Short Description:
The aim of the course is to enable students to understand the significance of the connection between information behavior and the creative and cultural industries within a contemporary and distinct cultural environment.
Course Description:
This course examines the relationship between information behavior, creativity, and the cultural industries, with a focus on the digital transformation of the information life cycle. Digitalization has fundamentally reshaped how information is produced, recorded, processed, stored, organized, accessed, reproduced, retrieved, and disseminated, removing traditional constraints of time, place, and materiality.
Students will explore how these changes affect patterns of information behavior and their implications for creativity and cultural industries, where information serves as a central resource. The course introduces key concepts such as cultural information, information behavior, creativity, and cultural industries, integrating both theoretical perspectives and applied examples.
By the end of the course, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between cultural information and information behavior, and how these dynamics influence creativity, cultural production, and information services in both analog and digital contexts.
Objectives – Intended Learning Outcomes:
Within the framework of the course, the relationship between information behavior, creativity, and the cultural industries is examined from both theoretical and applied perspectives, particularly in the era of the digital transformation of the information life cycle.
The digital transformation of information has led to a qualitative and quantitative reshaping of the parameters related to its nature, management, and use: production, recording, representation, processing, accumulation and storage, organization, access, reproduction, retrieval, and dissemination—free from the constraints of place, time, and physical form.
Through the digitization of information, an entirely new reality is formed in the terms and models of information behavior, as well as in the fields of creativity and the cultural industries, which are fundamentally grounded in information.
The course aims to foster students’ understanding of the concepts of information behavior, creativity, and the cultural industry, as well as their interconnection within a contemporary, fluid, and interactive cultural and communicative environment.
The course syllabus seeks to introduce students to the concepts of “cultural information” as the product of a broader creative process, “information behavior,” “creativity,” and the “cultural industry,” as presented in the literature from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, supported by applied examples.
The intended outcome is for students to develop a comprehensive understanding of theoretical and practical issues concerning cultural information and information behavior, as well as their impact on creativity and the cultural industry, including information products and services in both the analog and digital eras.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
Content (Syllabus):
Week 1: Course Overview, Assessment and Grading Clarifications
In the first lecture, the instructor and students are introduced. The structure and organization of the course content and teaching material are presented, and the assessment and grading methods are clarified.
Week 2: Historical Framework for the Study of Information, Information Behavior, and the Communication Process
The second lecture presents, through a literature review, the concept and broader framework for the study of information, information behavior, and the communication process (e.g., terminology and conceptual approaches, purpose, historical development, and research objectives).
Week 3: Information, Information Behavior, and Information Literacy
The third lecture addresses issues related to the broader framework and management of the concept of information (interpretation, role, value, evolution), information behavior, and information literacy, as well as the contemporary environment for the development of information products and services.
Week 4: Information Needs, Motivations, and Use. Models and Theories of Information Behavior
The fourth lecture examines, through an extensive literature review and applied examples, concepts directly related to information needs, motivations, and information use, as well as models of information behavior (e.g., Krikelas, Ellis, Kuhlthau, Savolainen, Johnson, Williamson, Foster, Wilson, Robson and Robinson, among others).
Week 5: Information, Communication, and Information Behavior in Decision-Making at Organizational and Individual Levels
The fifth lecture continues, through literature review and applied examples, the presentation of concepts directly related to information, communication, and information behavior in decision-making at both organizational and individual levels.
Week 6: Information and Information Behavior in the Digital Era
The sixth lecture explores the digital transformation of information and analyzes—focusing on digital technology and innovation—the reshaping of information-seeking models and information behavior within the Information Society.
Week 7: The Concept of Creativity: Psychometric and Systemic Approaches
The seventh lecture examines in depth, through literature review, the concept of creativity as a central factor in everyday human activity, contributing to both personal and organizational success. Models and theoretical approaches (psychometric and systemic) are presented regarding the description of the creative process and the methods for measuring creative outcomes.
Week 8: Models and Theories of Creativity at the Organizational/Managerial Level
The eighth lecture presents, through literature review and applied examples, models of creativity at the organizational and managerial level. It also describes the characteristics of the creative individual, techniques for enhancing individual creativity, and actions for fostering creativity within information organizations as an applicable process that positively influences the production of a product or service.
Week 9: Creativity, Digital Technologies, and Innovation in Information Organizations
The ninth lecture develops issues related to the application of creativity and innovation in information and cultural organizations (Libraries, Archives, Museums, cultural organizations) for the development of innovative information products and services through the use of digital technologies.
To facilitate understanding, concepts such as strategy, digital and technological strategy, divergent thinking, user-centered thinking, quality focus, proper and simple organization, learning processes, and effective management of human, technological, and financial resources are defined. The role and significance of information products and services at the socio-economic level are also analyzed (e.g., social inclusion, development of policies to combat social exclusion, promotion and preservation of cultural identity and cohesion, access to culture, e-governance and active public participation, encouragement and facilitation of formal and informal learning).
