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