The Nature of Communications in the Context of the Information Society Development: the Problems of Conceptual Apparatus Formation

Abstract

The research is aimed at identifying the characteristics of the conceptual apparatus of the subject area «information society», which is considered as the most important means of communication. The expansion of means of communication in the context of active introduction of information technologies into various fields of activity using both linguistic and non-linguistic signs is indicated. With the participation of representatives of various spheres of activity (IT‑specialists, representatives of authorities and management, regulatory and supervisory and law enforcement agencies, information service providers and information technology users), who have different levels of vocabulary in the subject area «information society» in the communication process, information transfer is associated with its possible lack of understanding or complete misunderstanding by the communication participants. Despite the presence of publications devoted to the issues of standardization and the use of concepts characterizing various aspects of the information society formation and development in the modern documentary stream, there are no studies reflecting results of the system analysis of the term system of the subject area «information society». Based on the content analysis of the abstracts journal «Informatics», which reflects the global documentary flow (chronological coverage: 2000–2018) and Russian regulatory documents in the field of informatization of society, international and national (Russian) standards, the composition of the concepts used has been revealed. During the study of the composition and the content of the concepts definitions enshrined in regulatory and technical documents, such challenges of the conceptual apparatus formation as inconsistency of definitions used both in different industries and in different standards included in one complex or a system of standards; incorrect use of terms that have definitions enshrined in regulatory documents; parallel use of synonymous terms and concepts, including within the same field of activity, have been identified. It is proposed to consider increasing the efficiency of communications in the information society through solving a set of tasks: formation of a terminology system that meets the requirements of international and Russian regulatory documents, development of a classification of concepts that characterize the information society as a whole and its components; adaptation of the conceptual apparatus enshrined in normative legal and normative and technical documents; development of information retrieval thesauri, and complex reference editions