Chapter 5: Database

The example of Book Database 

Lie Down with Lions 

Chapter 4: Reference collection

The Reference Collection 

• encyclopedias
• dictionaries  
• almanacs  
• directories  
• bibliographies  
• statistical sources 
• atlases

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_collection

Chapter 3: Library

The difference between 

Library of Congress Classification System LC. and 

Dewey Decimal Classification System D.D.C

Library of Congress Classification System ( L.C) is to use the Alphabet to represent the subject in the library. A - Z

                   

Deway Decimal Classification (D.D.C.) is to use the number    000 - 900 representing the subject in the library.

LINKS

*the Library of Congress Website:
 http://www.loc.gov/index.htm

*British Library :
 http://www.bl.uk/

*Thai National Library:

 http://www.nlt.go.th/

*Sripatum University Library:

 http://library.spu.ac.th/e-library/index4.html

*ASEAN Community Website :

 http://www.asean.org/

Chapter 2: Objective facts / Subjective opinion

1.Objective Facts: 

EX:             About Ukraine Tourism.

Facts and Numbers.

Today Ukraine tourism industry confidently has entered the world tourist market. Tourism in Ukraine has been recognized as an important economic factor. There is a good reason for this change.Daily profit from one foreign tourist in Ukraine equals income from exporting nine tons of Ukrainian coal. A tourist sector of economics serves as a major source of currency for 38% of countries in the world. It’s all a matter of priorities.In the present day we can see that things are beginning to change in the Ukraine's tourist industry. The Cabinet of Ministers and the President adopted several important decrees on tourism. "The Program of Development of Tourism up to the year 2010" has already been launched. On October, 1997 Ukraine became a Full Member of the World Tourism Organization (WTO).Ukraine tourism is one of the fastest growing branches of the state economy. In Soviet Union times tourism was not even a branch of the State economy. It was just a neglected part of "the sphere of services". For a considerable length of time, foreign tourists were allowed to come to officially designated "open" cities only. 

What makes Tourism in Ukraine attractive?

There are many features which are advantageous for the development of Ukraine tourism:

Over 500 cities of Ukraine were foundedmore than 900 years ago, 4500 villages of Ukraine are more than 300 years old. More than 150 thousand monumentsof culture , history, archeology reflect the remarkable history of the Ukrainian people. 80 % of the monuments of Kyivan Rus epoch (IX - XII centuries) are concentrated in the territory of Ukraine.

Affordable dentistry in Ukraine

The excavations of ancient towns Tira, Olviya, Chersonese, Panticapeadating from the 5th century B.C. as well as the magnificent fortresses built in the 14th-15th centuries by Italians from Genoa, are located in Crimea.

More than 600 museums introduce the most outstanding facts and personalities of Ukrainian history and culture.

Ukraine has excellent geography, climatic conditions and scenic nature. Ukraine tourism operators consider the Black Sea and the Crimea as an ideal place for mountaineering , mountain bicycling, rock climbing and diving. The Carpathian mountains are a traditional place for skiing, mountaineering and kayaking.

Many regions of Ukraine have saved their ethnic originality. Tourists have a great opportunity to get acquainted with national culture, songs, dances and meals

Source: http://www.ukraine-travel-advisor.com/ukraine-tourism.html

2.Subjective Opinions: 

EX:

                                 
Michael Yon  Thailand Opinion (from Facebook)
"Have been waiting until I get safely to Afghanistan to publish an opinion about what I've witnessed in Thailand, but in light of current events will say something before departing this week. This opinion is not meant for Thai people -- who probably all have made up their minds -- but for people who nev...er get to Thailand but who wonder what in the heck is going on here. (People who have read my work on Iraq and Afghanistan for the last nearly six years might view this differently than do newcomers who constantly accuse me of bowing to pressure.) My opinion is that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit is basically an honest man who is fighting corruption. He is very smart and internationally sophisticated. He's a good man. My thoughts on ex-Prime Minister Thaksin, however, is that he is a crook who suborns terrorism. I write this with knowledge that doing so while still in Thailand can get me killed by Thaksin's followers."

