Illuminating the social production and history of the term information as a substantive, Day (library and information science, Wayne State U.) identifies three information ages of the 20th century: European documentation before and soon after World War II, US information theory and cybernetics soon after World War II, and the virtual age that was proclaimed shortly before the end of the century. A major concern is to resurrect some earlier notions of information that do not assume a predetermined and unavoidable future.