social perspective beyond individual’s interest information establishes identity, power...
TRANSCRIPT
Social perspective
Beyond individual’s interest
Information establishes identity, power
Information relative to context Time, locations, people, organizations,
cultures, identities Individual too, but focus on group
“Information as an individual phenomenon must be examined in the context of its social nature” (Raber, 2003, p. 222)
Information Societyinfluences
Social perspective
Many different views, but with much in common
Talja, S., Tuominen, K., & Savolainen, R. (2005). “Isms” in information science: Constructivism, collectivism and constructionism. Journal of Documentation, 61(1), 79-101. doi:10.1108/00220410510578023
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Chatman
Hjørland
Bush
Star
Frohmann
What does the social flamingo’s reality look like?
Flock of “birds of a feather”: group, community, network, world
flickr photo by Pedro Szekely (szeke), Creative Commons licensed
What does the social flamingo’s reality look like?
Flock of “birds of a feather”: group, community, network, world
Multiple, overlapping membership Information exchange (or not)
squack?squack
!
flickr photo by Pedro Szekely (szeke), Creative Commons licensed
What does the social flamingo’s reality look like?
Flock of “birds of a feather”: group, community, network, world Multiple, overlapping membership Information exchange (or not) Each flock constructs its own reality (with potential overlap)
Information, knowledge, information practices / behaviors Mutual influence between flocks and their reality, information,
knowledge
Reality RealityReality
flickr photo by Pedro Szekely (szeke), Creative Commons licensed
What constitutes information for the social flamingo?Information as (socially constructive /
constructed) practice, process, knowledge
Context necessary Social flamingos can’t make sense if there
is no context
What constitutes information for the social flamingo?Information as (socially constructive /
constructed) practice, process, knowledge
Context necessary Social flamingos can’t make sense if there
is no context
flickr photo by Adam Roberts (Spartacus007),
Creative Commons licensed
What constitutes information for the social flamingo?Information as (socially constructive /
constructed) practice, process, knowledge
Context necessary Social flamingos can’t make sense if there
is no contextLanguage, discourse of interest
What do we call something? What do they call something?
Information sought, used in context (individual and of other flamingos)
flickr photo by Adam Roberts (Spartacus007),
Creative Commons licensed
How is information research conducted in this world?Method
Qualitative methods prevail Ethnographic approach Mixed/multi-methods
Often a theoretical basis Small worlds / normative behavior (Chatman) Information worlds (Burnett & Jaeger) Everyday life information seeking (Savolainen) Information grounds (Fisher) Social network perspectives (e.g.
Haythornthwaite)
“Unless we grasp and understand information as a social
phenomenon, we will not be able to penetrate and understand the
information ecology whose actions and interactions determine the
meaning of … the central concepts of a science of information.”
(Raber, “The Problem of Information,” 2003, p. 221)