Information criticism
# Information criticism

Information criticism (also critique of information or information critique) is understood as a transformation of critical theory to contend that today there is no longer any transcendental, objective, or privileged position from which critique or social analysis can be undertaken. If society is intrinsically informational, and the analyst is inescapably part of the society, so too must the analyst and the analysis be informational, as tied up with and characterized by the nature of information as every other social entity or phenomenon. As Lash (2002) wrote, "The critique of information is in the information itself" (p. 220); "Information critique must be critique without transcendentals" (p. 9).

Andersen (2005/2008) equates information criticism with the criticism of the functionality and legitimacy of knowledge organization systems such as bibliographies, classification systems, thesauri, encyclopedias and search engines — all systems that in some way or another mediate the recorded part of society and culture. Such knowledge organization systems are also the professional tools of librarians.

