Info 200 Blog Post #2: Information Community

Hello everyone,

Given our country’s current climate rife with xenophobia, Trump’s rescinding of DACA, and the population of the school where I work, I have decided to focus on undocumented students in the United States and how they form and engage in information communities. I have had the pleasure of observing students organize themselves at my school into an Undocumented and Unafraid club and author, champion, and pass a district-wide policy providing more sanctuary protections to SFUSD undocumented students. I’m interested in undocumented students as information communities in light of the risk they take in forming community explicitly. They would be forming communities from Christen and Levinson’s “instrumental” (Fisher & Bishop, 2015, 21) angle in order to achieve political and legal protections for themselves and others. These are certainly not only communities of choice, as their common characteristics have disenfranchised them. However, in identifying themselves as active members of groups such as Undocumented and Unafraid, students do choose to join an information community rather than live in the shadows. Does this “coming out” affect their information seeking behavior?

After reading about Chatman’s small worlds and life in the round theories, I can’t help but wonder how undocumented students interact with information critical to their survival while perhaps employing the “risk taking, secrecy [and] deception,” (Savolainen, 2009, 1783) that Chatman observed to be prevalent among marginalized communities. However, in contrast to the retired women Chatman interviewed who “avoided risk taking by not telling anyone about declining health concerns, thus giving up to seeking information or gaining emotional support” (Savolainen, 2009, 1783), many undocumented students I observe do take the risks associated with coming out, a strategic move that increases empathy, and perhaps, information and resources flowing their way.

Referring to Durrance and Fisher’s definitions of information communities, I consider that undocumented students in the California are information communities because they fit Durrance and Fisher’s expectation that they”1) exploit information-sharing qualities of technology” (Fisher & Durrance, 2003, 4). I have seen our students use Facebook, group texts, and other electronic means in addition to printed flyers to garner support for their initiatives and rally friends, family, and teachers to support them at school board meetings and in other actions.  In trying to organize students and allies across the district, these electronic means of dissemination are crucial.

Undocumented students also “2) emphasize collaboration” (Fisher & Durrance, 2003, 5), because as a marginalized group, they find strength in numbers and need powerful allies to support them. The student leader at my school made sure she was the student representative to the school board, worked with our principal, and consistently checked in with staff to further her group’s goals.

Undocumented students that I have seen also “3) anticipate peoples’ needs for access to information”(Fisher & Durrance, 2003, 5); the group at my school provided teachers and advisors with laminated lists of rights of undocumented students and resources for students faced with ICE visiting their houses.

Undocumented students also “4) participate in civic life”(Fisher & Durrance, 2003, 5), including courageously coming out of the closet as undocumented and speaking about their experiences in order to help others.

Finally, undocumented students “5) foster social connectedness within the larger community”(Fisher & Durrance, 2003, 5); this group is diverse, and support for them is often diverse and bi-partisan as well.

I am interested in ways that I can support undocumented students better after learning about their information-seeking behaviors. I feel I already possess a level of cultural competence with this group, but I will appreciate learning more in my research about how to best address their needs.

References:

Fisher, K., & Durrance, J. (2003). Information communities. In K. Christensen, & D. Levinson (Eds.), Encyclopedia of community: From the village to the virtual world. (pp. 658-661). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Fisher, K.E., & Bishop, A.P., (2015). Information communities: Defining the focus of information service. In Hirsh, S. (Ed), Information Services Today, (20-26). Retrieved from:  https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/lib/sjsu/reader.action?ppg=53&docID=2032756&tm=1501698573707

Savolainen, R. (2009). Everyday life information seeking. In Bates, M.J. & Maack, M.N. (Eds), Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences. (1780-1789). Retrieved from:  http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1081/E-ELIS3-120043920#.U2FyPVfcfro