CURRICULUM VITA

(Revised August 27, 2007)

BRENDA L. DERVIN

School of Communication

Ohio State University

3016 Derby Hall

154 N. Oval Mall

Columbus, Ohio 43210

614-292-3192         office

614-292-3400         school

614-292-2055         school FAX

614-442-0721         home phone and FAX

614-286-2514         cell phone

dervin.1@osu.edu

DEGREES

University of Helsinki	PhD	(honorary, social sciences)	2000
Michigan State	PhD	(communications research)	1971
Michigan State	MA	(communications research)	1968
Cornell University	BS	(journalism & home economics)	1960

 

EMPLOYMENT RECORD (TEACHING-RESEARCH)

Full Professor and Joan N. Huber Fellow in Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Communication (previously Department of Communication), Ohio State University, April l986 - present (Department Chair, April 1986 - September 1988).

 

Associate Professor of Communications, School of Communications, University of Washington, September l977 - March l986 (previously, Assistant Professor, September l972 - August l977).

 

Assistant Professor (Communications, School of Information Studies), Syracuse University, September l970 - August l972.

 

Resident Lecturer and Coordinator, Michigan State University/Agency for International Development Communication Workshops, Department of Communication, Michigan State University, January l970 - August l970.

 

Research Associate (l year) or Research Assistant, Department of Communication, Michigan State University, September l968 - December l970; September l966 - August l967.

 

Instructor (l year) or Teaching Assistant, Department of Business Law and Office Administration, Michigan State University, September l967 - June l968, September l965 - June l966.

 

 

EMPLOYMENT RECORD (COMMUNICATION PRACTITIONER)

Director of Development, American Council on Consumer Interests, Columbia, Missouri, (free-lance, half time) l969 - l970.

 

Communication Specialist, Center for Consumer Affairs, University of Wisconsin Extension, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, l963 - l965.

 

Public Information Assistant, American Home Economics Association, l96l - l962.

 

Press Writer, Cornell University College of Agriculture, 1960.

 

Press Writer, Cornell University College of Home Economics, (part time) 1958 - l959.

 

 

TEACHING AT UNIVERSITIES

 

At Ohio State University:  School of Communication

The In-Depth Qualitative Interview (undergraduate and graduate)

Communication, Power, Knowledge (undergraduate and graduate)

Advanced Intro to Qualitative Approaches to Communication Research (graduate)

Sense-Making Methodology:  Meta-theory, Theory, Methodology, Method (graduate)

Communication Impacts of Popular and Elite Culture (undergraduate and graduate)

 

At Ohio State University Department of Communication

Gender and Communication (undergraduate and graduate)
Interpretive Analytics (undergraduate and graduate)

Communication and the Third World (undergraduate and graduate)

Feminist Scholarship in Communication (graduate)

Needs Assessment for Telecommunication Policy Design (graduate)

Contemporary Issues in Communication (graduate)

Sense-making the Holocaust (undergraduate)

Content Analysis (graduate)

Audience Analysis (undergraduate & graduate)

Critical/Cultural Studies in Communication (graduate)

Survey Research (graduate)

Communication as Therapy (undergraduate and graduate)

Communication and Community (undergraduate and graduate)

Deconstructing Communication Theories (undergraduate and graduate)

 

At University of Washington

The Communication Process (undergraduate)

Survey Research (graduate)

Research Practicum (graduate)

Content Analysis (graduate)

Fundamentals of Applied Communication (undergraduate)

Developmental History of Theories of Communication (graduate)

 

At Syracuse University School of Information Studies

Research Methods (graduate)

Cognitive Theory (graduate)

Communication and Management (graduate)

Public Information/Relations (graduate)

User/Constituency Relationships (graduate)

 

 

At MSU Department of Communication

Human Communication Process (undergraduate)

Communication and Poverty (graduate)

 

At MSU Department of Business Law & Office Administration

Business Communication (undergraduate)

 

 

PhD DISSERTATIONS SUPERVISED

 

At OSU

Song, Mei (2007).  Modeling situated health information seeking and use in context:  The use of two approaches to grounded theorizing as applied to 81 Sense-Making Methodology derived narrative interviews of health situation facing. 

