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Teachers are coming into the library media center asking for professional development materials and curriculum related guides, but the professional development collection in the LMC is limited. In addition to teacher requests, the School Accountability for Learning and Teaching Survey (SALT survey) reported that teachers and staff members are in need of materials and would like a professional collection. The school library media specialist researched various informational theory models and decided that the Yovits’ Generalized Information System Model(GISM) is an appropriate model to use for developing this collection.
The library media center is centrally located within a public school. There is one certified library media specialist, and the students follow a fixed schedule. There are 45 full and part time faculty members in addition to the approximately 425 students using the library. The LMC is automated and contains two computer terminals which provide access to the OPAC, Internet, and various educational programs.
The Generalized Information System Model (GISM) was developed by Marshall Clinton Yovits and R.L. Ernst in 1972 as a “framework for developing analytical and conceptual relationships involving the flow of information” that can be used to examine the information flow in most situations encountered by individuals, groups, or organizations. It is based on three hypotheses:
Information is a product of the interrelationship between decision-making and data. Information must be measurable through observable effects. There must be a means of comparing predicted observable effects with actual observable effects.
The model is comprised of four functional modules, the Information Acquisition and Dissemination (IAD) function,
the Decision-Making (DM) function, the Execution (E) function, and the Transformation (T) function, (Whittemore & Yovits, 1973).
The decision-maker becomes aware of a situation through the environment in the IAD module. In the DM module, the decision-maker outlines courses of actions based on predicted observable effects. The information is converted to observable actions in the E module. In the T module, all resulting observable effects are measured and compared with the predicted observable effects. This comparison creates the feedback data that is then used by the decision-maker to judge the efficacy of the actions taken. If the resulting effects do not live up to the predicted effects, this information is fed back into the IAD module, adjustments are made in the DM module, and the process repeats itself, (Yovits & Foulk, 1981).
The Yovitsí Information Theory Model is appropriate to use for this problem because the four functional modules are an ideal match for the steps involved in developing a professional development collection for teachers and staff members. This model shows the relationship between information and observable action and takes into account the external stimuli and its impact on a resolution.
Due to teacher requests for professional development materials, SALT survey results, and teacher survey (IAD), the school library media specialist proposed the following plan of action to the school principal and the administration: a rich, exciting collection of materials that satisfies the professional needs of educators needs to be developed and the administrators’ must commit and fund the plan (DM).
The following specific courses of action are executed (E):
- Plan is presented for approval to principal and administrators.
- Budget of finances for professional collection is outlined.
- Physical space required for new materials is assessed.
- Lists of new acquisitions is drawn from teacher survey and requests.
- Materials are ordered and the collection is upgraded.
- Collection is previewed to the staff through open house, book talks, displays, the website, etc.
Subsequent to the first year, a teacher satisfaction survey will be given and circulation statistics
gathered to assess whether predicted observable effects coincide with the actual observed effects (T).
In other word, are teachers using the collection, are they pleased with the available selection,
and do they have suggestions for further development of the collection?
After the first year, the teacher satisfaction survey will be given every two years to assure that the collection meets teachers’ needs.
In the event that this feedback data does not reflect the desired predicted effects, the feedback data becomes the information from which the librarian will base future decisions about the collection
(IAD).
In conclusion, this model will aid the SLMS in the quest to provide a quality professional collection that will address the needs of the staff.
Marshall Clinton Yovits published and continues to publish groundbreaking research on analysis of information and information systems. His research on self-organization systems and computers continues to influence the information and technology fields. His work on information and decision making applies to the way people acquire information in general.
In 1974, Yovits presented his Model of Information as a system and commodity. This contribution is recorded on many historical timelines as a significant contribution to the world
Yovits has continued to influence technology, even after retiring as a respected professor at Indiana University. He continues to publish research focusing on technology and the electronic handling of information. He reviews current research on technology and contributes research to the work of other researchers in a variety of fields. Two significant published books by Yovits include Self-Organizing Systems published in 1962 and Advances in Computers published in 1991.
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Yovits, M.C.,(Ed.).(1990).Advances in Computers,vol.31.San Diego: Academic Press.
Yovits M.C.,& deKorvin (1987). External documentation and its quantitative
relationship to the internalinformation state of a decision maker: the information
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Yovits, M.C.,& Ernst, R. L. (1969). Generalized information systems:
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Yovits, M.C., & Foulk, C. R. (1981). Information flow and analysis: theory,
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Yovits, Marshall C.(1962). Self-Organizing Systems.New York:Spartan Books.