Many descriptive tools, when used alone, represent information and information systems inadequately or inefficiently. A photograph is a great tool for showing the visual detail of an arctic landscape to a Floridian that has never experienced cold air and snow, but not so good for showing him what the landscape feels like. It's more effective to show a person a photograph of an arctic landscape and tell him: "The air there is cold, like air in a freezer. Snow feels something like orange sherbet, but it's fluffy and light. If snow melts in your hands, they won't get sticky." than to **.

Diagrams, language, and mathematical notation can often be used in different complementary combinations to make communication more efficient. Many times one of the tools is primary and another is secondary. In a biology textbook that uses diagrams and written language to illustrate the concept of cell division, the written language is the primary mode of communication because the diagrams are used to accompany, simplify, or clarify the detailed explanations.

Often, a collection of descriptive tools can be used together to resolve a practical problem or to communicate its solution. For instance, Claude Shannon developed information theory because he was looking for a way to make telephone communication more efficient. In his paper "A Mathematical Theory of Communication, Shannon uses language to **, mathematical formulae to **and diagrams of ** to illustrate**.