4.1 From the Minds Eye of the User: The Sense-Making Qualitative-Quantitative Methodology

4.1 From the Minds Eye of the User: The Sense-Making Qualitative-Quantitative Methodology

Brenda Dervin

Dervin discusses the “sense making” methodology of information seeking. The sense making model is explained as a methodology to study situations involving communication. It involves even the most basic forms of information gathering, such as talking to another person. In sense making, when a situation or problem is reached, the user must try to bridge the gap to get to the desired solution on use The underlying theories are based on the nature of information and the use of that information. It is also based on the idea of discontinuity, that when the mind reaches a discontinuity, it will try to bridge the gap. Dervin also discusses a number of “exemplars” in which real situations put to use the sense making model.

Sense making is probably one of my favorite theories of Human Information Behavior, because, conveniently enough, it makes the most sense. The idea of a gap in information or even life is a simple one, and fairly easy to understand. I like the idea that “each moment is potentially a sense-making moment”. This theory approaches information need and use as an everyday occurrence, which it is. Many of the other theories we have looked at are significantly more formalized and seem to apply to a specific information need situation. If we look at life where every moment is an opportunity to need and use information, it makes the profession seem even more important.

It thought the use of the exemplars was very helpful, I wish all of the articles would have such clean cut and explained examples of their theories. I appreciated the example of the girl choosing to go back to school after having a child. It was a real world kind of situation, and her sense making process was based mostly on knowledge she already possessed. This was different compared to the second exemplar, the blood donation, where the questions and answers were not internal. The donor had to communicate with someone else to bridge their gap, instead of internalizing the process.

I would be curious to know how much sense making is actually put into process in information seeking situations. The exemplars guide people through the process, but I wonder if it is used outside of studying its effectiveness. It seems as thought it would be a good methodology to put to use with children.