Brenda Dervin: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:38, 16 February 2025

Brenda Dervin (1938–2022) was a US professor of communication.

Life

Brenda Louise Dervin was born in November 20, 1938. She received her BS degree in journalism and home economics and with a minor in philosophy of religion at Cornell University in 1960, then MA and Ph.D. degrees in communication research from Michigan State University in 1971.

Her first academic position was in the School of Library and Information Sciences at Syracuse University, which began her lifelong interest in library and information sciences before she moved on to the School of Communication at the University of Washington in 1977. Conversations with Richard Carter helped her to develop what has come to be known as Sense-Making Theory and Methodology. In 1986, she moved to Ohio State University where she chaired the Department of Communication before returning to research and teaching.

She died in Seattle on 31 December 2022.

Contributions

Dervin's main contribution was in developing and popularizing the study of sense-making, especially in the context of communication and library services.

She edited Progress in Communication Sciences for its first 14 years. In 1986 she acted as the first president of the International Communication Association.

Publications

For a list to 1997 see Clark, Kathleen D. (1997). Bibliography of writings of Brenda Dervin. 1997. [1]

"Information needs and uses." With M. S. Nilan. Annual review of information science and technology 21 (1986): 3-33.
"From the mind’s eye of the 'user': The sense-making qualitative-quantitative methodology." In Qualitative Research in Information Management [edited by] Jack D. Glazier, Ronald R. Powell. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1992.
Sense-making methodology reader : selected writings of Brenda Dervin. Cresskill, NJ : Hampton Press, 2003.

Honors

University of Helsinki. Honorary doctorate in the social sciences, 2000.
American Society for Information Science and Technology. Research in Information Science award, 2006.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+'''Brenda Dervin''' (1938–2022) was a US professor of communication.
-Brenda Dervin (1938–2022) was a professor of communication at Ohio State University,[1] working in the fields of communication and library and information science. Her research about information seeking and information use led to the development of the sensemaking methodology.[2]
 == Life ==
-Dervin was born in 1938.[3] She received a bachelor's degree in journalism and home economics from Cornell University, with a minor in philosophy of religion, and her M.S. and PhD degrees in communication research from Michigan State University. In 1986 she acted as the first president of the International Communication Association. Dervin reviewed articles and was on editorial boards for communication and library and information science journals.[4]
+'''Brenda Louise Dervin''' was born in November 20, 1938. She received her BS degree in journalism and home economics and with a minor in philosophy of religion at Cornell University in 1960, then MA and Ph.D. degrees in communication research from Michigan State University in 1971.
-She died in Seattle on 31 December 2022.[5][6]
+Her first academic position was in the School of Library and Information Sciences at Syracuse University, which began her lifelong interest in library and information sciences before she moved on to the School of Communication at the University of Washington in 1977. Conversations with Richard Carter helped her to develop what has come to be known as Sense-Making Theory and Methodology. In 1986, she moved to Ohio State University where she chaired the Department of Communication before returning to research and teaching.
-== Publications ==
+She died in Seattle on 31 December 2022.
-Dr. Dervins original artwork of the Sense-Making Metaphor
-Dervin, B. (2003a). Audience as listener and learner, teacher and confidante: The sense-making approach. In B. Dervin, L. Foreman-Wernet, & E. Launterbach (Eds.), Sense-making methodology reader: Selected writings of Brenda Dervin (pp. 215–231). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.
+== Contributions ==
+Dervin's main contribution was in developing and popularizing the study of sense-making, especially in the context of communication and library services.
-Dervin, B. (2003b). Information as non-sense; information as sense: The communication technology connection. In B. Dervin, L. Foreman-Wernet, & E. Launterbach (Eds.), Sense-making methodology reader: Selected writings of Brenda Dervin (pp. 293–308). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.
+She edited ''Progress in Communication Sciences'' for its first 14 years.
+In 1986 she acted as the first president of the International Communication Association.
-== References ==
-"OSU School of Communication: Dr. Brenda Dervin". Comm.ohio-state.edu. Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
-Ross, Catherine Sheldrick; Nilsen, Kirsti; Dewdney, Patricia (2003). Conducting the Reference Interview: A How-to-do-it Manual for Librarians. Neal-Schuman. p. 93.
+== Publications ==
+For a list to 1997 see Clark, Kathleen D. (1997). ''Bibliography of writings of Brenda Dervin''. 1997. [https://web.archive.org/web/19970710232837/http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/bib/dcmpleat.html]
-"Dervin, Brenda". Retrieved 2024-03-02.
+*"Information needs and uses." With M. S. Nilan. ''Annual review of information science and technology 21 (1986): 3-33.
-"Brief Narrative Summarizing Dervin Cv". Communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu. 2007-10-02. Archived from the original on 2010-06-23. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
+*"From the mind’s eye of the 'user': The sense-making qualitative-quantitative methodology." In ''Qualitative Research in Information Management''  [edited by] Jack D. Glazier, Ronald R. Powell. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1992.
+*''Sense-making methodology reader : selected writings of Brenda Dervin''. Cresskill, NJ : Hampton Press, 2003.
-"In Memoriam: Brenda Dervin". Retrieved 2024-03-02.
-"In Memoriam: Remembering Professor Brenda L. Dervin". February 15, 2023. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
-Further reading
-Neill, S. D. (1992). The dilemma of the subjective in information organization and retrieval. Dilemmas in the study of information. Westport: Greenwood Press.
-Ross, C. S., Nilsen, K., & Dewdney, P. (2002). Conducting the reference interview. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.
-== External links ==
+== Honors ==
-Sense-Making [archived outdated content]
+*University of Helsinki. Honorary doctorate in the social sciences, 2000.
+*[[ASIST|American Society for Information Science and Technology]]. Research in Information Science award, 2006.
-Sense-Making Methodology Institute: A collection of Dervin’s published papers
+== Further reading ==
+*''Remembering Professor Brenda L. Dervin.'' Ohio State University. School of Communication. February 15, 2023. [https://comm.osu.edu/news/memoriam-remembering-professor-brenda-l.-dervin]
+*"Dervin, Brenda." ''Femicon'' 2025. [https://www.femicom.es/en/investigadoras/dervin-brenda-2/]
+*''Brief Narrative Summarizing Dervin CV''. Oct 2, 2007. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100623041804/http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/bib/cvdervinbrief.html]
+*Sense-Making Methodology Institute Website: Dervin's Sense-Making Methodology. Extensive resources. [https://sense-making.org/]
+*Agarwal, N.K. "Making sense of sense-making: Tracing the history and development of Dervin’s Sense-making methodology." In T. Carbo & T.B. Hahn (Eds.). ''International perspectives on the history of information science & technology:  Proceedings of the ASIS&T 2012 Pre-Conference on the History of ASIS&T and Information Science and Technology'', (pp. 61-73). Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2012.