Section Nine

9.1 Chatman, E.A. (1996). The Impoverished Life-World of Outsiders. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 47(3), 193-206.

The portrait of the outsiders' world showcased in this article is dizzying and confusing. I could not even begin to understand the various rules and relationships underlying the outsiders and their needs. While this article presents general guidelines for working with this user group, it appears as if it is only scratching upon the surface of those plagued by information poverty. The very fact that they are outsiders would lead one to suspect the information collected by the researchers in the first place. How much is given truthfully to the authors if secrecy and deception dictate this group's behaviors?

One thing that I found very interesting from the article is that sources of information are filtered and judged throughout the outsider's community before the outsider will accept it. Even if it can recognize that it will be beneficial. This relies on the people that the outsider trusts to gauge what is acceptable and what is not. But, again, the secrecy and deception that occurs within this group might lead one to pretend as if a source is not worth consulting, in order to consult that same source for him or herself. Is there anyway for the librarian to get over the barrier of this intermediary? We must address the problem of the outsiders without being too demanding. That much is clear, but how would we gain trust? The only thing I can think of would be for librarians to make the library some place that is comfortable, yet confidential. A place outside of reference volumes and is filled with friendly faces. By helping outsiders with situations that are less relevant to their life and less personal, we can begin to forge a bond of trust.