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"Most literature thinks of the relationship between data and society as additive, meaning that data and society are seen as two separate sets of things but which overlap to form an intersection. The literature then goes off to unpack the intersection of the two circles and partners the term data in this manner with terms descriptive of the domain of society - ownership, control, surveillance, and privacy, to name but a few. Within this book, we want to promote an alternative viewpoint of the relationship between data and society. Rather than explaining how data fits with or contributes to some burning societal issues, we want to explain how data is constitutive of many such issues. The term constitutive is used here in the sense of data having power to institute, establish, or enact society. Our viewpoint means that if you are to properly understand the constitutive nature of data, you must first start from principles and closely examine the nature of data itself. You must also focus on the mechanics of data - how data is represented and articulated in records or more generally in data structures. Our aim in doing this is to examine the place of data structures across cultures and societies. In doing so, we hope to better understand why we, as humans, make records. In doing this, we can also better understand some of the unintended consequences of the use of records, which particularly plague us in the modern world"--

What is information and why is it so important? How does information relate to language and communication? In what sense do animals and machines communicate? Are computers the only information technology? What is the value of information systems to organisations? This book considers the nature of significance and the way it is continually accomplished within activity, communication and representation. It argues that significance is generated at the intersection of signs and systems, which involves the enactment of forma (the substance of a sign), informa (the content of a sign) and performa (the use of signs in coordinated action). In demonstrating the value of this perspective the book employs the innovative approach of considering examples and cases from different times, cultures and species. This improves our understanding of the nature of information, information systems and information technology and the way these phenomena entangle in complex ways within human organisation.

Purpose
– This paper aims to examine the central place of the list and the associated concept of an identifier within the "scaffolding" of contemporary government order.


Design/methodology/approach
– These terms are deliberately chosen to make strange and help unpack the constitutive capacity of information systems and information technology within and between contemporary government agencies. We draw upon the substantial body of work by John Searle to help understand the place of lists in the constitution of the order of governance.


Findings
– To enable us to ground our discussion of the potentiality and problematic associated with lists, we describe a significant and modern instance of list-making, situated around the issue of digital identity management.


Originality/value
– The theoretical framework discussed allows us to better explain breakdowns in the institutional order characteristic of this domain.

The concept of information is clearly foundational to the systems, behavioural and information sciences but lacking in a clear conceptual foundation. In this paper, we propose that the concept is clearly overloaded and suggest that a new vocabulary is needed to enhance our powers of understanding and explanation. We argue that information is better situated at the intersection of signs, patterns and systems, which involves the enactment of forma (the substance of a sign), informa (the content of a sign) and performa (the use of signs in coordinated action). To demonstrate the utility of this framework and to help us breakdown entrenched conceptions, we deliberately consider a 'strange' case from a different time and culture. We conclude with a discussion of the usefulness of this framework in helping us better understand the complex entanglement of signs, systems and patterns and how this helps unravel the multifaceted nature of information. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.