Icon / Iconology / Iconography
A visual,
graphic representation of an object, word, or concept. A kind of
sign, which has similarity with what is
represented.
The concept of "icon" is today widespread in computer science, thanks to the
development of the interface of the personal
computer (PC).
Iconology is the study of symbolic representations. It is about icons and
pictures. Iconography is the description and interpretation of the
content and symbol of (old) pictures.
Literature:
Morse, E.; Lewis, M. & Olsen, K. A. (2002). Testing visual information retrieval methodologies
case study: Comparative analysis of textual, icon, graphical, and "spring"
displays. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and
Technology, 53(1), 28-40.
Roberts, H. E.
(1998). Encyclopedia of comparative iconography: Themes depicted in works of
art. Vol. 1-2. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.
Thivolle L (1998). Contribution of Erwin Panofsky's iconographical analysis to
the documentary analysis of images. Canadian Journal of Information and
Library Science-Revue Canadienne des Sciences de l'Information et de
Bibliotheconomie, 23(1-2), 31-49.
Grund, A. (1993). ICONCLASS - On subject analysis of iconographic
representations of works of art. Knowledge Organization, 20(1), 20-29.
Markey, K. (1988). Access to iconographical research collections. Library
Trends, 37(2), 154-174.
Brandhorst, J. P. J. (1993). Quantification in iconography. Knowledge
Organization, 20(1), p. 12 &
See also: Pictures; Semiotics;
Symbol.
Birger Hjørland
Last edited: 18-02-2006