Koncept DIKW-hijerarhije (engl. Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom hierarchy ) osmišljen je 1980-ih kako bi na što jednostavniji način oslikao odnose između možda ključnih pojmova u knjižničnoj i informacijskoj znanosti danas – podatka, informacije, znanja i mudrosti. U radu se izlaže i kritički analizira tumačenje koncepta DIKW-hijerarhije u literaturi iz dvaju velikih područja – upravljanja znanjem i knjižnične i informacijske znanosti. Dan je kratki osvrt na porijeklo nastanka DIKW-koncepta te njegov najčešći prikaz u obliku piramide, odnosno trokuta. Nadalje, DIKW-hijerarhija propituje se kao model i kao simbol. Kao model, DIKW-hijerarhija dopušta dodatne interpretacije strukturnih i funkcionalnih značajki vezanih uz procese transformiranja, procesiranja i međusobnog sadržavanja ugrađenih DIKW-koncepata u modelu. Kao simbol, DIKW-hijerarhija, u najopćenitijem smislu, može simbolizirati proces stjecanja znanja kao najprihvatljiviju mogućnost, otvarajući vrata metaforičnoj interpretaciji pojedinih pojmova uključenih u nadređeni DIKW-koncept. Na kraju rada dan je osvrt i na pojedine kritičke pristupe DIKW-hijerarhiji, prije svega na kritike njezinih logičkih i epistemoloških pretpostavki. Autor zatim izlaže vlastitu kritiku simboličnog prikaza i metaforične interpretacije DIKW-hijerarhije kao piramide te zaključuje da je sudbina DIKW-hijerarhije neizvjesnija nego ikada prije. The concept of DIKW (Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom) hierarchy was designed in the 1980s with the aim to portray, as simply as possible, the relationships among, perhaps the most used terms in scientifi c and non-scientifi c discourse today: data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. The paper critically exposes and analyses the interpretation of the concept of the DIKW hierarchy in the professional literature of two large areas Knowledge Management (KM) and Library and Information Science (LIS). A brief review of the origin of the DIKW concept is given as well as its most common representation in the form of a pyramid or a triangle. The paper further examines DIKW hierarchy as a model and as a symbol. As a model, DIKW hierarchy allows the introduction of an additional interpretation of its structural and functional characteristics associated with the processes of transforming, processing, and mutual containing of the embedded DIKW elements. As a symbol, DIKW hierarchy, in the most general sense, can symbolize the knowledge acquisition process, as the most acceptable option, which opens the door to a metaphorical interpretation of certain terms included in the superior DIKW concept. At the end of the paper, the discussion of the particular critical approaches to the DIKW hierarchy is also given, relating to the criticism of its logical as well as epistemological assumptions. The author also presents his critical views of the symbolic representation and metaphorical interpretation of the DIKW hierarchy as a pyramid. Due to the increasing number of critical reviews, the paper concludes by stating that the future of DIKW hierarchy seems even more uncertain now than ever before