Current research
CRIS: Crisis Research in Information Studies
Seeking to improve information use in times of personal crisis
The purpose of this site is to serve as a clearinghouse and invitation for research partnerships in the study of information interactions in times of personal crisis. Issues of crisis information need, avoidance, delivery, use, management, and application are examined from cognitive, affective, and behavioral perspectives.
The following studies fall under this CRIS umbrella. This material is intended for participants in my current studies and other interested parties. If you would like to join any of this work or be notified as it is updated, please let me know.
Information for People In Crisis (IPIC)
Libraries have a longstanding tradition of outreach to underserved populations. Public librarians in particular can be the strongest community advocates for people in crises, such as survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), by putting together information and resources to help these people in their time of need.
The primary goals of this study are to give libraries (a) a toolbox of practical methods for serving the IPV community and (b) measurable outcomes to use in seeking fiscal support for their work in this and similar areas of local service.
Police Distribution of Domestic Violence Information
Law enforcement officers are the only professionals charged with distributing information to IPV survivors. The materials they provide when answering a call developed without aid of any national standards.
This three-stage national study is the first to identify what is distributed, characterize its nature, and identify materials which survivors, shelter staff, and law enforcement officers identify as most effective.
Small World Secondary Agencies of the Domestic Violence Community
IPV surivors who engage with community agencies have access to two levels of support: focused and general. The focused agencies, police and safe shelters, are primary and immediate support for survivors at critical incident moments. The general agences (e.g., food aid, transitional housing, job training classes) are available to entire communities but they are - to some degree - part of survivor's small world. This study identifies the secondary agencies within and interactions through the experience trajectories of IPV survivors. As one member of the legal community put it when explaining why her agency could not develop the information structures that they all wanted, "The blood on the floor comes first."
Questioning Behavior in Expert Systems -- IPV Related Content
IPV survivors and perpetrators, as well as their social network members, make use of online, free, expert system query services. This study examines the nature of those questions in five expert systems. Initial results indicate an expectation of flat answers to a binary question, such as "Can I get my gun back?"