LI803 Information Transfer Paper

Information Transfer Cycle: State of the Union

Running Head: The Information Transfer Cycle within the

State of the Union Address

The Information Transfer Cycle within the State of the Union

Address

Katie Hill

LI 803

March 16, 2008

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The Information Transfer Cycle within the State of the Union

Address

INTRODUCTION

The State of the Union address is a speech given

annually, usually in January, by the President of the United

States. The purpose of the State of the Union address is to

give the American people along with the members of Congress

an update on the state of the United States as well as the

agenda that the President’s administration has in store for

the upcoming year (Hill, 2007,pg. 3).

The information transfer process is heavily grounded in

the structure of the State of the Union address. The

objective of the State of the Union address is to convey the

information that the President and his administration has in

regards to the status of the country.

CREATION

Creation is defined by the idea that knowledge is

created by those who hold authority in their perspective

fields of study (Achleitner, “Information Transfer

Definitions” handout.) Within the context of the State of

the Union address there are two possible levels of knowledge

creation. The first would be the original creation, or the

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need for the State of the Union address, which is clearly

stated within Article II, Section three of the United States

Constitution, which states that the President must “from

time to time” give an address of the state of the union.

The second knowledge creation can be found in all of the

addresses that follow. In more recent history, the

knowledge creation of the State of the Union address can be

found within the media and the press. The President is put

under constant scrutiny by the press. Political analysts

and journalists, being considered professionals, create the

idea that either the President has handled his position in

an improper manner, or that the American people believe that

a change in governmental policy needs to be made. By the

simple act of reporting their findings and opinions, the

journalists have created the reason for the President to

explain his actions and to let the American people know

where he plans to take them in the new year.

DISSEMINATION

Dissemination, as defined by Scullion, is simply, “to

distribute, spread or scatter research findings or policy

initiatives” (2002, pg. 68). This scattering usually takes

place within an academic context, meaning the information is

published in scholarly journals and articles. When looking

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at the State of the Union address it seems quite obvious

that the address, more specifically, the address in the

years after President Woodrow Wilson returned the address to

speech form, is the act of dissemination. The State of the

Union Address is itself the process of dissemination. The

President gives his speech, which is transmitted over the

radio and television waves, it’s printed in books and

newspapers, and with the invention of the internet can be

found online. Through all of these mediums the information

contained within the State of the Union can reach people,

not only in the United States, but around the world.

ORGANIZATION

Organization refers to the way that information is

classified and categorized. The State of the Union

addresses have been published in a series titled The State

of the Union Messages of the Presidents. Within the Dewey

Decimal classification (DDC) system, this book can be

located under the call number 353.035. Under the Library of

Congress classification (LCC) system, this book can be

located under J81.C66. There are also many books that have

been written that critically analyze the State of the Union

addresses given by the Presidents. Donna Hoffman and Alison

Howard’s book, Addressing the State of the Union: the

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Evolution and Impact of the President’s Big Speech, is an

example of this type of book. This book can be located

under 352.23 in the DDC and under JK587.H65 in the LCC

system.

DIFFUSION

Diffusion and Dissemination are closely related. As

mentioned earlier, Dissemination relates to the scattering

or dispersing of information, while Diffusion relates to the

understanding or comprehension of information. According

Roger Everett, Diffusion has four main elements, those being

communication channels, innovation, social system, and time

(2003, pg. 10). In this sense, the idea of Diffusion within

the context of the State of the Union address could be

categorized as analysis provided by the media and political

analysts. Once the President’s address is made public the

media tears it apart word by word. Many times the speech

uses terminology that the average American would not

necessarily understand. The political analysts look at what

the President said; break it down in a manner that would

help the American people to understand. There are also a

lot of editorials written in response to the State of the

Union. In many cases the editorials are not written in

praise of the President’s speech as the article “TRB from

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Washington: Presidential” shows. This article written by

Michael Kelly (1997) in the magazine the New Republic bashes

President Clinton for his technique in delivering the 1997

State of the Union Address.

In short, if one were to apply Everett’s elements of

diffusion to the State of the Union address, the innovation

would be the ideas brought up within the speech, the social

system would be the idea of democracy and how the

constitution requires the speech, the channels of

communication refer to all of the venues in which the State

of the Union address is projected, and time refers to the

short length of time in which it takes for the process of

diffusion to take place in regards to the analysis of the

State of the Union.

UTILIZATION

Utilization, as defined by the American Heritage

College Dictionary, is to find a profitable or practical use

(1997). Within the Information Transfer Cycle it refers to

the development of strategies and policies that allow the

knowledge to be used (Achleitner, “Information Transfer

Definitions” handout). In the framework of the State of the

Union address, Utilization can be found with the legislation

that comes out of the advice given by the President. In

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most cases the President will give suggestions throughout

the State of the Union. One must remember that the State of

the Union is actually directed towards Congress, it just

happens to be made available to the American people; so most

of the suggestions made by the President are made in an

attempt to prompt Senators and Congressmen to write

legislation about a particular issue. However, the

President does take advantage of the fact that the address

is made available to the American people. If the President

can plant the idea of a particular piece of legislation in

the American people, they in turn will harass their

Congressmen to do something in response.

PRESERVATION

Preservation of materials is one of the main purposes

that libraries serve. Libraries not only provide access to

books, but they collect materials in an attempt to preserve

them. The State of the Union is considered an important

part of American history. Records of all Congressional

dealings are permanently kept by the government. Along with

this record, the State of the Union address can be accessed

by patrons of most libraries. As mentioned before, the

State of the Union addresses have been published in a

series. This series can be found in many libraries around

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the world. Also, with the use of technology and the

internet there is a digital record of the State of the Union

addresses. Along with the above mentioned forms of

preservation, most Presidents have their own Presidential

Libraries, usually located in their home state. These

Presidential libraries hold all documents and artifacts that

pertain to their perspective President.

CONCLUSION

To summarize, the information transfer cycle stages can

be found in the political science field, and more

specifically they can be found within the State of the Union

Address. As learned in the Spring 2008 LI803: Information

Transfer and the Knowledge Society, at the School of Library

and Information Management at Emporia State University,

Emporia, Kansas, the information transfer cycle can be found

across the disciplines. It may not always be recognizably

found, but with some critical analysis, the following

stages, Creation, Dissemination, Organization, Diffusion,

Utilization, and Preservation, can be found in any

discipline.

References

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Hill, Katie. (2007). Lights, Camera, Action: A Look at How

the State of the Union Address has Changed Over the

Years. Senior Thesis, McPherson College, McPherson, KS.

Houghton Mifflin Company. (1993). The American heritage

College Dictionary. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Kelly, Michael. (1997, February 24). TRB from Washington:

Presidential. New Republic, 6.

Rogers, Everett. (2003). Elements of Diffusion. Diffusion of

Innovation, 1-37. New York: Free Press.

Scullion, P.A. (2002). Effective Dissemination Strategies.

Nurse Researcher, 10(1), 65-68.

United States, & Israel, F. L. (1966). The State of the

Union messages of the Presidents, 1790-1966. New York:

Chelsea House.

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Documents

LI803 Information Transfer Paper