THE PRODUCTION OF MEANING BY SENSE-MAKING APPROACH - Information Architecture’s role

Abstract

The meaning production process is experienced by a person starting from its information needs and intends to fill information gaps and allow the subject to continue its activities. Many studies in Information Science analyze this process in order to contribute to improve information flows. We conducted a literature review of the two related Information Science subfields.  The goal is to identify the relationship between studies of Sense-Making approach and the field of Information Architecture and thus contribute to the construction of meaning production processes in a more effective and efficient way.  The survey found that the Information Architecture and the Sense-Making operate under the same foundation: understanding / evaluate / build bridges to overcome gaps. Both seek the improvement of communication processes on the value of contextual factors and the active participation of individuals.  The approach of Brenda Dervin (1983) has three identifying elements: situation-gap-use, while the Information Architecture investigates spaces that integrate the elements context-content-users. We conclude that both process of facilitation efforts and mediation of meaning production may get better results by the combination of the two approaches correlated by this research. From this, it is observed that the Sense-Making can contribute to the process of building information environments, since the two lines of studies intended to facilitate or mediate the sense of meaning production processes. It is believed that the combination of the two approaches correlated in this study, it is possible to obtain better results in the search process the information and meeting the information needs of users. We note, finally, the similarity of the triadic structure proposed by the two approaches in a logic that favors the observation and the model description.