Anna Lundh | University of Borås (original) (raw)

Papers by Anna Lundh

Information Research, 2024

Introduction. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the learning that readin... more Introduction. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the learning that reading by listening requires from readers with print disabilities. Method. Sixteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with university students with blindness or vision impairment in Australia. Analysis. A theoretical reading of the interview material was conducted, with a basis in sociocultural learning theory. Results. The responsibility for learning to use audio-based reading tools was often left to the participants themselves. The process of appropriating audio-based reading tools included two important aspects: digital literacy and learning to manage the sequentiality of audio text. This process was related to trajectories of participation in academic communities of practice, English-speaking communities of practice, and blindness and visual impairments communities of practice. It also included learning to participate in practices where vision and reading by seeing is the norm. Conclusion. Three conclusions are drawn: 1) reading by listening is not a passive and effortless activity, it requires specific expertise, 2) socioeconomic and sociopolitical circumstances influence how reading by listening is practiced and the learning that this form of reading requires, and 3) reading by listening requires learning how to navigate and manage the effects of institutions and systems that are disabling.

Journal of Documentation, 2022

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to create a greater understanding of how people who are blind or v... more PurposeThe aim of the paper is to create a greater understanding of how people who are blind or vision impaired describe their use of audio-based reading technologies, with a particular focus on how they reason about whether the use of these technologies can be understood in terms of reading.Design/methodology/approachThe study is part of the emerging research area Critical Studies of Reading and draws theoretical inspiration from Document Theory, New Literacy Studies and Critical Disability Studies. The article presents a discourse analysis of how 16 university students in Australia who are blind or vision impaired and use audio-based reading technologies describe this use in semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe participants relate to a division between ‘real' reading and reading by listening, where the latter is constructed as an exception and is connected to the subject position of being blind or vision impaired. However, resistance is also noticeable, where reading by list...

Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, 2020

This study contributes to a growing number of critical studies of reading that are seeking to und... more This study contributes to a growing number of critical studies of reading that are seeking to understand how reading is constructed socially and politically. It addresses issues concerning why certain types of reading are deemed more appropriate than others in various contexts and historical eras. The aim of the study is to explore constructions of reading, reading promotion, and readers that can be identified in Swedish literature policy 2012-2013 in order to make explicit the implicit assumptions embedded in the politics of reading. This is achieved through a discourse analysis of the Swedish Government Commission report on Literature from 2012 and the subsequent Government Bill from 2013. The analysis focuses on the construction of the ‘problem’ that reading is supposed to solve, the subject-position of the reader, and the knowledge practices that underpin the construction of the ‘problem’. The analysis reveals that the main ‘problem’ is the changing reading habits of the Swedish population and the decline in the reading ability of Swedish children and youth. This is seen as a threat to several important societal values, such as children’s learning and development, democracy, “the culture of reading”, Sweden’s economic competitiveness, and the market for literature. Responsibility for the problem is placed on the school system, parents, and the use of computers and the Internet. The remedy is seen as the promotion of the right kind of literature. Furthermore, the analysis illustrates how the subject position of the appropriate reader is formed around the notion of the harmful non-reader. Similar dividing practices are constructed around youth/adult, pupil/teacher, child/parent, and son/father where the latter is expected to make the former a reader and thereby a desirable subject. The analysis also shows how two contradictory knowledge practices are joined together in the policy texts, where seemingly rational, objective, and empirical research is paired with humanistic Bildung values.

The Nordic Journal of Cultural Policy, 2020

This study aims to identify and analyse how aesthetic reading was problematised in Swedish educat... more This study aims to identify and analyse how aesthetic reading was problematised in Swedish educational policy 1940-1962, in order to create a better understanding of the politics of reading in an era that has been of great importance for how reading is understood in contemporary Sweden. The empirical material consists of reports from three school commissions, laying the foundation for the new compulsory and comprehensive school that was introduced in 1962. The reports have been analysed using a discursive methodological framework, focussing on problematisations of aesthetic reading. The main problem that aesthetic reading was meant to solve, according to the analysis, was a lack of aesthetic taste. There is a shift in emphasis during the period from problematisations of what to read towards problematisations of how to read. Thus, the solution to the problem of aesthetic reading during the period transformed from a governing of taste to a governing of skills. Educational and cultural policy shares the problematisation of aesthetic upbringing, made possible by its roots in modernist ideas of general character formation and the ideals of free public education. We argue that research on the politics of reading in Sweden can be reinvigorated by exploring the governance of cultural practices emanating from policy fields other than explicit cultural policy.