 

Jenkins, Lillie Ruth (2004).  Designing systems that make sense:  What designers say about their communication with users during the usability testing cycle.

 

Romanello, Samantha Jude. (2003). Natural vs. social scientists' perceptions of uncertainty in discussions of global climate change: a study using Sense-Making methodology. (co-advisor, School of Natural Resources)

 

Wernet, Lois Foreman. (2002). Transcending discourse stereotypes: Audience sense-making of elite and mass culture.

Newmeyer, Jamie M. (2002).  Audience, relevance, sound:  Meaning structures and structuring meaning in public radio journalism.

 

Schaefer, David.  (2001).  Dynamics of electronic public spheres:  Verbing online participation.

 

Hay, Kellie.  (2000).  Dancing, travel, and trans-national identities:  An ethnography of performance in an Arab-American community.

 

Fassbinder, Samuel.  (1998).  Substitute teaching as critical research on school communication:  An ethnographic study.

 

Rajendram, Christlin.  (1997).  Critical pedagogy and the absent learner in media education:  A Sense-Making intervention.

 

Clark, Kathleen Diana.  (1995).  A Communication-As-Procedure Perspective:  An ethnographic and Sense-Making study of a women's spirituality group.

 

Higgins, John William.  (1994).  Tracing the vision:  A study of community volunteer producers, public access cable television, and empowerment.

 

Huesca, Robert Thomas.  (1994).  Reconceptualizing Latin American theories of alternative communication and media practice: An ethnography of Bolivian tin miners' radio.

 

Shields, Vickie Rutledge.  (1994).  The constructing, maintaining and negotiating of gender identities in the process of decoding gender advertisements.  (Recipient of OSU Presidential Fellowship)

 

Strimer, Peter McCoy.  (1994).  A Sense-Making study of the praxis of the Third Avenue Community.

 

Ghosh, Sanjukta T.  (1992).  Celluloid nationalism:  Cultural politics in popular Indian cinema.

 

Calabrese, Andrew Michael.  (1988).  Communication technology and the transformation of work:  The case of the electronic cottage.  (Recipient of OSU Presidential Fellowship)

 

 

At Syracuse University

Zweizig, Douglas Lough.  (1973).  Predicting amount of library use:  An empirical study of the role of the public library in the life of the adult public.

 

 

At University of Washington

Dworkin, Mark A.  (1987).  Making sense with television news:  Situation, context, and psychology of the audience experience.

 

Fraser, Benson P.  (1987).  The diffusion of innovations:  A comparison of a Sense-Making and a traditional approach in a study of channel use and homophily.

 

Nilan, Michael.  (1985).  Structural constraints and situational information seeking:  A test of two predictors in a Sense-Making context.

 

Harlock, Sylvia.  (1984).  Use of Grunig's situational typology to predict qualitative as well as quantitative differences in information seeking.

 

Atwood, Rita.  (1980).  A test of race versus situational movement state in predicting information seeking and use.

 

 

At Other Universities as Outside Member with Significant Supervisory Responsibility

Morris, Ruth.  (2001).  Online table of contents for books:  The user's perspective.  University of Michigan, MI.

 

Linderman, Albert Lee.  (1997).  The deaf story:  Themes of culture and coping.  Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA.

 

Harpring, Jayme Elizabeth.  (1994).  Information-seeking by pregnant, drug-addicted women:  An application of the Sense-Making approach.  Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.

 

Brendlinger, Nancy Helen.  (1990).  Influence of research methods on policy development:  Comparison of a survey and a Sense-Making study about Texans and AIDS.  University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

 

Dewdney, Patricia Helen.  (1986).  The effects of training reference librarians in interview skills:  A field experiment.  University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

MASTER'S THESES SUPERVISED

 

At OSU

Jaikumar-Mahey, Priyadarshini.  (1993).  Interpreting the interpreters:  An analysis of the definitional assumptions in theorizing texts, contexts, audiences.

