6.2 Given a Context by Any Other Name: Methodological Tools for Taming the Unruly Beast.

6.2 Given a Context by Any Other Name: Methodological Tools for Taming the Unruly Beast.

Brenda Dervin

Dervin’s article discusses the idea of context, and that it has tons of definitions. She defines it in many ways, confusing the reader, but also explains how it is important. The article closes on the idea that context is “untamable”, because it is everywhere and is fluid instead of stagnant.

The idea of context is a very broad one. When I think of context, I define it as the circumstances surrounding something. Now, while that is very vague, I think my definition is clearer than Dervin’s. Dervin struggles to give context a specific meaning, and instead gives it many. She states that every attribute of people, situations, organizations, and has been defined as context. At first, this was troubling to me, the idea that context is in a sense absolutely everything. Why bother having a term to define everything? But, as I considered it, I realized Dervin’s definition melded well with mine. The circumstances surrounded a piece of literature include not only the time period in which it was written, but the author’s gender, education, political leanings, etc. In my definition, I was thinking of circumstances and context in a very narrow way, defining the situation instead of in the broader terms Dervin uses to define context.

In human information behavior, context is everything. Context can define what kind of prior knowledge the user possesses, and the way they interpret the information they are given. It can also affect the ability of a user to use a system, whether it be a librarian or a computer system. It is our job, as information professionals, to be aware of the affect of context. When assisting a patron in obtaining information, we need to understand what factors may affect their ability to search information as well as comprehend the information. With a child in this situation, you would need to know not only their age and grade in school, but their reading level and if possible, if there are any reading restrictions put in place by their parents. While some 12 year olds may not understand a scholarly journal, others may, and it would be good to be able to provide the information.