Week 10: Cultural Industries: Theoretical Framework and Classifications
The tenth lecture presents, through literature review, the term “cultural and creative industries” or “culture and creativity sectors” and analyzes their broader framework, which includes institutions managing cultural information, such as Libraries, Archives, and Museums.
Different definitions found in the literature are discussed, along with a detailed description of the concept of the cultural organization, its mission and sustainability, and the cultural market. Special reference is made to the cultural and creative sector in Greece (key figures, changes, number of employees, added value, percentage changes, etc.), according to a 2016 study by the Ministry of Culture and Sports. Additionally, the value chain is examined as an information system for information and cultural organizations.
Week 11: Cultural Industries, Information Products and Services in the Digital Era (Book and Newspaper Publishing)
The eleventh lecture demonstrates, at both theoretical and applied levels, the direct and interactive correlation between information, information behavior, creativity, and the cultural industries, as well as the information products and services they produce and distribute. Through applied examples focusing on book and newspaper publishing, the challenges and opportunities for information products and services in the digital era are highlighted, along with dynamic changes in the fields of information behavior and creativity.
Week 12: Cultural Industries and Information Organizations in the Digital Era: Information Products and Services (Libraries, Museums, Archives)
The twelfth lecture, through theoretical review and applied examples focusing on cultural industries and information organizations (Libraries, Museums, Archives), examines the challenges and opportunities for information products and services in the digital era, particularly in light of the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the fields of information, content, creativity, and information behavior.
Week 13: Course Summary / Presentation of Assignments
The thirteenth lecture provides a summary of the course content, and students present their written assignments.
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Fiske, J. (2010). Εισαγωγή στην Επικοινωνία. Αθήνα: Αιγόκερως. (in Greek)
Florida, R. (2002). The Rise of the Creative Class: And How it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Perseus Book Group.
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Frické, M. (2009). The knowledge pyramid: A critique of the DIKW hierarchy. Journal of Information Science, 35(2), 131-142.
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Θεοδότου, Ε. (2015). Η Δημιουργικότητα στην εποχή των νέων τεχνολογιών. Δημιουργικές εφαρμογές στην καθημερινή πράξη. Αθήνα: Κριτική. (in Greek)
Järvelin, K., & Wilson, T. D. (2003). On conceptual models for information seeking and retrieval research. Information Research, 9(1).
Johnson, J. D. (2003). On contexts of information seeking. Information Processing & Management, 39, 735-760.
Julien, H., & O’Brien, M. (2014). Information behavior research: Where have we been, where are we going? Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 38(4), 239_250.
Κάπος, Π. (2023). Το Οικοσύστημα της εκδοτικής βιομηχανίας βιβλίου στον 21ο αιώνα: Ψηφιακή μετάβαση και η ελληνική περίπτωση (2009-2019). Αθήνα: Ι. Σιδέρης. (in Greek)
Kari, J. (2007). Conceptualizing the personal outcomes of information. Information Research, 12(2). Retrieved from http://informationr.net/ir/12-2/paper292.html
Kaufman, J. C., & Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The international handbook of creativity. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Kostagiolas, P. (2012). Managing intellectual capital in libraries: Beyond the balance sheet. Oxford: Chandow Publishing.
Kostagiolas, P., Lavranos, C., & Manolitzas, P. (2019). Survey data for measuring musical creativity and the impact of information. Data, 4(2), paper 80.
Kostagiolas, P., Lavranos, C., Martzoukou, K., & Papadatos, J. (2017). The role of personality in musicians’ information seeking for creativity. Information Research, 22(2), paper 756.
Kostagiolas, P., Lavranos, C., Martzoukou, K., & Papadatos, J. (2015). Keeping the score: Outreach services and collaboration for academic music libraries in financially straitened times. Library Management, 36(6/7), 495-510.
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Λαβράνος, Χ. (2017). Πληροφόρηση και Δημιουργικότητα: Επιδράσεις της πληροφορίας στη δημιουργικότητα και τη δημιουργική βιομηχανία. Θεσσαλονίκη: Εκδόσεις Επίκεντρο. (in Greek)
Lavranos, C. (2018). Music librarianship and creativity: the case of International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centers (IAML). Library Management, 39(8/9), pp. 553-568.
Lavranos, C., Kostagiolas, P., Korfiatis, N., & Papadatos, J. (2016). Information seeking for musical creativity: A systematic literature review. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 67(9), 2105-2117.
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Lavranos, C., Manolitzas, P., Kostagiolas, P. & Grigoroudis, E. (2020). Studying musical creativity for managing music library services. Library Management, 41(8/9), pp. 745-763.
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Teaching and Learning Methods:
Combination of synchronous distance learning and face-to-face instruction.
Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT):
Assessment/Grading Methods:
During the third lecture, one hour is dedicated to guidance on assignment preparation and topic selection. Throughout the semester, ongoing communication with students is maintained regarding the development of their assignments and to address any questions they may have.