Journal of Documentation, 2018

Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to historicise research conducted in the fields of Informat... more Purpose. The purpose of this paper is to historicise research conducted in the fields of Information Seeking and Learning and Information Literacy and thereby begin to outline a description of the history of information in the context of Swedish compulsory education.

Design/methodology/approach. Document work and documentary practices are used as alternatives to concepts such as information seeking or information behaviour. Four empirical examples of document work – more specifically informational reading – recorded in Swedish primary classrooms in the 1960s are presented.

Findings. In the recordings, the reading style students use is similar to informational reading in contemporary educational settings: it is fragmentary, facts-oriented, and procedure-oriented. The practice of finding correct answers, rather than analysing and discussing the contents of a text seems to continue from lessons organised around print textbooks in the 1960s to the inquiry-based and digital teaching of today.

Originality/value. The paper seeks to analyse document work and documentary practices by regarding “information” as a discursive construction in a particular era with material consequences in particular contexts, rather than as a theoretical and analytical concept. It also problematises the notion that new digital technologies for producing, organising, finding, using, and disseminating documents have drastically changed people’s behaviours and practices in educational and other contexts.

Journal of Documentation, 2016

Purpose: This article introduces a dialogically based theory of documentary practices and documen... more Purpose: This article introduces a dialogically based theory of documentary practices and document work as a promising framework for studying activities that are often conceptualised as Information Behaviour or Information Practices within Library and Information Science (LIS). Design/methodology/approach: An empirical example – a lesson on how to read railway timetables – is presented. The lesson stems from a research project including 223 Swedish lessons recorded in Swedish primary schools 1967-1969. It is argued that this lesson, as many empirical situations within LIS research, can fruitfully be regarded as documentary practices which include document work such as reading, rather than instances of information behaviour. Findings: It is found that the theoretical perspective of dialogism could contribute to the theory development within LIS, and function as a bridge between different subfields such as reading studies and documentary practices. Research limitations/implications: The framework is yet to be applied on a larger scale. This would require a willingness to go beyond the entrenched idea of information as the core theoretical concept and empirical object of study within LIS. Social implications: The theoretical framework offers a view of the relations between individuals, documents, and social contexts, through which it is possible to explore the social significance of core LIS concerns such as reading, literacy, and document work. Originality/value: The theoretical framework offers an alternative to the monologist, information-based theories and models of people's behaviours and practices prevalent in LIS.

Information Research, 2016

Introduction. This paper problematises how children are categorised as a specific user group with... more Introduction. This paper problematises how children are categorised as a specific user group within information behaviour research and discusses the implications of this categorisation. Methods. Two edited collections of papers on children's information behaviour are analysed. Analysis. The analysis is influenced by previous discourse analytic studies of users within information science and by the sociology of childhood and the discourse analytic concept of subject positions guides the analysis. Results. In the children-focussed discourse of information behaviour research, children are described as being characterised by distinctive child-typical features, which means that similarities between children and other groups, as well as differences within the group, are downplayed. Children are also characterised by deficiencies: by not being adults, by not being mature and by not being competent information seekers. The discourse creates a position of power for adults, and for children a position as those in need of expert help. Children are also ascribed a subject position as users of technologies that affect the group in various ways. Conclusions. It is suggested that information behaviour research would benefit from shifting the focus from trying to explain how children innately are and therefore behave with information, to creating understandings of various information practices which involve people of a young age.

Library Hi Tech, 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirical studies regarding the use of digital t... more Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirical studies regarding the use of digital talking books (DAISY books) as well as the possibilities and limitations that users with print disabilities encounter when using these books. Upon fulfilment of this purpose, it is also possible to identify research needs in the area of talking books.
Design/methodology/approach: An analysis of 12 empirical studies concerning the use of DAISY books is conducted. The concept of affordances is employed in the analysis, which focuses on 1) users of talking books, 2) talking books as objects, and 3) the social settings in which talking books are used.
Findings: First, the reviewed literature indicates that the navigational features of the DAISY talking book appear to provide unprecedented affordances in terms of the users’ approaches to reading. However, the affordances of talking books depend, to some extent, on whether the users have visual impairments or dyslexia/reading and writing difficulties. Second, the reviewed literature illustrates that the affordances provided by talking books depend on the settings in which they are used, both in terms of specific social situations and wider socio-political contexts.
Originality/value: Although the need for assistive reading technologies, such as digital talking books, is large, research in this area is scarce, particularly from a user perspective. This article describes the results of those studies which have actually been conducted on this topic and highlights areas that require further study.

