This classification is
useful but it comes with a qualification. Information can
sometimes be delivered by a combination of two or more of these types. This
is why these categories are not absolutely distinct. A simple example is a
photograph in a text with a title and a brief explanation as to the relevance of
the photograph. As another example, a diagram will almost invariably be a
combination of a drawing and labels. Moreover, even a table or chart that lists
items in verbal form is a combination of the words and the simple diagram
constituted by the table or chart.
Describing the content of a text in this form may seem to be stating the
obvious. It does however, emphasise the various components of a text.
Analysing writing by this means is intended to makes writers aware of what a
text contains, and emphasises the options which they have when forming a
text. It may serve as a prompt or hint, for example to put information in a table
rather than in text. Finally, it may help readers by alerting them about what to
look for when reading a text.
Function 2. Retrieving Information
Some readers will wish to retrieve specific information from a text. For
example, they may want a brief account of the rule for which a case is an
authority. Readers of this kind actually fall into two classes:
(1)
Those who use the text purely to retrieve the information (the delvers).
(2)
Those who are actually reading the text (the porers) but seek this
information to assist or enlarge their understanding. For example, they come to
a part of the text dealing with a particular case and wish to know more about
the case. Consequently they seek to find those parts of the text (if any) where
the case is also mentioned or discussed.
Texts should and frequently do contain devices for retrieving information.
Some prominent types are the following:
(1)
Table of contents.
(2)
Index.
(3)
Special tables. Ideally any important and recurring information should
be accessible by a specially prepared table. In law books, two obvious
examples are the table of cases and
table of statutes. Social science books
typically have, and law books should have, a table of proper names (to pick
up references to authors and thinkers). Other possibilities are a table of
photographs, a table of graphs, a table of diagrams, and a table of places.
Function 3. Interpreting Information
Once a book has delivered information it may be helpful or even necessary to
interpret this information. By interpreting information a book enables a reader
better to understand and evaluate the information in the book. Some
interpretation is conceptual, for example providing a statement of purpose to
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