 

Entorf, Regina Purcell.  (1991).  An assessment of the information needs and library use of undergraduate students, using the Sense-Making Methodology.

 

Dias, James Adrian.  (1990).  Information seeking with television guides:  An exploratory sense- making study in the home information environment (co-advisor with Rohan Samarajiva).

 

 

At University of Washington

Clark, Kathleen.  (1985).  Cognitive dimensions of judgment in use when evaluating question-asking instances.

 

Shim, Jae Chul.  (1985).  The relationship of community orientations to newspaper use:  A study of Korean newcomers in the Seattle area.

 

Wittet, Scott.  (1983).  Southeast Asian refugee concerns about health care in the U.S.

 

Dudley, Nancy.  (1981).  Understandings gained in the doctor-patient interaction:  A test of different predictors.

 

Nilan, Michael.  (1980).  Communication behavior and information use in expected occupational roles:  A comparison of U.S. and foreign graduate students.

 

St. John, David.  (1980).  Satisfaction with health care:  The role of patients' perceptions of the nature of physician-patient communication.

 

Bannister, Michael.  (1976).  Information references as affected by environmental and psychological stress.

 

Dethman, Linda.  (1975).  Communication controlling in same or opposite sex dyads under social and task conditions:  Tactics, strategies, and situations.

 

Fujiki, Rita.  (1975).  Information availability and information sharing:  A study of strategic considerations made by Asian-American community leaders.

 

Slater, Stephen C.  (1974).  Stereotyped portrays of men, women, and the aged in magazine advertisements.

 

 

At Other Universities as Outside Member with Significant Supervisory Responsibility

Teekman, E. C. (1997). Reflective thinking in nursing practice. Master’s thesis, Massey University, Palmerstown North, New Zealand. Advisors, Julie Boddy and Brenda Dervin.

 

 

 

UNDERGRADUATE HONORS THESIS AND OTHER AWARD PROJECTS SUPERVISED

 

At OSU

Kusowski, Jason (2005). The challenges to information system design and practice of the emerging electronic confluence.  (Recipient of Undergraduate Student Government Academic Enrichment Grant)

 

Knight, Julie.  (1992).  From the eyes of students:  Sexual harassment in the campus community.  (Recipient of OSU Undergraduate research Fellowship)

 

 

PROFESSIONAL OFFICES AND AFFILIATIONS

 

Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication  (AEJMC)
1996	Paper judge, International Communication Division
1977-1978	Head (elected), T & M Division
1975-1976	Chair, T & M Teaching Committee
1974-1975	Member, AEJMC Ad Hoc Committee on Status of Women
1973-1974	Member (elected), T & M Executive Committee
1972-1980	Member, Theory & Methodology (T & M) Division
1972-1973	Member, T & M Minority Scholarship Committee
1972-1973	Reader, T & M Student Paper Competition

 

American Association for Information Science & Technology
2006	Organizer, panel on "Being user-oriented: Convergences, divergences, and the potentials for systematic dialogue between disciplines and between researchers, designers, and providers" (accepted by referee)
2005	Organizer, panel on "Reports of the demise of the user have been greatly exaggerated: Dervin's Sense-Making and the methodological resuscitation of the user" (accepted by referee)
2005	Keynoter, Connecting Research and Practice: Special Populations, 5th annual research symposium of the Special Interest Group of Information Needs, Seeking, and Use, November 2005, Charlotte, NC

 

