A Comparison of Berrypicking and Sense-Making in Human Information Behavior

In like a shots society, people argon inundated with teaching from a regeneration of sources, including television programs, radio shows, mods piece of music articles and the Internet. Daily exposure to this new breeding provides the opportunity to further our knowledge and hearing of a subject by doing further re research and what is the most effective way to go about doing so? Two diametrical approaches based on serviceman In levelation Behavior (HIB) have been mystifyed which help identify someone(a)s instruction- try outing manner and provide guidance for creating systems which make meddling for information a successful proposition.The two approaches that result be examined in this paper include the Berrypicking model proposed by Marcia Bates and Brenda Dervins methodology Sense-Making. These two principles falsify widely in their scope solely are complementary as systems to aid in an information search. Berrypicking Before the late 1980s, the universal model i n information retrieval (IR) research was referred to as adept head, one call.According to Marcia Bates, real information searching by an individual(a) does non alship chiffonieral conform to the one query, one use method that had been assumed. Bates states that with the festering of more sophisticated computer systems that evolved over time, a new envision based on the way that regular human beings in real-life situations arrange searches for information was necessary (Bates, 2005). She presented a model of the Berrypicking search, and thus proposed a pattern of design features for exploiters of online systems and other information systems.In Marcia Bates model of Berrypicking, information seeking behavior is modeled as an evolving search (Bates, 1989) whereby the search starts with one query, but is modify at various points based on the information returned by that initial query. The final result may not match the original query, because new information introduced d uring the search process may identify deputy paths to retrace in finding the most accurate data in the to the lowest degree amount of results.Bates compares this process to real life searching in manual of arms applications such as footnote chasing, citation searching, journal runs, etc. (Bates, 1989). She use such searches to form the basis of a system that would allow users to live these same manual processes within electronic files. Bates provides a number of applications for Berrypicking in her article unfortunately most are outdated due to like a shots advances in technology. The process she outlined, however, is still in use for a number of applications today. One example of Berrypicking involves a typical Internet search.A user might begin the hunt for information by using a popular search engine, but the results returned often provide hyperlinks within pages which then takes the user on a different search down an alternate path. Each new click provides the opportunity t o revise the original search, in the end leading the user to a new set of results. Bates struggles that Berrypicking should not be considered browsing, because while browsing allows a user to redirect their searching, it is more ergodic and undirected, whereas Berrypicking is an integrated part of the information seeking process.Bates (1989) also identifies Berrypicking as searching within the individuals Universe of Interest (or what information they are disported in seeking) in their own Universe of Knowledge (which includes what they may already know to get them started on their search) but this model does not hold up to the example of a typical Internet search due to the all-inclusive nature of the world wide web. Any query online could provide results that may be outside of an initial universe of interest by exposing alternate concepts or ideas and thus enhancing the search process.The inclusion of accede 3 (Bates, 1989 ) in this model seems to be a earlier low-cal one p erhaps due to the fact that the Internet has evolved so a good deal since the introduction of this model in 1989. Sense-Making Alternately, Brenda Dervins Sense-Making Methodology delineates the behavior an individual follows when he seeks to subscribe to a gap in his checking of information or else than the searching steps that occur to reach it. Sense-Making endeavors to explain how the individual defines and attempts to bridge discontinuities or gaps (Dervin, 1992) in information.Dervin likens this process to a person hybridizing a bridge. In this case, an individual attempts to fill a gap amongst himself and the other side. The decisions he makes as well as his responses to the situation will determine how this person actually maneuvers. Sense-Making focuses on examining the capacity of the user to encroachment the flow of information between systems and users. This methodology has a wide pertinency because it does not attempt to model specific information-seeking behav ior but rather the position process that occurs in confederacy with it.In her article Dervin offers several examples of ways in which this approach has already been used. In one example researchers move to understand where a gap existed in communication from a biotic community library and its Hispanic population. After many failed attempts to reach this population by usual publicity efforts, researchers formulated a Sense-Making methodology in the form of a nousnaire that targeted a group of users at the library and asked them the specific question, How were you helped? (Dervin, 1992).This question gave the researchers a split up understanding of the needfully of this community by delving into their thought processes It helped us to see patrons from a different point of view to understand them better (Dervin, 1992). Through an application of the Sense-Making methodology this library was able to fill the discontinuity between the library and its Hispanic patrons by listening to the needs of the targeted population. The gainsay in using the Sense-Making approach to eradicate a gap is that the behaviors exhibited may not be understood until after the event is over.Comparison and Contrast Dervin would argue that one way to understand the fundamental differences between Berrypicking and Sense-Making is to examine the different ways that theories can be used to define them. Theory, when used to discover the Berrypicking system, would most closely match what Dervin calls speculation of the first kind, or that which results from notification (Dervin, 2005). Theory of the second kind is defined as the broader theories that direct the ceremonial occasion process they are also known as metatheories.However, Sense-Making does not get off into this category. Sense-Making is an attempt to link theories of the first kind with theories of the second kind, or what Dervin (2005) calls possibleness of the third kind methodological theory. As a new methodology un derlying the relationship between the theory that directs observation and the theory that results from observation, Sense-Making is extremely powerful in its capacity to call into question earlier research methods and conclusions.An important aspect in studying HIB is the focus on the user, rather than the system. Each of these two approaches explains the core concepts behind user behavior and become methodologies rather than attempting to conform human behavior to fit an existing system. both ideas are concerned with analyzing the way an increased focus on users can impact information systems and aid the unrestrained flow of information.Berrypicking is a plum narrow model, representative of a specific type of HIB (searching) and it has limits in applicability to other types of information-seeking behavior. Sense-Making has a broader application, because the methodology is also part of a theory (theory for methodology) which can be used to study various types of HIB. Dervin argue s that users should be viewed as moving through a space-time continuum using multiple strategies and systems as they attempt to make sense of their world and address gaps in their knowledge.Tonyia Tidline (2005) notes in her dissertation Making Sense of Art as Information, Sense-Making has great public utility for shifting researchers focus from categorization to process, a focus that might better reflect the intricacies of information behavior. Tidline asserts that Brenda Dervins ideas about information needs and the methodology of information-focused research are not effective by themselves, but become so when used in combination with other methods and theories to improve how we observe, analyze and understand information behavior (Tidline, 2005).Consequently, the Berrypicking model, when used in conjunction with the Sense-Making methodology would be complementary and allow for the achievement of better results in those designing systems for IR. Berrypicking could be used as par t of Sense-Making/gap-filling process by a user, because each new evolution of the search could fill a new gap or satisfy a discontinuity in our reality. finishing Theories or models provide us with a way of understanding and identifying HIB.In our daily lives we have an endless number of opportunities to interact with information. Some of this behavior is obvious, but not always. At times our need for new information is solely required to bridge the gap in knowledge of something we do not understand. How we attempt to obtain that understanding depends on our circumstances and resources and how well we use each. This paper examined two approaches to HIB Marcia Bates model Berrypicking and Brenda Dervins methodology Sense-Making.Both of these approaches were designed to help researchers understand and better assist users in their exploration of information, whether their need is to search crossways multiple types of resources or to better communicate about unfamiliar topics. As sy stems designers endeavor to develop products that assist users in the search for information, they will be well served to grasp a greater understanding of HIB and consequently, the principles behind Berrypicking and Sense-Making. Individuals who seek further understanding of the world and its plethora of information will advance immensely from this well-rounded approach.