Contextualizing Information: Examining Dark Spaces on the Map by Anjali Sachdeva

Directions

1. Listen to or read Dark Spaces on the Map
2. Complete the discussion questions
3. Be prepared to discuss in class

Listen

This story of hers is so incredibly rich. It is about our obsession with information [and] the way information without context can lead you to a different conclusion...

-LeVar Burton

Read

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Epigraph

"To portray meaningful relationships for a complex, three dimensional world on a flat sheet of paper or a video screen, a map must distort reality … [A] single map is but one of an indefinitely large number of maps that might be produced for the same situation or from the same data …"

—Mark Monmonier, How to Lie with Maps

Epigraph used by permission from How to Lie With Maps by Mark Monmonier, published by The University of Chicago Press. © 1991, 1996, 2018 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

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Discussion Questions

(Student Responses)

• The story is basically about a woman who goes through her perceived knowledge of memories. Through such, she aims to recall particular events, details, and people. Ultimately, she touches up a curious side of life, constantly asking "why," essentially, and tries to go deeper and deeper into researching her past memories.
• It is about a woman who lived through a major time of transition, just like we are living through the before, during, and after of the pandemic.
• In the story, it talks about a girl named Fatima who is trying hard to understand the old lady by taking notes and recording everything in her reports, trying to pry into her life. The old lady experienced something traumatic when she was young, but never told anyone even though it has been bothering her for so long. Relationships don't go the way as planned for both of them, so the old lady connects to Fatima and opens up telling her what happened that night on the trail without her recording it.
• Opening your mind to what really happened in the past. Thinking differently then you did back then to now. Building up your life path.

• Fatima seems very dedicated towards finding an answer. I am also like that—I am dedicated to finding the answer at all costs, and I'm typically one to keep chugging along until I meet the findings I desire.
• A similarity I can see is when Fatima wants to know something she doesn't stop asking about it, which I can kind of relate to. Once I find something out I want to know all about it too.

• I do think we're addicted to information. Everyone, whether they admit it or not, wants to be in the know, and being in the know requires one key thing: Information. In the story, Fatima is really addicted to information, and it physically takes a toll on her. This addiction is made clear in the quote: "Fatima comes inside to start today's interview session, wiping the sweat from her face and rubbing her eyes." In a personal sense, I find myself addicted to information—or at least information pertaining to a certain topic—as I always like to dig deeper, and before I know it, I've spent 30 minutes just looking over information about one topic.
• I do believe humans are always hungry for new information and this can be a good and bad thing. Any kind of addiction can be seen as unhealthy because no person should be too obsessed with any particular thing. It can be seen as a positive though because through in depth research humans can expand their minds and come up with solutions to problems.
• I do think we as a society are addicted to information because I think everyone wants to know what is going on and no one wants to be left out from what everyone is talking about. I think it's both good and bad because some people can become to obsessive. When Fatima wanted information about Uncle Paxton she didn't stop asking and was addicted to finding out what he did. Personally, my brother would tell something to my sister and I felt left out and wanting to know what they were talking about.
• Yes because everyone wants to know what's going on, which is why people gossip, call, and text each other.

• I think 'doing research' is synonymous to 'learning'. Without research, you can't really learn about anything at all—whether it be academic, professional, or fun in nature. Thus, I really don't think there's a diverge between research done for school or research done for fun—it's all about learning in the end, regardless of the motive.
• I believe research for leisure and research for school can be similar if the topic you are researching for school is something you enjoy in your free time as well. If not it can feel very boring and agonizing to research a topic you are not interested in. Research to me means investigate a curiosity further to learn more information about it.
• I think there is a difference between research we do "for fun" and research we do for school or work because I don't write paper to tell idea and some information when I do "for fun" as research.
• Research means to me looking up answers and finding out information about someone or something. There can be a difference from fun research to school research because it can be different topics, but it is generally the same technique of information about something.
• Research for fun is more just for mental pleasing while school is for work.

• Creativity and curiosity are traits that, in effect, offer up your personal intuition to be a good researcher by opening up new possibilities in your mind, where through such, you can further explore a topic and get the most out of the resources available to inform you on said topic.
• Curiosity leads to yourself seeking more information and when gathering this new information it quickly makes your creativity increase. The act of researching can inspire people to dig deeper and be more creative.
• Creativity is related to research because if you cant\'t find something, you need to get creative in order to find another way to get the information. Curiosity is related because when researching, you are curious and not sure what to expect.

• Taking a leisurely walk, focusing on nature, or simply doing something else that's considered fun for a reasonable period of time are great ways to relax and digress from draining research efforts. In the story, an example would be Fatima taking an aside from research when she is confronted by other over her physical state subsequent to her tumultuous research effort.
• A way I take a break from social media is I go outside and enjoy nature. I enjoy exploring new cities and places because this helps me relieve stress.
• The ways as digitally detox for me are not carrying smartphone and immediately searching. I should think about something by myself. I think digitally detox is not beneficial for researching because researching is so important to collect a lot of data.
• I detox by taking breaks and managing my time while researching so I can stay focused longer without getting bored. An example from the story is when the old lady took Fatima away to make sandwiches and get her mind off things.
• One may find too much information and get overwhelmed, like how Fatima keeps asking questions right after eachother.

• I would say I have a great relationship with research tools: Research databases, textbooks, scholarly journal subscriptions. But, at the same time, I wouldn't say I have much involvement or connection with libraries or librarians.
• The relationship I have with these sources is I know I can come to each of these reliable sources with questions I have. I can dig deeper and investigate my research topics deeper through the use of using tools online and the library.
• I don't really use the library and I do not speak with the librarian. I think I am familiar with research tools.

Importance of Contextualizing Information

Definition: examining and highlighting ideas, arguments, or practices within a broader perspective in order to call attention to that context. It goes beyond summarizing - it involves synthesizing research in order to construct or bring into view a picture of broad-scale situations, circumstances, or relationships.

Here's how:

• situate idea and arguments into historical, cultural, social, and critical contexts

• develop a critical vocabulary for a given conversation (know the jargon)

• deploy different types of evidence rhetorically (communicate and persuade through writing)

• understand the social activity surrounding the content that shapes the conversation (academic publications/ research using library technologies & databases)

"Data is Eating the World"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2021/08/31/the-state-of-data-august-2021/?sh=730fc65320f5

• 90% of the world's data was generated in the last two years alone

• 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is being created each day

• 18 billion pieces of information have been exposed in the 1,700 reported data breaches in the first half of 2021

Research = Sculpting

“The reason why research is like sculpting from memory is that in neither is there a concrete visible subject to copy directly. The subject – as sculptors themselves are fond of saying – is hidden in the block of material.” 

— Jacques Barzun( French-American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history.) 

Don't Search Topics...Search Problems!

Be the voice you want to hear in the world through your ability to recognize gaps and biases in arguments, know when new information is needed, understand how to access the right tools that help you find that information, and most importantly, be able to ethically use that information to promote positive change in your communities.