Date of Award

5-11-2025

Date Published

June 2025

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Information Science & Technology

Advisor(s)

Jeff Hemsley

Keywords

archival science;cultural dynamics;cultural heritage informatics;memetics;phenomenology;theory of information

Abstract

Memetics and information have been connected since Richard Dawkins defined memes in 1976. Yet, information studies rarely contributes despite the connection. This dissertation develops a memetic program that exists within an information framework. An information-centric study of memes offers answers to questions of cultural dynamics, meaning production, and applies to questions in cultural heritage informatics and knowledge organization. This proposal offers a theoretically and empirically connected space within an information-centric development of memetics. What is provided is a three paper dissertation. These three papers include a (1) literature review and citation analysis paper, (2) a preliminary theory-method paper exemplifying a study of memetic differences, and (3) a grounded theory of Know Your Meme, a memory institution of visual memetic documents. These three papers offer a schema for Information Studies to proceed in the study of memetics by connecting memetics to theories of information and developing a methodology which prioritizes informationally-oriented data. The three studies contained in this dissertation position present information in memetics such that it develops a joint theory-methodology of culture. It contributes ``a methodology of difference'' motivated by Gregory Bateson's psycho-sensory information using both content analysis and grounded theory to illustrate a more extensive idea of what cultural information and data are theoretically. The dissertation concludes by re-evaluating memetic theory and information's place in the study. It also notes some limitations of the dissertation that in turn motivates some future directions of study.

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Open Access

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