Discovering Information Behavior in Sense Making: III. The Person

This article, the third of three, used the methods of an own interpretations and judgments, and to highlight possiethnography of communication to explore the individual ble impacts of several different research views on inforinformation behavior in sense making of participants in mation behavior in relation to other aspects of people’s the annual work planning of a unit of a public agency. In lives. Part I (Solomon, 1997a) provides an overview of particular, this article focuses on how people capture the conceptual foundations, background of the study, and and process meaning from their situation. The analysis identified personal sense making styles that included methodology covering all three parts as well as the time cognitive, affective, and conative (action instinct) eleand timing view. Part II (Solomon, 1997b) considers the ments. These styles seem to also reflect a person’s role social by focusing on organizational properties of sense in the organization and the work planning task. Given making and the communicative events that support the that participants in the work planning process had their creation of common ground and the development of own personal sense making styles and that these styles tended to vary across participants, it is not surprising meaning from often widely dispersed facts and points of that there were clashes in style. This fact was both a view. Part III , provided in this article, considers patterns strength and a weakness in the sense making that was of individual sense making that influenced the work planrequired for work planning, a complex information intenning process as well as a conceptual synthesis of all three sive task. Diversity of approach, perspective, opinion, and interpretation led to the crafting of strategies that parts. The whole of the study is brought together briefly served the purposes of the organization in a richer way in Solomon (in press) . than did any individual strategy. Diversity of approach The study sought to explore the role and place of inforalso led to frustration over the amount of time that it mation in the annual work planning of a unit of a public took to tie together the different senses and points of view into agreement on actions, only to have these agency. This organization provided technical assistance agreements unravel as new cues from the environment related to conservation and appropriate use of natural resuggested the need for modification to at least some sources such as rivers, trails, and open space. Provision participants. Understanding the nature and diversity of of assistance was dependent upon the largess of the legissense making styles among members of work teams lature. Thus, the work planning process was uncertain in may aid the team in taking advantage of the range of sense-making skills that are present and lessen the conthat there was no assurance of funding until funds were flicts that arise when different sense-making skills clash. actually appropriated, let alone what the level of funding The three parts of the study dealing with time and timing, would be if funds were provided. The process, thus, was the social, and the personal are brought together in a one of generating technical assistance project proposals brief conceptual synthesis at the end. through several regional offices and, then, evaluating and