Some of the most important pro’s
discussed in this theory are that information describes ordered reality,
information describes an ordered reality that varies across time and space, and
information describes an ordered reality that varies from person to
person. To argue these pro’s Dervin
says, “Nested within the narratives are a host of polarities that plague the
design and implementation of information systems-not to mention the very
construction of our societies” (Dervin 39). More importantly, he also argues
that,
“Sometimes, this view assumes,
information describes an orderly reality; sometimes it requires specialized
observing skills and technologies; sometimes it varies across time and space
and from culture to culture and person to person. Sometimes it represents the imposition
of power; sometimes it opposes order in a chaotic way” (Dervin 39)
So although this theory very much
emphasizes the importance of observation and technology, it also may generalize
observations too much, which create chaos in their data that opposes some of
their findings. I think an example of
this theory might be to observe many, many other bloggers to see what they are
writing about and use their blogs to collect similar data or find common
threads. This could also be chaotic because there are so many bloggers that it
would overwhelming to try to accurately place a category on top of each type of
blog. The focus should be taken a little less off the date and a little more on
just the action of observation.
Hi Richele-
ReplyDeleteYour blog is very striking and interesting. The use of the cube-like repetition goes well with the cutting white boxes and pink text. By using those three colors, gray, white and pink your blog is very well balanced. I can see how your post reflects the theory you chose. The chaos is the cube-like repetition while the sense making/order reflects the white. Your use of repetition with a white text box is also a good example of order as it draws the reader’s eye into the center of the screen while sort of washing out the back.
The content of your post was also very interesting as I chose sense-making for my theory of choice as well. I see from the pros that you went with some of Dervin’s pros of the theory and the reasoning behind her ideas which is a little bit different than mine as I explored some of my own views on why the theory matched with my interests. I would like to see why you chose the theory and what your reasoning was.
You did explain your reasoning behind some of the disadvantages of this theory which I also appreciated:
“So although this theory very much emphasizes the importance of observation and technology, it also may generalize observations too much, which create chaos in their data that opposes some of their findings.”
I fully agree with this statement. This theory tries to make sense of order and chaos at the same time. In many ways because of its sensitivities to the many facets of information and processing, it tends to have difficulty with over-generalization. Great post!
Julie Mazza