History of Education, 2016

This study investigates reading activities in Swedish primary school classrooms during the late 1... more This study investigates reading activities in Swedish primary school classrooms during the late 1960s. Sound and video recordings of 223 Swedish lessons held between 1967 and 1969 are used to analyse the activity of reading as taught and performed. The results indicate that the practice of informational reading, often based on finding predetermined, explicit ‘facts’ in textbooks through individual, silent reading, was common. The practice of experiential reading, based on fiction, imagination and the joy of reading, was not only less common, but also often compromised by instrumental concerns. In the national curriculum of the time, the practice of informational reading was related to study skills and was intended to prepare all pupils for higher level education. While often appearing overproportioned, superficial and fragmented, these reading practices were still intentional objects of learning and teaching, and were grounded in the democratic and egalitarian ideals of Swedish post-war educational policy.

Journal of Documentation, 2015

Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore how students construct narratives of themselves as in... more Purpose: The aim of the study is to explore how students construct narratives of themselves as information seekers in a school context where their descriptions of their information activities are assessed and graded.

Design/methodology/approach: Blog posts on credibility judgements written by 28 students at a Swedish upper secondary school were analysed through a bottom-up coding process based in the sociocultural concept of narratives of selves.

Findings: Two tensions in the students' accounts are identified. The first tension is that between the description of the individual, independent student and the description of the good group member. The second tension is between describing oneself as an independent information seeker and at the same time as someone who seeks information in ways that are sanctioned within the school setting.

Research limitations/implications: The study focuses on a specific social practice and on situated activities, but also illustrates some aspects of information activities that pertain to educational contexts in general. It explores how social norms related to credibility judgements are expressed and negotiated in discursive interaction.

Practical implications: The study highlights that when information activities become objects of assessment, careful consideration of what aspects are meant to be assessed is necessary.

Originality/value: The study is based on the idea of information activities as socially and dis-cursively shaped, and it illustrates some of the consequences when information activities become objects of teaching, learning, and grading.

Journal of Documentation, 2012

The aim of this study is to further our understanding of the situated activity of seeking picture... more The aim of this study is to further our understanding of the situated activity of seeking pictures. It relates to an ongoing discussion on how multimodal information literacies are enacted in different social practices. Design/methodology/approach: In order to understand the characteristics of the communication and interactions in the activity of seeking pictures, video recordings from an ethnographic study of primary school children working with problem-centred assignments have been analysed. Findings: The analysis reveals how the activity of seeking pictures is shaped by the assumption that pictures are different from facts and information; pictures are seen primarily as having decorative functions. The activity is also characterised by playful, yet efficient cooperation between the children; they make the activity meaningful by transforming it into a play and game activity where pictures become important as physical objects, but not as a semiotic means of learning.

Information Research, 2012

Introduction. This paper concerns the concept of information use. The aim of the study is to unde... more Introduction. This paper concerns the concept of information use. The aim of the study is to understand how information use, as an activity, is shaped when project-based methods are used in primary school. The particular focus here is information use which involves visual information resources. It relates to the overarching aim of a set of studies describing and illustrating how information literacies are enacted and socially shaped in Swedish primary schools. Method. 25 booklets, produced by children at a Swedish primary school when working with project-based assignments, were collected during an ethnographical study. Analysis. An analysis of the relationships between pictures and text in the 25 booklets was conducted.
Results. The analysis suggests that the pictures in the booklets are subordinated to written text and their functions are decorative and illustrative. Pictures are seldom used for explaining or narrating. Conclusions. An underpinning idea of the study is to understand information activities as purposeful within the settings where they take place. Given earlier research indicating that project-based working methods tend to be focused on the reproduction of facts and the making of products rather than on contents, it could be argued that the children's use of pictures in this study is purposeful. However, if this use of pictures is a desirable outcome could be a matter of discussion. The findings may be relevant for developing teaching in the multimodal aspects of information use.

Human IT, 2012

This special issue of Human IT introduces Nordic information literacies research to an internatio... more This special issue of Human IT introduces Nordic information literacies research to an international audience. With a basis in the notion of information literacies, the contributions present analyses of how people in different contexts learn to participate in information activities, what they learn from this participation, and by which means learning takes place. Furthermore, the articles concern questions relevant to the study of information literacies.

