Personal Information Management ALISE's Gender Issues SIG and SLA's Education Division Webinar Series August 12,2016 Vanessa Reyes vanessa.reyes@simmons.edu Doctoral Candidate School of Library & Information Science Simmons College  300 The Fenway Boston, MA 02115

Objectives Fundamentals of PIM. PIM Research. Gender in Information Management. Gender and PIM.

What is Personal Information?

What is Information Management? Information, as we know it today, includes electronic and physical information. The organizational structure must be capable of managing this information throughout the information lifecycle regardless of source or format (data, paper documents, electronic documents, audio, video, etc.) 

Defining Personal Information Management Personal information Management also, known as PIM, is the practice and the study of activities people perform to: Acquire, Organize, Maintain, Retrieve, Use, and Control The distribution of items, such as documents (paper-based and digital), Web pages, and mail messages for everyday use to complete tasks (work related and not), and to fulfill a person’s various roles (as parent, employee, friend, member of a community, etc.)” (Jones & Teevan, 2007 p. 3).

PIM research seeks to understand how people think about these collections of records. what importance they assign to them, how these views change over time; Understanding the issues involving the distinctions between personally held and controlled records and records about individuals that are held in remote systems, sometimes with limited access. PIM Research

“It is important to study not only what people are doing with personal records they create today, but also what has happened to the personal records that they created a decade or two ago. There is an enormous variation in individual behaviors in all these areas, and it is valuable to try to correlate behavior with various kinds of demographics, to try to understand how behaviors develop, how they are learned, and how and why they change (Clifford Lynch, 2013).” From Personal Archiving: Preserving Our Digital Heritage, edited by Donald T. Hawkins, Information Today: 2013. PIM Research

Gender in Information Management There are some studies in information behavior that suggest it is important to look at gender differences and how they might relate to beliefs and use of information. These studies have shown that women and men differ in their perceptions of information Management. According David Gefen’s (1997) study on the use of email, results suggests that even though male and female participants are using the same mode of communication it may be perceived differently by the sexes suggesting more favorable communication environments. We need to start that taking into account organizational factors, but also the gender of it's users.

Gender & Personal Information Management PDA research seeks to understand how people think about these collections of records. What importance they assign to them, How these views change over time. PIM research does not place focus: On gender, nor how we perceive ourselves in our collections. The focus is on the methods, behavior, and on the kinds of information being created, shared, used, and stored.

Gender & Personal Information Management PIM’s unique nature has been studied by focusing on how specific functions are carried out. PIM functions such as the acts of creating, sharing, organizing, and retrieving are essential to understanding the meaning and context of each of these functions. ( William Jones, 2007) creating sharing organizing retrieving

Gender & Personal Information Management There is an enormous variation in individual behaviors in all these areas, and it is valuable to try to correlate behavior with various kinds of demographics, to try to understand how behaviors develop, how they are learned, and how and why they change (Clifford Lynch, 2013).” Can we focus more on the demographics, and diversity that makes up ourselves and our personal information? Should gender theory be used, by means of grounded theory methods when analyzing personal information research data? Yes! It would aid in the understanding of the phenomenon of gender in the context of what is being studied. This can be applied across the disciplines.

Gender & Personal Information Management Past research in information science, archival, and museum studies, have focused on institutional collections and organizational management of information. Until recently research has focused primarily on the specific characteristics of personal information management (PIM) rather than on the action as a whole. What are we missing?

Takeaways Focusing on our personal information management behaviors and habits informs the profession of what individuals are doing Aside from placing focus on the functions of PIM can we focus on how people perceive themselves in their own personal information spaces, how do they identify with their photos, how do they identify with their music, their files, and or day to day digital tasks. Is there a reflection of who they are what their gender is? Because in research focusing on Gender is ok. Let’s start by Integrating conversations and ideas on gender into PIM research

Q & A Session

Thank You for Attending !

References Cited Jones, William P., and Jaime Teevan. Personal Information Management. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007. Marshall, Catherine C. “Challenges and Opportunities for Personal Digital Archiving.” In I, Digital: Personal Collections in the Digital Era, ed. by Christopher Lee. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2011, 90-115. Personal Archiving: Preserving Your Digital Memories.” Library of Congress, Digital Preservation, 2013.” http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/ (accessed April 12, 2013). Reyes, Vanessa. "We Created It, Now How Do We Save It? Issues in Preserving Personal Information, A Review." Preservation, Digital Technology & Culture. 42.3 (2013).