 Information-theoretic accounts of measurement were originally developed by metrologists — experts in physical measurement and standardization — with little involvement from philosophers. Independently of developments in metrology, Bas van Fraassen (2008: 141–185) has recently proposed a conception of measurement in which information plays a key role. He views measurement as composed of two levels: on the physical level, the measuring apparatus interacts with an object and produces a reading, e.g., a pointer  position.[16]  On the abstract level, background theory represents the object’s possible states on a parameter space. Measurement locates an object on a sub-region of this abstract parameter space, thereby reducing the range of possible states (2008: 164 and 172). This reduction of possibilities amounts to the collection of information about the measured object. Van Fraassen’s analysis of measurement differs from information-theoretic accounts developed in metrology in its explicit appeal to background theory, and in the fact that it does not invoke the symbolic conception of information developed by Shannon and Weaver.