Collaborative auto-hermeneutics: Methodological openings and possibilities for studying information experience

As the conceptual interests and cultural import of information science continue to expand, it is important for the field to be open to information-related phenomena that are not captured by extant frameworks. In recent years, there is increasing theoretical interest in alternate ways of knowing and becoming informed, such as collaborative information behaviours (Foster 2010), serendipitous information discovery (Toms 2000; Erdelez et al, 2016) information as instinct (Spink 2010), and knowing in practice (Savolainen 2009). Information experience is another area of conceptual interest, which is defined as the way in which people experience or derive meaning when they engage with information within their everyday lives (Bruce et al., 2014). To be open in this way requires us to embrace new methodologies, particularly those that are exploratory. We take inspiration from Robert Stebbins’ serious-leisure perspective (SLP); this perspective provides a common ground for researchers – not unlike other serious leisure pursuers – who pursue a career volunteer activity that captivates participants with its complexity and many challenges and embodies unique qualities such as earnestness, sincerity, importance, and carefulness, with profound, long-lasting, and substantial skill, knowledge, or experience which provides them with common grounds for conversing and building togetherness (Stebbins 2001). The social inclusion developed from participating in leisure activities attracts cultural richness, notably for its shared goals, problems, values, experiences, and costs and rewards (Stebbins 2011). We hope that information science can experience a similar opening and renewal through this approach within our own exploratory research. As one such exploratory methodology, Gorichanaz (2017) proposed auto-hermeneutics for the study of information experience. In our full paper proposed for this conference (Latham, Narayan, & Gorichanaz, 2017), we utilise auto-hermeneutics in a novel way: as collaboration. In this roundtable discussion, we discuss methodological issues and challenges of conducting collaborative auto-hermeneutics. We connect it to the idea of intrinsic motivation, or participation in an activity for its inherent satisfactions. Although, in one sense, intrinsic motivation exists within individuals, in another sense intrinsic motivation exists in the relation between individuals and activities (Ryan & Deci 2001). Because intrinsic motivation exists in the nexus between a person and a task, it is often defined in terms of the task being interesting or the satisfactions a person gains from intrinsically motivated task engagement (Ryan & Deci 2001). We propose the use of practice theory (Gherardi 2009) to build upon the concepts of serious leisure and intrinsic motivation in the study of information experience as a creative experience

Does information science need history and foundations?

Author(s) retain copyright, but ASIS & T receives an exclusive publication license As ASIS&T looks to the future, all community members are invited to contribute to a shared vision for information science. As a program of the SIG for History and Foundations (SIG-HFIS), this alternative event focuses on developing a vision for conceptual, philosophical, theoretical and historical work in information science. This event will provide a participatory platform to investigate questions such as: What is the domain of history and foundations? How does it relate to other research areas in the information field? The event will involve panelist interviews with diverse scholars, small-group discussions of big questions for history and foundations, and the presentation of a new idea-sharing platform, the HFIS Wishlist. This event will be a locus for participation and inspiration regarding historical and foundations work in information science as part of formulating a future vision for SIG-HFIS, ASIS&T, and the information field more broadly

Encountering the muse: An exploration of the relationship between inspiration and information in the museum context

© The Author(s) 2018. How are information and inspiration connected? Answering this question can help information professionals facilitate the pathways to inspiration. Inspiration has previously been conceptualized as a goal or mode of information seeking, but this says little about the nature of inspiration or how it is experienced. In this study, we explore the connection between information and inspiration through a qualitative approach, using the museum as our setting; specifically, the researchers’ own visits to three separate museums. We use collaborative auto-hermeneutics, a methodology specifically suited to such a reflexive exploration, to document and analyze three individual museum visits. The following research questions were the main driver for this exploratory study: What is inspiration, and How are inspiration and information related? In answer, we present an inductive definition of inspiration as a kind of information, and we discuss how this definition fits in with the information science literature as well as offer some practical applications

Meaning-making on gender:deeply meaningful information in a significant life change among transgender people

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to report on the seeking of deeply meaningful information, also including embodied information, connected to significant, intensely personal life changes having lifelong impacts. The concepts of “meaning-making,” “transitioning,” and information seeking in “deeply meaningful and profoundly personal contexts” are used in order to understand transgender individuals’ information seeking in the contexts of gender identity formation. Based on the literature, emotions and information seeking connected to a significant life change were divided into four phases to study how they could be identified in the 25 qualitative interviews with transgender individuals from Finland between the ages of 15 and 72. Based on the findings of this study, in significant life changes, an individual needs reliable, sensible and identifiable information. Serendipitous encounters and embodied experiences characterize information seeking during transitional stages. Peer communities are important for minorities in order to find places where interviewees feel safe to share information and experiences. These communities can also be found online. The concept of “deeply meaningful information” highlights the effect information has on information seekers. Deeply meaningful information can serve as a trigger for life change, helping people forward during the transitions