[Advisors] Practical guide on assessing community info needs

[Marita Moll]

Hello advisors.  I received links to the following community 
information needs assessment guide from the Tamarack Institute on 
Community Engagement.  The report itself hails from the Aspen 
Institute Communications and Society Program -- a U.S. think 
tank.  But, taking a quick look through the guide, I thought it 
contained many  excellent ideas that could be put to work in our 
communities as well.  Maybe a topic for the next monthly conference call?

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Citizen participation in a digital age (by Sylvia Cheuy)

What kinds of information do communities need in order to inform and 
engage citizens and strengthen democratic action? In today's 
fast-paced world of social media, what is important to offer 
"relevant and meaningful" information that "enable(s) people to 
become informed, engage with one another, address the issues they 
care about and create the community they want?"

<http://www.knightcomm.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Assessing_Community_Information_Needs.pdf>Assessing 
Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide is a practical guide 
developed by the Aspen Institute to help individuals and groups to 
assess and build what they refer to as "a healthy community 
information environment." Underpinning the paper is a simple guiding 
principle: "The steps one takes to create a healthy information 
environment must be relevant to what matters most to people in the 
community, enable people to engage in the public life of their 
community and create the conditions for people to engage with one another."

The Report suggests that a fundamental shift is needed in how 
people's information needs are met. This shift, in part, urges the 
creation of multiple information sources in the community so that 
people have "many and varied touch-points" to access information. 
Four important considerations and nine strategies are offered to help 
communities assess and build a healthy information environment. The 
four considerations are:
    * Those seeking to assess and build a strong information 
environment must turn outward toward their community.
    * Progress in building a robust information environment will come 
best and fastest by using a specific issue to focus a community's efforts.
    * Emphasis should be placed on how knowledge is generated in a 
community and on its quality and flow, not solely on counting and 
increasing the sources and volume of information.
    * Taking effective action requires innovation, not simply good planning.

This is a valuable resource to anyone interested in finding new ways 
to mobilize people to help strengthen communities. And, the authors 
remind us, citizens are yearning for this type of connection with one 
another and with efforts to be part of something that makes a 
positive difference in their own lives and the lives of their 
neighbours. What they need is information and practical ways by which 
to come together and take shared action. Creating a "healthy 
information environment" is an essential task for accomplishing this.

Related links:
    * Read 
<http://www.knightcomm.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Assessing_Community_Information_Needs.pdf>Assessing 
Community Information Needs: A Practical Guide
    * Visit the <http://www.aspeninstitute.org/>Aspen Institute Website
    * Learn more about the <http://www.knightcomm.org/>Knight 
Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy
    * Find more resources on 
<http://tamarackcommunity.ca/g3s4_16.html>Online Community at Tamarack
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Marita