DATE Reflection #3: On the value of information Tiffany

This week I attended the ASIS&T (Association of Information Science and Technology) conference in Seattle.  I listened to speakers that shared ways of interpreting information objects like health care surveys, domestic violence reports, and media releases on news items.  During an exercise on discourse analysis, the concept of interpretive context, bias and language was discussed as we reviewed reports on a shooting in urban Canada.  Tables of seated information professionals read over articles circling words, taking notes and sharing their views of how differently information could be shared.   As I listened carefully to their interpretations I was reminded of our readings in which the idea of value is placed on information.  These people were easily able to question the validity of the various media interpretations of the shooting, yet nobody explored the possibility that their own views might not be superior to those of information shared by primary sources or secondary news sources.  

In our own work, Ivette asked us what kind of information we might "need" from the women we are working with.  It occurred to me after rattling off a list of information that might be useful in later grant reporting and analysis, that it would be really interesting to know what the women might "need" to know about their involvement with the program from beginning to end.  In all of our work, I think it's important to remember that education, experience, context, membership in a certain culture, ethnicity etc. does not make our interpretation of information any more valid than that of others.