Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?. Harlan Cleveland built the hierarchy on this basis in Information as Resource, an article in the magazine The Futurist, December 1982. It was subsequently expanded by Milan Zeleny and Russell Ackoff. [[1]]

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Application

The DIKW model is used as an aide to research and analysis by applying the following chain of action.

  • Data comes in the form of raw observations.
  • Information is created by analysing relationships and connections between the data. It is capable of answering simple "who/what/where/when/why" style questions.
  • Knowledge is created by using the information for action. Knowledge answers the question "how".
  • Wisdom is create through use of knowledge, through the communication of knowledge users, and through reflection. Wisdom answers the questions "why" and "when" as they relate to actions.