International Communication Association (ICA)
2007	Organizer, workshop, "Making communication studies matter:  Field relevance/irrelevance to media, library, electronic, communication system designs, policies, practices."
2005	Organizer, workshop, Sense-Making Methodology (30 papers)
2004	Organizer, plenary, "The strengths of our methodological divides: Five navigators, their strengths , and successes."
2003	Organizer, workshop, Sense-Making Methodology (24 papers)
2003	Organizer, festschrift panel honoring Richard F. Carter
2002	Chair, Committee for the Sustained Scholar Award
1999	Organizer, workshop, Sense-Making Methodology (26 papers)
1996	Organizer, workshop, Sense-Making Methodology (15 papers)
1986+	Fellow (elected)
1986-1987	Acting President
1985-1986	President (elected)
1985-1987	Chair, Task Committee on ICA Structure/Procedure
1984	Co-organizer, Panel on Democratic Comm. Potentials
1984-1985	Program chair, ICA l985 annual meeting in Honolulu
1983	Member, Information Systems Paper Selection Committee
1983	Co-organizer, Panel on Ethics & Development Communication
1983-1988	Member (elected), ICA Executive Committee & Board
1977-1980	Member-At-Large (elected), ICA Board of Directors
1975-1976	Secretary (elected), Health Communication Division
1975	Member, Top-Three-Paper Committee (ICA overall)
1974-1975	Member, ICA Nominating Committee

 

International Conference on Information Seeking and Use
2006	Keynote speaker, ISIC conference, July, Sydney, Australia
2006	International program committee & paper review
1996-1999	International program committee & paper review
1996	Keynote speaker, ISIC conference, August, Tampere, Finland

 

International Association for Mass Communication Research
2007	Plenary speaker, Memorial Service for James Halloran, IAMCR annual meeting, Paris, France
2001-2004	Member, IAMCR Publications Committee
1994-1999	Co-editor, IAMCR Book Series
1994-1998	Member, Commission on IAMCR in the 21st Century
1992-1996	Member [data analyst), Finance Committee
1992-1996	Member, Research Committee
1989-1997	Co-coordinator, Council Committee on Publications
1988-1998	Member (elected), International Governing Council
1986-1994	Organizer, Working Group, Procedures as Hidden Ideologies

 

National Academy of Sciences
1976-1977	Appointed Member, Committee on Public Information for the Prevention of Occupational Cancer, National Research Council

 

International Society for Panetics (the systematic study of suffering)
1991+	Founding member, one of 38 persons worldwide

 

Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, Tokyo, Japan
1996+	Member, International Advisory Council

 

Union for Democratic Communications
1991-1994	Consultative Circle (appointed)
1976-2003	Member

 

Journals and Books Series Editorships
2006+	Ed Board, COMMUNICATION METHODOLOGIES & MEASURES
2006+	Ed Board, JOURNAL OF APPLIED COMMUNICATION
2006-2009	Ed Board, COMMUNICATION STUDIES
2004+	Ed Board, JOURNAL OF AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
2004+	International Advisory Ed Board, PEACE & POLICY, Toda Institute
2002+	Ed Board, COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT & SOCIAL CHANGE
2001+	Ed Board, NEW REVIEW FOR INFORMATION BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH
2001-2006	Ed Board, JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION
1998-2006	International Advisory Board, HANDBOOK OF NEW MEDIA
1997+	Ed Board, JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
1995-2004	Ed Board, LIBRARY QUARTERLY
1996+	Editorial Advisor, CRITICAL ARTS, University of Natal
1993+	Corresponding Editor, JAVNOST (The Public Sphere), Slovenia
1992+	Editor, HAMPTON PRESS, Communication Alternatives Series
1992-1996	Ed Board, CRITICAL STUDIES IN MASS COMMUNICATION
1991-1996	International Advisory Bd., MEDIA INFO AUSTRALIA
1986-1988	Ed Coordinator, US entry, UNESCO WORLD COMM. REPORT
1986-1991	Editor, ABLEX COMM. & INFORMATION SCIENCES SERIES
1983-1985	Ed Board, CRITICAL STUDIES IN MASS COMMUNICATION
1983-1989	Ed Board, INFORMATION AND BEHAVIOR
1980-1989	Contributing Editor, JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION
1979-1993	Editor, PROGRESS IN COMMUNICATION SCIENCES

 

Served in past on editorial boards of:  Public Relations Review, Communication Yearbook, Human Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting, Library Research, Communication Research, Speech Communication Review, International Encyclopedia of Communication.

