Connecting with Information Sources: How Accounts of Information Seeking Take Discursive Action

Taking a discursive approach to information seeking research can allow researchers to move away from considering information seekers’ accounts as transparent and unproblematic representations their information behaviour or underlying cognitive and affective processes. This paper uses a constructivist discourse analytic approach to study the discursive functions performed by accounts of information seeking in a particular context – the ways that individuals use information-seeking stories to “position” themselves discursively. This paper analyses four modes of information practice (Active seeking, Active scanning, Everyday monitoring, Information seeking by proxy) present in participants’ accounts of connecting with information sources. Although the four modes represent varying levels of active engagement in information seeking, accounts of the four modes fulfilled the same discursive function of demonstrating the individual to be an autonomous actor, someone who is active, connected, attentive to the environment, alert to unexpected possibilities, and receptive to appropriate forms of information. Working from a constructivist discourse analytic approach allows the researcher to attend both to the characteristics of the information-seeking context (in this case, pregnancy) and to the researcher-participant interaction and the functions that accounts of information seeking perform within it. It is then possible to study the ways that accounts of information seeking may themselves take discursive action

The effects of fungal-infested fescue on hormonal secretions and ovarian development in the beef heifer

A fungal endophyte, Acremonium coenophialum, associated with tall fescue is known to produce factors which are toxic to grazing livestock. Cattle which ingest the affected fescue may exhibit depressed physical condition, reduced reproductive performance as well as decreased pro- lactin (PRL) levels. Decreased PRL release has been shown to delay puberty in some species and may be the cause of reduced reproductive performance in animals grazing infested fescue. Four experiments were conducted on heifers grazing tall fescue pastures with varying degrees of infestation to determine the effect of treatment (fungal endophyte level) on the ability of the hypothalamus, pituitary and ovary to respond to hormonal challenges. An intramuscular injection of Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analog was administered when the heifers were approximately 3 and 5 months of age. Jugular blood was collected at 0, 1, and 2 hours after the injection of GnRH and plama was assayed for gonadotropins, prolactin and 17β-estradiol (E2). An injection of 1 mg of 17β-estradiol benzoate at 7 months of age was administered to test the ability of the hypo-thalamus to produce a preovulatory-like LH surge. Samples were col-lected 14.5, 15.5 and 18.0 following the injection of estrogen. To test the effects of fungal-infested fescue on the growth and functional abil-ity of the ovarian follicle, a superfollicular response was induced with 1,000 lU of Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG) when the heifers were 9-months-old. Two 12 ml blood samples were collected 5 days post- injection of PMSG and heifers were ovariectomized immediately following the bleedings. Ovaries were quartered, sectioned (10 microns) and representative sections were evaluated for level of follicular develop-ment, germ-cell survival, follicular atresia, number of ovulations and signs of luteinization. GnRH, E2 and PMSG did not significantly affect PRL release (p \u3e 0.10) however PRL levels were significantly less (p \u3c 0.01) in the treatment groups as compared to Controls, except when ambient tempera-ture was high. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were not significantly affected by treatment (p \u3e 0.10); however, the LH levels of heifers in the infested fescue groups were lower than those of Controls in all experiments except for the E2 challenge. Those heifers which did respond to 17&beta-estradiol benzoate stimulation with LH levels greater than 5.0 ng/ml were either in the Control or 60% infestation group. Therefore, factors other than toxicants from the fungus must have delayed the maturtion of the hypothalamo-hypophysial axis. Germ- cell survival was adversely affected by the ingestion of fungal-infested fescue (p \u3c 0.02) and an apparent dose-dependent relationship existed. Vesicular-follicle response to PMSG was also adversely affected in all infestation levels as compared to the Controls, however, the difference was not significant (p \u3e 0.10). The results indicate that the reduction in PRL and/or LH levels in heifers grazing fungal-infested fescue may be responsible for decreased germ-cell survival and impaired follicular development and these factors would probably cause a reduction in repro-ductive performance

Informing Traces: The Social Practices of Collaborative Informing in the Midwifery Clinic

The concept of “traces” is useful for understanding the collaborative practices of informing. Readers of documents leave traces of their use, and institutional talk embeds traces of collaborative work, including work done and elsewhere and at other times. This chapter employs a multifaceted qualitative strategy of analytic bracketing to analyze traces in midwives’ and clients’ discussions of clinical results. Results are used to identify and evaluate trends in relation to the current case or to universal norms. Conflicting forms of evidence may need to be negotiated. Barriers may arise when results or sources are inadequate or unavailable. Midwives and women manage these barriers by flexibly assigning the role of information provider in official and unofficial ways. The analysis of traces provides insight into the hows and whats of collaborative work and reveals it to be a complex set of practices that go well beyond the immediately visible contributions of others

