Information attributes

In this chapter, we focus on the concept of information attributes. Information attributes are the properties of information and information objects that can be used to describe and differentiate information. Being able to differentiate information objects means we can select the most appropriate objects for our tasks and we can design information systems to organise and store information in useful ways. We start by providing a discussion on why being able to describe properties of information objects is important, and then we provide a description of essential concepts in this area to provide a theoretical background to information attributes. Following this, we highlight a selection of key information attributes to give a flavour of the kind of studies that have been conducted in this area before concluding with current trends in this research area.