 

Frequent referee for all journals listed above, plus: Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Journal of Documentation, Health Communication, Information Processing & Management, Qualitative Inquiry, The Information Society, Journal of Political Communication, Communication Theory, Qualitative Sociology, Sociological Inquiry.

 

Miscellaneous Organizations
1980-1986	Board, John Bastyr University of Natural Medicine, Seattle, WA
1998-2001	Board, The US-Africa Institute, Washington, DC
1998+2001	Board, Citizens' Forum for Democracy and Change, Wash, DC

 

 

AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS RECEIVED
2007	Appointed	ISI Lazerow Endowed Lecturer, University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University, Denton
2006	Appointed	Visiting Fellow, University of Technology-Sydney, Australia
2006	Conferred	2006 American Society in Information Science and Technology Research in Information Science Award
2005	Conferred	2005 Outstanding Contribution to Information Behavior Research Award, American Society for Information Science and Technology, Special Interest Group on Information Needs, Seeking, and Use
2004	Fellow	Appointed Joan N. Huber Fellow in Social & Behavioral Sciences, College of Social & Behavioral Sciences, OSU
2002	Winner	Steven H. Chaffee Career Productivity Award, International Communication Association
2001	Appointed	ISI Lazerow Endowed Lecturer, Florida State University, Tallahassee
2000	Conferred	Recipient, Honorary Doctorate of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland, award May 2000
2000	Conferred	Links2Go Key Resource Award for fourth highest web-linked paper in field of information design
1997	Winner	Outstanding Faculty, OSU Panhellenic Council
1997	Winner	Top paper award, ICA Comm.Tech Division
1994	Appointed	Honorary Visiting Prof, Univ. Technology Sydney
1993	Winner	OSU Mortar Board/Sphinx Outstanding Faculty
1992	Winner	Outstanding Faculty, OSU Dept. of Communication
1991	Winner	OSU Mortar Board/Sphinx Outstanding Faculty
1990	Winner	Ameritech Fellow, Ohio State University
1989	Selected	Outstanding Alumni, MSU
1986+	Fellow	Elected fellow, ICA
1982	Winner	Top paper award, ICA Info Systems Division
1981	Winner	Top paper award, ICA Health Comm. Division
1981	Winner	Top paper award, ICA Mass Comm. Division
1980	Winner	Top paper award, ICA Health Comm. Division

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL LISTINGS
2001+	International Who's Who of Professional and Business Women
2000+	Who's Who in the Midwest
1996+	International Who's Who in Information Technology
1994+	Who's Who of American Women
1990+	World's Who's Who of Women
1989+	Who's Who in America

 

 

PUBLISHED WORK BY OTHERS REVIEWING & CRITIQUING DERVIN'S WORK

Listed here are writings focusing primarily on Dervin's work.  Numerous others give a major emphasis.  See http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/ for a bibliography of journal articles citing Dervin as of December 2001.

 

2005

Tidline, T.J. (2005).  Dervin's Sense-Making.  In:  Fisher, K.E., Erdelezx, S. & McKenchie, L.E.F. (Eds). Theories of information behavior:  A researcher's guide.  Medford, NJ:  Information Today, in press. 

 

2003

Olsson, M. R. (2003). The construction of the meaning and significance of an "author" among information behaviour researchers: A social constructivist approach. Doctoral dissertation, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

 

2002
Chumer, M. J. (2002). Towards an understanding of user centeredness within information technology diffusion: A self-ethnography. Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers University.

 

2001
Dalrymple, P. W.  (2001).  A quarter century of user-centered study: The impact of Zweizig and Dervin on Library Information Science research.  Library and Information Science Research, 23 (2), 155-165.

1996

Barbato, C.  (1996).  Brenda L. Dervin (1938- ).  In:  N. Signorelli, (Ed.), Women in communication: A bio-bibliographic sourcebook.  Westport, CT:  Greenwood Press.

 

1994

Morris, R.  (1994).  Toward a user-centered information service.  Journal of American Society for Information Science, 45 (1), 11-30.

