Published by the Pew Partnership for Civic Change in 2000, the findings in Coming of Age in the Information Age speak directly to the goals of the PolicyOptions.org initiative.

Below is an outline of the key areas/questions used by the researchers in a series of three focus groups conducted in three cities back in October 1999.

Information / Learning Attitudes and Culture

• How many of you would describe your organizations as places where learning and gathering information are important parts of the way you operate?
• For those who said yes, how is learning and gathering information valued and rewarded in your organization?
• For those who said no, are there any examples of learning or gathering information, no matter how rare, that take place in your organization?
• Time: Do you have enough time (or any time, even if it’s not enough time) to think about learning and gathering information?
• If so, what do you use that time to learn or seek out?
• Develop new programs? Improve existing programs? Content in your issue areas? Process in your issue areas?
• Organizational-development issues?
• If not, what are you using your time for?
• Who gets to learn in your organization? The executive director? The top staff alone? All employees? Your board members? Your other supporters, including funders? Your customers? Clients?
• Are there particular staff members in charge of learning and gathering information for the organization?
• How do they learn? Describe how learning and information needs are dealt with at the:
  • Individual Level
  • Group/Team Level
  • * Organization Level
  • Alliance/Coalition Level (beyond your own organization)
  • How would you describe the type of learning and information gathering that takes place? Is it:
  • Continuous learning?
  • Just-in-time learning?
  • Crisis learning?
  • Something else?

Information / Learning Content / Knowledge Management

• What kind or type of information is most useful to you as you:
  • Develop new programs
  • Improve existing programs
  • Try to change the way the organization operates
• External Collection of Information: If participants do not offer the following, we might want to use a series of presented materials that includes:
  • Summaries of current thinking and research about “what works” in their issue area
  • Case studies of promising programs
  • Specific information about budget and implementation of other programs
  • How-to guides or workbooks about pursuing specific strategies or approaches
  • Accessing web sites
  • Contacted a parent organization
  • Contacted another nonprofit agency
  • Contacted government agencies
  • Contacted for-profit businesses
  • Talked with others/networked
  • Attended conferences
  • Attended trainings
  • Contacted experts in the field
  • Contacted an issue clearinghouse
  • Professional journals or newsletters
  • Other publications
  • Subscribed to or signed up with a listserv
  • Other types of information
  • Have them name particular ones that are most useful to them as examples
  • What works with the information you collect that is most useful to you?
  • What doesn’t work with the information you collect that is most useful to you?
  • What doesn’t work with the information you collect that isn’t the most useful to you?
  • Does anything work with the information you collect that isn’t the most useful to you?
  • These different types of information would be even more useful to you if they included ______.

New Technologies

• Are the new technologies a blessing or a curse for your information needs?
• If blessing, give examples
• If curse, give examples
• Is your organization connected to the Internet?
• If yes, has the Internet helped you gain better and more useful information?
• Do you personally use the Internet? How often? For what tasks?

Knowledge Management:

Internal Collection

• How does the staff learn from each other?
• How does the organization learn from its staff?

Knowledge Creation

• How does the organization create its own knowledge/information?

Knowledge Storage and Retrieval

• How does the organization store what it is learning and how can staff

retrieve this knowledge?

Knowledge Transfer and Use

• How does the organization transfer knowledge and use what it knows?

Information Networks

• What networks do you turn to at the:
• Local Level?
• Regional Level?
• National Level?
• Other Levels?
• What are you getting from these networks?
• What are you not getting from these networks?
• How closely do you feel connected to these networks?
• Are you linked to any networks, at any level, that are outside your specific areas of expertise?
• f so, what are they? Why are you connected to them?

Dissemination Vehicles

• How many of your organizations believe that sharing what you know and what you’ve tried is part of your business?
• For those who said yes, how do you disseminate your information?
• For those who said no,
• Has your organization ever discussed doing something like this?
• If yes, what stopped or stops you from doing this?
• If no, why do you think it hasn’t come up as a possibility?

Information Needs / Frustrations / Future

• How do you feel about the information that’s out there?
• Too much? Not enough?
• Do you know where to go to find what you need?
• Trusted sources: How do you determine if something is credible or can be trusted?
• Where are the blockages and short circuits of community information exchange?
• What contributes to the inaccessibility of information vital to you and your organization?
• Explore relationship building and civic infrastructure investments with group.
• Do you measure your learning? If so, how do you do it?
• We’ve been spending a lot of time talking about what your organizations do or do not do in terms of information needs, what would you like to do, if you could do it all?
• What are the top areas, issues or processes that you think your organization should learn more about?
• How about you as an individual?
• What kind of information do your customers need?
• How do you help them obtain this information?

"Coming of Age in the Information Age"

Copyright © University of Richmond 2000. All rights reserved.

About the Authors

• Jacqueline Dugery, director of program research at the Pew Partnership, spearheaded the research and analysis for this report.
• Juan Sepúlveda, president of The Common Enterprise, both facilitated the discussions and cogently captured the initial focus group findings, many of which are included here.
• Carole Hamner, deputy director of the Pew Partnership, provided thoughtful insights and editorial assistance.