Information: Nature, importance and functions

Abstract

Information is all around us and next to matter and energy it is the most important and common entity in this world. It moves the world. Being a much over used term it is least understood and there is no consensual definition of it. But its properties are numerous and well recognized. It keeps moving a system be it bio, astro, social or mechanical. For an animal it is the product of being conscious. It is formed through sense perception in the brain but needs a physical media for its recording and communication. It is recorded as graphic visuals or electrical pulses or electromagnetic waves both in audio and visual forms. The article enumerates its various physical, economic, political and social properties and functions. Information has become a great and inexhaustible resource in national development. To live effectively is to live with authentic and adequate information. But it needs knowledge for its effective application. Without knowledge, information may be all heat and smoke without any light. The article emphasises that information literacy is instrumental in empowering citizens in this complex and sophisticated social world.