 

1993

Savoleinen, R.  (1993).  The Sense-Making theory: reviewing the interests of a user-centered approach to information seeking and use.  Information Processing and Management, 29 (1), 13-28.

 

Shields, V. R.  (1993).  Issues of power and familiarity in faculty mentor/graduate student relationships.  Feminist Con/Text: Newsletter of the ICA Feminist Scholarly Interest Group, Autumn, 12-14.

 

1987

Neill, S. D.  (1987).  The dilemma of the subjective in information organization and retrieval.  Journal of Documentation, 43 (3), 193-211.

 

 

EXTERNAL EXAMINER FOR DISSERTATIONS
2001	Morris, Ruth. Online table of contents for books:  The user's perspective.  University of Michigan, MI (PhD dissertation review)
1998	Teekman, Bert, Reflexive thinking processes in nursing practice (Licentiate degree) Manawatu Polytechnic, Palmerston North, New Zealand (outside examiner).
1996	Davis, Mari, Interdisciplinarity and information use in Australian family studies, Monash University School of Library Studies, Australia (PhD dissertation review).
1995	Madden, Kym, Information seeking relating to environmental issues, Charles Stuart University Department of Communication, Bathurst, Australia (MA thesis review).
1992	Olander, Anna Birgitta, Personal information management in computer science, University of Toronto School of Information Science (PhD dissertation review).

 

 

EXTERNAL EXAMINER FOR CURRICULUM
1998+	Advisory Committee, Graduate Programme in Cultural & Media Studies, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa.
1997	Department of Communication and School of Library Science, State University of New York-Buffalo (review regarding potential merger).
1996	Department of Communication, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho (curriculum review).
1993	Department of Mass Comm., Institute of Speech Comm., and Department of Library and Information Science, University of Tampere, Finland (curriculum review).
1986	Department of Communication, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico (curriculum review).

 

 

RESEARCH GRANTS
2004-6	$1,131,034	Sense-making the information confluence:  The whys and hows of college and university user satisficing of their information needs	IMLS, with matching from OSU and OCLC
1991	$1,500	Support given to Honors Undergraduate Julie Knight for proposal supervised as advisor; Focus: campus sexual harassment.	OSU Honors
1991	$25,000	Distinguished Visiting Professor competition, OSU (proposal written with Rohan Samarajiva as junior author, to bring Cees Hamelink to campus Spring 1993).	OSU Graduate School
1991	$12,500	Distinguished visiting lecturer grant for Luis Ramiro Beltran (Rohan Samarajiva as junior author).	Midwest University Consortium for International Affairs
1990	$32,379	Experiencing the telephone from the eye of the beholder: a needs assessment of telecommunication users in rural versus urban settings (supplemented Summer 1991, support for 3 RAs).	Ameritech Fellowship program & OSU Graduate School & OSU College of Social & Behavioral Sciences
1989	$35,000	The development of observationally based strategies for communicating the concepts of risk and risk assessments to citizens.	Ohio Air Quality Development Administration
1988-1989	$26,000	Meeting the information needs of California's Asian and Hispanic peoples.	California Opportunities for Reference Excellence
1988	$50,000	The information needs of the Hispanics of Southern California.	Los Angeles Roman Catholic Archdiocese
1988	$20,000	Citizen communication needs and perceptions of risk relating to the Union Town Toxic Waste Site.	Ohio Department of Health
1987	$5,000	The World Communication Report: US entry.	UNESCO
1985-1988	$47,000	ASQ - Asking significant questions: Modules for library and information center needs and accountability assessments.	California State Library
1985	$24,732	How libraries help.	California State Library
1983-1984	$110,000	The information needs of Californians - 1984.	California State Library
1981	$75,957	The situational roots of corporation images.	A large corporation
1981	$9,999	When cancer strikes: How cancer patients make sense.	National Cancer Institute
1979-1980	$28,636	A study of how blood donors see the blood-donating situation.	Puget Sound Blood Center
1978	$10,386	An analysis of the factors that differentiate women with different blood donating histories.	Puget Sound Blood Center
1974-1976