Diffusion of Information and Knowledge: How Information Becomes Meaningful - Evolving Global Information Infrastructure and Information Transfer - page 95

a systematic process of data collection and analysis enables the information pro-
fessional to understand the environment in which the library media center will op-
erate. The school, college, or corporation, too, is a community that must be ana-
lyzed to determine the needs of the various groups that make up the community for
which information service is planned. An understanding of the community and the
school will provide a conceptual framework for customizing collections, services,
and space allocations. This level of analysis is a first critical step in customizing
library media service for individuals and groups within the school, and a great deal
of literature exists on the assessment of user needs from the group perspective.
Community needs assessment is discussed in more detail later in this chapter.
The second level of analysis is the one-on-one interaction with a user at the
point when the decision has been made to seek information. The professional must
diagnose the information needs of the user as the first step in the professional/cli-
ent interaction. At this point, the professional initiates a diagnostic process with the
client and accepts responsibility for the outcome. This interaction must begin with
the basic questions of “what, why, how, when, and where” and narrow to match the
professional's perceptions of such client characteristics as level of literacy, cognit-
ive style, and social construction of reality. Once this level of needs assessment is
completed, the professional will proceed to the next stage of the service cycle, that
is, prescribing or recommending the source or sources from which the appropriate
information may be acquired.
Prescription/Recommendation
The professional, in a one-on-one relationship with a client, will prescribe appro-
priate information sources in which the desired information may be located to satis-
fy the diagnosed need. The professional as a manager approaches the diagnosis/
prescription process from an organization perspective. That is, the process is not
intended to serve the needs of a single person, but rather the entire population
within the library service area. The needs assessment is an analysis of aggregate
data about the population of the service area and is used to create an organization
customized in its design, collections, and services to fit the characteristics, behavi-
ors, and idiosyncrasies of that population. Conclusions from this analysis can lead
to informed decisions about such specifics as the size and scope of collections and
services.
Treatment/Implementation
The “treatment” or “implementation” is the organization and application of the
service that has been prescribed or recommended. At the individual level of ser-