Why Information Science?
That long answer to a simple question
Sometime during the pandemic, I changed my job title to information scientist. It was a gutsy move — even my advisor questioned my decision, saying it wasn’t specific and wouldn’t help me find a job. But I let it stick because it felt right.
There were so many things that I could have written instead — UX writer, content designer, internet marketer, or even information specialist. Still, none of them seemed to encompass what I was passionate about. However, they all seemed to align with the Information Science program I was studying at Wayne State University.
But why was I drawn to information science so much? That was a much deeper dive. After much thought, here’s my analysis:
1. I firmly believe people should have access to information.
I grew up in rural S.C. While it had its benefits, there were definitely some challenges. One of the largest was my lack of access to information.
See, you don’t get exposed to much when you live down a two-mile dirt road and only leave your house to attend a small Catholic school 40 miles away. I missed the MTV generation — cable didn’t reach my house. Plus, my parents were quite unwilling to get a satellite dish.
For the most part, my connection to the outside world was from books. Lots of books. It started with subscriptions. Weekly book clubs were sent to my front door, telling stories of the lives of children that were much more interesting than mine. Later, I absorbed society through magazines like Vibe or the Source in middle school, then a historical fiction binge and deep research into handwriting analysis that got me through high school.
Through books and music, I learned about the lives and feelings of other people. It was crucial to my emotional development and was the reason I could connect with others — at all. By middle school, libraries and museums became my sanctuary. I could literally learn about anything and access the thoughts and records of other people on demand. Information was my escape, and I made my home there.
2. I firmly believe it should be easier for people to access information.
As I grew older, I realized my access to information was a privilege. Plenty of kids my age didn’t have a personal library that could fill their room. Most of my classmates hadn’t mastered the Dewey Decimal system or even had the time to spend hours at libraries and museums. And especially most of my S.C. peers didn’t have a grandfather who retired from IBM and gifted his grandchildren with computers in 1994.
Honestly, I didn’t recognize my privilege until I was an adult.
Even my father was denied adequate access as a child. Growing up in segregated South Carolina, what he could learn was extremely limited. In fact, that lack was later deemed illegal. The lack of access to information where I’m from is globally known. Ten years before my father attended Scott’s Branch, his cousins attempted to make it better- launching the first U.S. school desegregation case (Briggs v Elliott), fighting for equal access.
Spoiler alert: It never happened.
But that didn’t stop my dad or his grandfather. My barely literate father later earned his GED and a bachelor’s degree in business and community development. His grandfather never learned to read, yet successfully raised over a dozen children and lived to be over 100. My father went on to write a book about him. Ahh, the irony.
Where I’m from, information is a luxury. This is wrong.
3. I firmly believe that information is power.
Growing up southern deeply defined who I became — mainly due to Church. I grew up in the Southern Baptist Church. For me, Church wasn’t just a place to learn about God; it was a place to learn about my culture. Sure, the preacher started with scripture, but by the time we reached the yelling and dancing part, we were talking about surviving trauma, staying focused, or trusting our community.
See, these were all messages that had been passed down since slavery. The sermon was a “How to survive being black in America” lesson with the King James Bible as the primary textbook. I could recognize the difference between what I was being told and what other churches did because my parents sent me to Catholic School.
The Church was important in my community because, for generations, it was my people’s only approved information source. Though many of my ancestors could not read, they were taught the stories of the bible. They learned what they needed to know to survive in their condition and thrive through those words.
We knew how precious knowledge could be and took whatever we could get — transforming it into a form that the greater community could absorb. In those pews, I learned how important the method of relaying a message was, especially when that message could give people power.
4. I have faith in technology
When my grandfather gave me that computer, at first, it was a glorified typewriter. However, those Earthlink and Compuserve CDs started showing up in the mail, and I realized what that computer was really good for. I didn’t have to travel to the next county to find information. I could enter the spaces of people all around the world and access the data myself.
I spent countless hours in chat rooms, learning about the world from the comfort of my South Carolina home. I researched colleges and prepped for the SAT. I broadened my worldview. I used the internet to feed my thirst for information and continued to do so until I launched my own online business in 2015.
I am well aware of technology’s potential to provide opportunities for people through access to information because it did that for me. When I discovered that people were dedicated to studying how we can/should use information with technology, I was 100% in.
So how does information science fit into these beliefs? Well, information science is the science and practice dealing with the effective collection, storage, retrieval, and use of information. It is about how we get it, who can access it, where we store it, and what we do with it. It supports beliefs I’ve held since I first experienced limited access to information.
Information science deals with how humans live and connect with each other. It helps us ask questions, solve problems and create new realities. It’s the science that sits at the intersection of man and technology, providing the framework for how we will exist in an ever-expanding technological age.
Information science careers include jobs in information architecture, database design, SEO, user experience, and human insight. It also works alongside library science, computer science, and psychology. It provides the framework for discussions on social media’s impact, machine learning for AI, online privacy standards, and methods of securing big data.
Information science is literally asking and addressing some of the most important questions for humanity right now. I’m not here to work a job; I’m here to make a difference. Of course, I want to be a part of that! At the rate we’re moving, everything else almost feels trivial.
Does my desire make me an information scientist? Perhaps not. That’s why I enrolled in grad school — so I could confidently embody the title. I want to understand what has already been discussed and learn how to take it further. I want to show the world how to equal the playing field when accessing information. I want to make humanity better.
In the meanwhile, I’m focusing my day-to-day activities on services related to information science — such as UX writing, content design, SEO, and website design, with a deep focus on effective information retrieval. I categorize all of these tasks within creative technology, so I sometimes use that title as well. Once my expenses are covered, I dedicate the rest to furthering my studies so I can be of more service.
If these things are something you need — please reach out.
Writing brings me joy, but organizing information is what makes my soul happy. I guess that’s the TLDR.