The Seeking of Baby-Feeding Information by Canadian Women Pregnant with Twins

Objective: to analyse baby-feeding information needs and seeking described by Canadian women pregnant with twins. Design, setting, and participants: in-depth semi-structured interviews with 19 pregnant women were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts provided the data for discourse analysis of the use of two interpretative repertoires. Measurements and findings: the first interpretative repertoire represented caring for twins as fundamentally distinct from caring for singly-born children and therefore emphasised the commonality of mothers of twins regardless of their background or situation. The second highlighted the uniqueness and individuality of each person. These repertoires intersect with discourses of baby- feeding and good mothering, resulting in a complex discursive interplay of similarity and difference, commonality and individuality, information seeking, baby-feeding and good mothering. Participants used the two interpretative repertoires to a) frame information needs; b) construct complex accounts of the biomedical, experiential, and personalised authority of information sources, c) describe the helpfulness of information sources independent of their authority; and d) describe the barriers encountered in the finding appropriate sources of babyfeeding information antenatally. Implications: understanding and respecting the discursive constructions of pregnancy and mothering can help practitioners understand the complex discursive interplay underlying participants’ baby-feeding decisions and may facilitate more sensitive support for women’s individual needs and understandings

Effect of fungal-infected fescue on ovarian development and function in the beef heifer

Cattle that ingest tall fescue infected with the fungal endophyte, Acremonium coenophialum, exhibit signs of ergot alkaloid toxicity. Symptoms characteristic of fescue-toxicity include a reduction in weight gain, increased basal body temperature and exhibit reproductive problems including a delay in puberty, a reduced rate of conception, an increased rate of abortion, and an inhibition of pituitary prolactin secretion. A study was conducted to determine: 1) if follicular development and function were compromised in the heifer raised on endophyte-infected fescue, 2) if there were alterations in basal and stimulated pituitary and ovarian hormone secretion, and 3) if the toxins produced by the fungus endophyte (i.e. ergotamine) could affect steroid secretion by granulosal and thecal cells in culture. Results from this study indicate that prolactin secretion is inhibited and basal gonadotrophin (LH and FSH) levels tend to be elevated in the E+ fescue ingesting heifer. Luteinizing hormone release in response to 17β-estradiol secretion by the E+ yearling heifer was reduced at 14-15 hours after the Ej injection in years 1 (P \u3e .10), 2 (P \u3c .05) and 3 (P \u3e .10). Results from this study also showed that only 36% of the E+ yearling heifers had ovulated in response to E2-stimulation compared to 71% of the controls. Similar results were observed in the 8-month-old heifer following GnRH-stimulation in which 85% of the control heifers had produced a corpus luteum compared to only 34% of the E+ heifers. Androstenedione, testosterone and estrogen secretion was inhibited in the E+ heifer. In addition, the number of primary, secondary, and antral follicles and regressed corpora lutea were reduced in E+ fescue ingesting heifers. Ergotamine, a fungal endophyte product, was shown to act directly on the granulosal and thecal cell to alter steroid production and secretion. Ergotamine stimulated androstenedione and progesterone secretion by the thecal cell; however, estrogen and progesterone production by the granulosal cells in culture was reduced. It appears, therefore, that reductions in follicular development, and alterations in gonadotrophin and steroid secretion may all contribute to the lowered reproductive efficiency seen in the fescue ingesting cow or heifer

The presentation of complementary and alternative medicine information in Canadian midwifery care

Abstract: This paper uses discourse analysis to consider midwives’ and pregnant women’s discussions of conventional and complementary and alternative medicine interventions for inducing labour. Participants distinguished between “natural” and “medical” methods and used information sources based on both biomedical evidence and women’s experience to justify and challenge authority claims. Résumé : Cet article utilise l’analyse du discours pour examiner les conversations des sagesfemmes et des femmes enceintes au sujet des interventions en médecine traditionnelle, douce et alternative pour assister l’accouchement. Les participantes ont fait la distinction entre les méthodes « naturelles » et « médicales » et ont utilisé des sources d’information basées aussi bien sur les évidences biomédicales que sur l’expérience de femme pour justifier et remettre en question les autorités concernées

Information Provision for Informed Prenatal Decision Making

Abstract: In decision making in maternity care, midwives provide information to support clientcentred decisions. Although midwives are expected to maintain neutrality, a variety of concerns limit nondirectiveness. The impact of these concerns is explored through qualitative analysis of midwife-client interactions. The results provide insight into what counts as “information” in these interactions. Résumé : Lors de la prise de décision dans les soins de maternité, les sages-femmes offrent des informations pour soutenir les décisions de leurs patientes. Bien que l’on suppose que les sages-femmes doivent conserver une certaine neutralité, de nombreuses préoccupations limitent le manque de directives. L’impact de ces préoccupations est exploré à travers une analyse qualitative des interactions entre sages-femmes et patientes. Les résultats présentent un aperçu de ce qui est considéré comme « information » dans ces interactions

Borrowed voices -- conversational storytelling in midwifery healthcare visits.

Midwifery in Ontario, Canada exists at the intersection of mainstream healthcare ideology and an alternative, woman-centred ideology of care. As a result, midwifery interaction is characterized by discursive hybridity. We trace this hybridity in the conversational stories co-narrated by midwives and clients during clinic visits. We show how conversational storytelling performs a complex shifting and blending of rhetorical forms and functions integral to the clinical interaction. Conversational stories conform to the structural requirements of the clinic visit and unfold in different ways and perform different functions at different times. Stories may be told, evaluated, and received as institutionally relevant for both clinical and social purposes. Clinical stories perform relational functions, and stories that appear to be fully social orient to the clinical agenda. Hybridity is accomplished through two forms of linguistic borrowing: the blending of professional-institutional and more casual-conversational modes, and interactional features such as shared narration and recontextualization