Welcome
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The iSquare Research Program is an arts-informed, visual study of the concept of information, created in 2010 and managed by Dr. Jenna Hartel at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. It explores three broad questions: 1) How do people visualize the concept of information?, 2) How do visual conceptions of information differ among various populations?, and 3) How do these images relate to conceptions of information made of words? As of January, 2021, the project is on hold, due in part to the COVID pandemic, and will resume in the near future.
To answer the questions above, a research team employs an empirical, visual method known as the draw-and-write technique, as adapted in an original iSquare protocol. Informants are given a 4.25" by 4.25" piece of paper and asked to express their understanding of information as a drawing. On the reverse side of the same paper they are prompted to complete the phrase, "Information is...". The process generates a compact piece of visual and textual data called an 'information square' or iSquare, for short. Since 2010, 4,000+ iSquares have been gathered in a series of data collections, analyzed through a variety of lenses, and reported in peer-reviewed journals of Information Science (see Publications). A selection of our favorite drawings are shown immediately below, and more can be viewed at the Corpus page. Hovering over each drawing reveals the response to the phrase, "Information is..." that appears on the reverse side. |
Whether employed as a research method or pedagogical strategy, iSquares bring Information Science into the |
