Scrapbook Week 3.2

I made some comments on blackboard about the readings and how they all fit together that I think should appear here in my scrapbook:

It seems that the common agreement in all of our readings for this week is that in the past information systems have been designed in a very scientific way. This method has resulted in designing systems with the information in mind - that is to say that the systems are being designed around the needs of the data (i.e., how things should be organized, what categories it fits into, etc.). All of the authors from this week through their various theories have discussed the need to design systems with the information needs of the user in mind. These needs are affected by many aspects of the individual person and what they bring to their information seeking process. Information mosaics and rounding takes into account the many other factors in a person's life (information from people, their experiences, etc.).

Kuhlthau's theory discusses a holistic theory of information seeking, taking into account the actions, feelings, and thoughts of the user. Kuhlthau argues that the information process is a confusing, not orderly, process as others have argued. Marchionini, for instance says that each step taken by a user leads to the next one and that every user is different because of the steps they choose to take in information seeking. He does agree with the others that the choices the user makes are affected by other aspects of their life and what they value as 'good' information.

Brenda Dervin's sense-making theory seems to take both Kuhlthau and Marchionini's ideas into account with her sense-making theory. This theory says that we are all in a chaotic state of information seeking and we seek information to reach an orderly state of being. Her theory sees information as a way to bridge the gap between these two points.

The point from all of the authors, I think, is that every person brings their own histories and ways of information seeking to the table and that we should design our information systems with these thoughts in mind.