"A different kind of knowing": speculations on understanding in light of the Philosophy of Information

Bawden and Robinson (2015) have argued that library and information science (LIS) should focus on the promotion of understanding, as much as on the provision of information, and the sharing of knowledge. But there is a lack of clarity and consensus, both in general discourse and in the LIS literature, as to what is meant by understanding. This short and speculative paper considers some philosophical approaches to understanding, particularly those related to Floridi's Philosophy of Information, and based on the general idea that understanding is, in the words of Pullman's Lyra, a special kind of knowledge