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Brenda Dervin (1938–2022) was a professor of communication at Ohio State University, working in the fields of communication and library and information science. Her research about information seeking and information use led to the development of the sensemaking methodology.

Life

Dervin was born in 1938. She received a bachelor's degree in journalism and home economics from Cornell University, with a minor in philosophy of religion, and her M.S. and PhD degrees in communication research from Michigan State University. In 1986 she acted as the first president of the International Communication Association. Dervin reviewed articles and was on editorial boards for communication and library and information science journals.

She died in Seattle on 31 December 2022.

Publications

• Dervin, B. (2003a). Audience as listener and learner, teacher and confidante: The sense-making approach. In B. Dervin, L. Foreman-Wernet, & E. Launterbach (Eds.), Sense-making methodology reader: Selected writings of Brenda Dervin (pp. 215–231). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.
• Dervin, B. (2003b). Information as non-sense; information as sense: The communication technology connection. In B. Dervin, L. Foreman-Wernet, & E. Launterbach (Eds.), Sense-making methodology reader: Selected writings of Brenda Dervin (pp. 293–308). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, Inc.

References

1. "OSU School of Communication: Dr. Brenda Dervin". Comm.ohio-state.edu. Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
2. Ross, Catherine Sheldrick; Nilsen, Kirsti; Dewdney, Patricia (2003). Conducting the Reference Interview: A How-to-do-it Manual for Librarians. Neal-Schuman. p. 93.
3. "Dervin, Brenda". Retrieved 2024-03-02.
4. "Brief Narrative Summarizing Dervin Cv". Communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu. 2007-10-02. Archived from the original on 2010-06-23. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
5. "In Memoriam: Brenda Dervin". Retrieved 2024-03-02.
6. "In Memoriam: Remembering Professor Brenda L. Dervin". February 15, 2023. Retrieved 2024-03-02.

Further reading

• Neill, S. D. (1992). The dilemma of the subjective in information organization and retrieval. Dilemmas in the study of information. Westport: Greenwood Press.
• Ross, C. S., Nilsen, K., & Dewdney, P. (2002). Conducting the reference interview. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

External links

• Sense-Making
• Sense-Making Methodology Institute: A collection of Dervin’s published papers

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• Cornell University alumni
• Michigan State University alumni
• Ohio State University faculty
• Perception
• 1938 births
• 2022 deaths
• American women non-fiction writers
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