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  • Analogous Spaces:An Introduction to Spatial Metaphors for the Organization of Knowledge
  • Wouter Van Acker (bio) and Pieter Uyttenhove (bio)

Spatial Metaphors for the Organization of Information

Spatial metaphors abound in the language we use to speak about the organization of information. Well-established notions such as "architecture of databases," "knowledge architect," or "information design" convey their meaning by drawing analogies between the organization of information and the organization of space. The notion "architecture of databases," for example, relies on the idea that a database provides us, like a building, multiple spaces where we can position different objects that we can exploit for different functions. Just as a building is a fixed construction, the interior of which can be furnished and refurbished time and again, we can add or remove objects of knowledge or data in the categories of a database. A "knowledge architect" is another example. Through metaphor, this notion defines the job of someone who, like an architect, combines technical and artistic skills and who is able to coordinate the overall construction process; not for the purpose of constructing a building but for constructing tools to manage flows of knowledge or relevant information that is meant to remain in place (Tonfoni, 1998). "Information design" is a third example. It underscores metaphorically the idea that the development of an information system involves, as is the case in design, a complex process of planning before actual construction can occur. Furthermore, one applies the word "design" to information systems to imply that they are modeled in a smart way, to minimize the user's efforts and to do so in respect to his or her personal needs.

In the field of architectural and urban design, on the other hand, a growing number of metaphors have been borrowed from information and system theory. Leading architects have absorbed into their discourse concepts such as cybernetics, chaos theory, complexity, and self-organizing [End Page 259] or nonlinear dynamic systems. They build architectural forms by means of computer-aided design and choose, analogous to the way we search for and select information, the final form of their design as a cross-section taken from a continuous flow of animated, digital forms and their geometrical transformations (Picon, 2003). Moreover, prominent urban designers conceptualize the city's complexity in terms of information, communication, and computerization. Information—in the way in which it flows around the world, lacks overview, and constitutes a dynamic archive—is used by urban planners to pinpoint the dynamic, mutating character of the contemporary city (Boyer, 2011).

Borrowing concepts and images from architectural and urban design to develop a new way of understanding library and information science (LIS) concepts is not a recent phenomenon. The interpretation of information as the organization of space, and space as the organization of information, has a rich history. Examples include the art of memory in Roman times, the memory theaters of the Renaissance, novels that build their narrative around fictional spaces, the way in which churches spatially translate the narratives of the bible, or the cabinets of curiosity and the universal exhibitions that were conceived as comprehensive encyclopedias.

The long list of metaphors that we use to conceptualize information and knowledge can be explained by the creative and explanatory powers of metaphors and analogies, which are, in turn, directly linked to their capacity to transfer concepts among fields of knowledge. The creative and explanatory nature and use of metaphors and analogies in the sciences have been documented in a considerable amount of literature (van Noppen, 1985; van Noppen & Hols, 1990; Maasen & Weingart, 2000).1 In general, scholars seem to agree that we use metaphors to deal with phenomena or concepts for which we still lack precise descriptions.2 Metaphors function on the basis of analogy or the similarity that exists between two or more apparently dissimilar things. By means of analogies or approximating resemblances, metaphors help us to see or identify things as something else, and thus prepare the way for a new and more adequate interpretation (Ricoeur, 1986, p. 243). Through analogy or expression of similarities between what is dissimilar, metaphors allow "creative mental leaps" to be made (Holyoak & Thagard, 1995, p. 223).

Metaphors and the analogies...

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