Abstract

The information pyramid, or DIKW hierarchy, is a key construct in information science and other related disciplines. Its concept, history and criticism are presented. Thereafter, the pyramid is enriched with the contributions of cognitive sciences in the last decades, and an enlarged model is proposed. Finally, a discussion of the different levels of the pyramid is presented from the point of view of the architecture of the human information system: data, information, knowledge and wisdom. As a result of very different points of view, the model is full of ambiguities and alternative interpretations, but nevertheless remains a fertile metaphor and a point of reference for the intra-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary dialog at the maximum level of abstraction.