Source: http://forum.serithai.org/index.php?topic=3730.0


                       

Chapter 1: Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom

Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom

There is probably no segment of activity in the world attracting as much attention at present as that of knowledge management. Yet as I entered this arena of activity I quickly found there didn't seem to be a wealth of sources that seemed to make sense in terms of defining what knowledge actually was, and how was it differentiated from data, information, and wisdom. What follows is the current level of understanding I have been able to piece together regarding data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. I figured to understand one of them I had to understand all of them.
According to Russell Ackoff, a systems theorist and professor of organizational change, the content of the human mind can be classified into five categories:

1. Data: symbols
   
2. Information: data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to "who", "what", "where", and "when" questions
   
3. Knowledge: application of data and information; answers "how" questions
   
4. Understanding: appreciation of "why"
   
5. Wisdom: evaluated understanding.

Ackoff indicates that the first four categories relate to the past; they deal with what has been or what is known. Only the fifth category, wisdom, deals with the future because it incorporates vision and design. With wisdom, people can create the future rather than just grasp the present and past. But achieving wisdom isn't easy; people must move successively through the other categories.
A further elaboration of Ackoff's definitions follows:
Data... data is raw. It simply exists and has no significance beyond its existence (in and of itself). It can exist in any form, usable or not. It does not have meaning of itself. In computer parlance, a spreadsheet generally starts out by holding data.
Information... information is data that has been given meaning by way of relational connection. This "meaning" can be useful, but does not have to be. In computer parlance, a relational database makes information from the data stored within it.
Knowledge... knowledge is the appropriate collection of information, such that it's intent is to be useful. Knowledge is a deterministic process.  In computer parlance, most of the applications we use (modeling, simulation, etc.) exercise some type of stored knowledge.
Understanding... understanding is an interpolative and probabilistic process. It is cognitive and analytical. It is the process by which I can take knowledge and synthesize new knowledge from the previously held knowledge. The difference between understanding and knowledge is the difference between "learning" and "memorizing". People who have understanding can undertake useful actions because they can synthesize new knowledge, or in some cases, at least new information, from what is previously known (and understood). That is, understanding can build upon currently held information, knowledge and understanding itself. In computer parlance, AI systems possess understanding in the sense that they are able to synthesize new knowledge from previously stored information and knowledge.
Wisdom... wisdom is an extrapolative and non-deterministic, non-probabilistic process. It calls upon all the previous levels of consciousness, and specifically upon special types of human programming (moral, ethical codes, etc.). It beckons to give us understanding about which there has previously been no understanding, and in doing so, goes far beyond understanding itself. It is the essence of philosophical probing. Unlike the previous four levels, it asks questions to which there is no (easily-achievable) answer, and in some cases, to which there can be no humanly-known answer period. Wisdom is therefore, the process by which we also discern, or judge, between right and wrong, good and bad. I personally believe that computers do not have, and will never have the ability to posses wisdom. Wisdom is a uniquely human state, or as I see it, wisdom requires one to have a soul, for it resides as much in the heart as in the mind. And a soul is something machines will never possess (or perhaps I should reword that to say, a soul is something that, in general, will never possess a machine).




Data represents a fact or statement of event without relation to other things.

Ex: It is raining.

Information embodies the understanding of a relationship of some sort, possibly cause and effect.

Ex: The temperature dropped 15 degrees and then it started raining.

Knowledge represents a pattern that connects and generally provides a high level of predictability as to what is described or what will happen next.

Ex: If the humidity is very high and the temperature drops substantially the atmospheres is often unlikely to be able to hold the moisture so it rains.

Wisdom embodies more of an understanding of fundamental principles embodied within the knowledge that are essentially the basis for the knowledge being what it is. Wisdom is essentially systemic.

Ex: It rains because it rains. And this encompasses an understanding of all the interactions that happen between raining, evaporation, air currents, temperature gradients, changes, and raining.

It is quite likely this sequence represents 100% novelty, which means it's equivalent to noise. There is no foundation for you to connect with the pattern, yet to me the statements are quite meaningful as I understand the translation with reveals they are in fact Newton's 3 laws of motion. Is something knowledge if you can't understand it?

References:

• Ackoff, R. L., "From Data to Wisdom", Journal of Applies Systems Analysis, Volume 16, 1989 p 3-9.
• Gadomski, Adam Maria, Information, Preferences and Knowledge, An Interesting Evolution in Thought
• Sharma, Nikhil, The Origin of the Data Information Knowledge Wisdom Hierarchy
• http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm

KOH SAMUI

Ko Samui island of Surat Thani Province or often, simply Samui as it is referred to by locals, is an island off the east coast of the Kra Isthmus in Thailand, close to the mainland Surat Thani town. It is Thailand's second largest island, with an area of 228.7 km² and a population of over 50,000 (2008). It is rich with natural resources, white sandy beaches, coral reefs and coconut trees.