The social perception of the professions that manage information

Challenge

The Spanish Society of Documentation and Scientific Information (SEDIC) is designing a strategy to carry out political advocacy in favor of the sector of documentalists and information management professionals. To decide what topics to influence, what types of messages to convey or what areas to target, it is necessary to have empirical data. For this reason, SEDIC promotes a study to know what perception people with decision-making capacity have about the professional group and its institutions. In particular, the study focuses on analyzing the perception of information management professionals, as well as political figures with decision-making power, regarding the current state of the sector and its possible evolution in the coming years.

Answer

Spora conducts qualitative research to answer the following questions:

• What perception do technicians in the sector and people in decision-making spaces have about professionals and institutions of documentation and information management?
• What key elements should be taken into account when designing an advocacy strategy?

The first phase of the research has focused on the collection and analysis of the perceptions of information management professionals in relation to the identified dimensions of analysis. In the second phase, the perceptions of political positions with an impact on policies linked to information professionals and institutions have been collected and analyzed. The triangulation of these different perceptions has made it possible to develop guidelines for the design of the advocacy strategy.

Picture: Sara Kurfeß