Human IT, 2011

This paper presents a study on how primary school educators describe children’s use of ICT. This ... more This paper presents a study on how primary school educators describe children’s use of ICT. This is done in order to lay a foundation for an understanding of how information literacies may be enacted in Swedish primary schools. The empirical material consists of four focus group con-versations conducted with 20 educators at three Swedish primary schools. The analysis is focussed on how the educators discuss and describe ICT as tools for information activities and as parts of children’s childhoods. Two descriptions of childhoods are identified in the analysis: 1) the good childhood, in which there is room for traditional tools for information seeking such as books; 2) the contemporary and insufficient childhood, happening outside the school context, where digital tools for information seeking and other activities are used. The task of primary school is descri-bed as counterbalancing contemporary childhoods and therefore avoiding ICT. The authors discuss how the implications of these approaches could be limiting for how information literacies may be enacted in primary school.

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 2008

This article investigates negotiations of librarians' expertise in relation to information l... more This article investigates negotiations of librarians' expertise in relation to information literacy at the micro-level, specifically in the domain of nursing education. A qualitaitve empirical framework is employed. The study draws on 18 semi-structured interviews, 16 with Swedish nursing ...

Libri, 2008

This article presents a qualitative study that examines the role of pedagogues in elementary scho... more This article presents a qualitative study that examines the role of pedagogues in elementary schools with regard to young children's information literacy. The concept of information literacy is seen from a sociocultural perspective, as a dimension of literacy that varies in different social practices. Further, from this perspective the importance of the mediating functions of tools used in information seeking is stressed. Data was collected from a Swedish village school from one focus group interview and two individual interviews with different kinds of pedagogues. Problem-centred teaching was also observed in five forms with pupils aged 6-8. In the analysis an overarching division of two discourses connected to information literacy emerged. On the one hand, literacy, aesthetic activities and the reading of fiction were the focus and, on the other hand, there was a focus on information literacy, utilitarian information-seeking activities and ICT tools. It is also shown that information seeking is given a certain meaning in problem-centred activities in elementary school. Te authors consider that the discourses found in the empirical material might have implications for the concept of information literacy, if they are explored to a fuller extent.

Conference Presentations by Anna Lundh

Proceedings of ISIC, the Information Behaviour Conference, 2024

Introduction. The ability to read and interpret different types of text can be significantly impa... more Introduction. The ability to read and interpret different types of text can be significantly impacted by neuropsychiatric disabilities, which affect cognitive abilities. This paper explores and reviews previous studies within library and information science on neuropsychiatric disabilities in relation to reading practices. Method. Searches were performed in LISA and LISTA to identify research on readers with neuropsychiatric disabilities. Results were screened and 14 peer reviewed articles were chosen for inclusion. Utilising content analysis, the examined articles were deductively and inductively categorised according to the following themes: impairment, user group and context, research design, assistive technologies for reading, reading for information seeking, reading for evaluation, and reading, self-efficacy and identity. Findings. Most articles address dyslexia. The majority of studies have been conducted in educational settings and have an experimental research design. Six studies address assistive technologies for reading, the remaining eight concern reading in relation to information practices. Conclusion. There is an imbalance in the types of impairments that have been addressed in previous research. Few studies concern everyday reading practices and more research outside of educational contexts is needed. Furthermore, there is a lack of research that delves deeper into the experiences of readers with neuropsychiatric disabilities.

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, 2022

Introduction. This paper introduces an emerging area of research, critical studies of reading, th... more Introduction. This paper introduces an emerging area of research, critical studies of reading, that has been identified and developed by the authors.

Approach. Seven features of critical studies of reading research are introduced and the paper argues for how this type of research can shed new light on historical and current reading practices and reading activities. Examples of studies with such features within library and information science, as well as neighbouring disciplines are presented.

Conclusions. Future directions for critical studies of reading research are outlined, highlighting the possibilities, as well as the challenges for this emerging area of research.

The talking book is a type of assistive technology where original print text is audio recorded an... more The talking book is a type of assistive technology where original print text is audio recorded and marked-up in order to make it accessible for people with print-disabilities, such as visual impairments or dyslexia. In this pilot study, we explore the implications of remediating a written text, the script of Shakespeare’s King Lear, into spoken text. We compare two readings of the play: a talking book version; and a commercial audiobook recording. We examine intonation choices in an excerpt from the play in the two readings. The analysis shows significant variation in choices of intonation, and thus the meanings that are produced in the two versions, resulting in not one but two King Lear plays. One implication of such variation might be that different styles of narration demand different ways of reading. The results point to the need to explore how intonation makes meaning for actual talking book readers in situ, where meaning-potentials are realised through the interaction and encounter between the text, the reader(s), the social settings in which they are reading, and the material properties of talking books.

Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, 2010

Introduction - The concept of information needs is significant within the field of Information Ne... more Introduction - The concept of information needs is significant within the field of Information Needs Seeking and Use. How information needs can be studied empirically is however something that has been called into question. The main aim of this paper is to explore the methodological consequences of discursively oriented theories when studying information needs. The discussion takes its starting point in the model of information needs and question formations presented by Robert S. Taylor in the 1960s. Method - The empirical material used for exemplifying the proposed methodology consists of video recordings from an ethnographical study conducted at a Swedish primary school. Analysis - The analysis is guided by concepts based in sociocultural and dialogistic theories and is directed towards question-negotiations in conversations and interactions in naturalistic settings. Conclusions - Earlier studies of information needs are often based on the idea of an individually constructed actual need as it is presented in the first level in Taylor's model. With an interest in the two latter levels of the model the analytical focus is shifted to question-negotiations which are seen as the results of situated discursive and collective efforts. This shift entails a methodological shift in the study of information needs.

Information Research, 2024

Journal of Documentation, 2022

Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, 2020

The Nordic Journal of Cultural Policy, 2020

Journal of Documentation, 2018

Journal of Documentation, 2016

Information Research, 2016

Library Hi Tech, 2015

History of Education, 2016

Journal of Documentation, 2015

Practical implications: The study highlights that when information activities become objects of assessment, careful consideration of what aspects are meant to be assessed is necessary.

Journal of Documentation, 2012

Information Research, 2012

Human IT, 2012

Human IT, 2011

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 2008

Libri, 2008

Proceedings of ISIC, the Information Behaviour Conference, 2024

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, 2022

Conclusions. Future directions for critical studies of reading research are outlined, highlighting the possibilities, as well as the challenges for this emerging area of research.

Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, 2010

Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-22 August, 2013., 2013

Introduction - Information literacy research is characterised by a multitude of interests, resear... more Introduction - Information literacy research is characterised by a multitude of interests, research approaches and theoretical starting-points. Challenges lie in the relevance of research to professional fields where information literacy is a concern, and the need to build a strong theoretical base for the research area. We aim to lay a foundation for a discussion on how researchers may approach issues of norms and values in information literacy, through a comparison between selected studies in educational and workplace settings respectively.
Method - Eight recent empirical studies on information literacy were selected for analysis; four of educational settings and four of workplace settings.
Analysis - A comparison between the eight studies was made with a focus on conceptualisations of information literacy and approaches to issues of norms and values.
Results - Two approaches to norms and values in relation to information literacy were identified in the eight studies. The studies conducted with students have a clear evaluative approach, while three of the workplace studies are characterised by an explorative approach. One workplace study has an intermediate position. The evaluative and explorative approaches are then swapped, to examine how relevant each approach is in the context of the other setting. In this way, we are able to discuss underlying perspectives that direct research.
Conclusion - Our analysis suggests that well-chosen theoretical perspectives are necessary if information literacy researchers wish to influence professional practice.

This panel reports on methodological innovation now underway as information behavior scholars beg... more This panel reports on methodological innovation now underway as information behavior scholars begin to experiment with visual methods. The session launches with a succinct introduction to visual methods by Jenna Hartel and then showcases three exemplar visual research designs. First, Dianne Sonnenwald presents the “information horizon interview” (1999, 2005), the singular visual method native to the information behavior community. Second, Anna Lundh (2010) describes her techniques for capturing and analyzing primary school children's information activities utilizing video recordings. Third, Nancy Fried Foster (Foster & Gibbons, 2007) reports how students, staff and faculty members produce maps, drawings, and photographs as a means of contributing their specialist knowledge to the design of library technologies and spaces at the University of Rochester. Altogether, the panel will present a collage of innovative visual research designs and engage the associated epistemological, theoretical, methodological, and empirical issues. All speakers will have 15 minutes and be timed to allow a minimum of 30 minutes for audience questions, comments, and discussion. Upon the conclusion attendees will have gained: knowledge of the state of the art/science of visual methods in information behavior research; an appreciation for the richness the approach brings to the specialty; and a platform to take new visual research designs forward.

Proceedings from the Document Academy, 2015

The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to analyse how a particular reading activity in a post... more The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to analyse how a particular reading activity in a post-war Swedish comprehensive school, was part of the larger social and political project of the welfare state, and tied to the notion of good citizenship. Thereby, and secondly, the paper aims to illustrate how dialogical document theory enables the study of reading, and possibly other types of document work and practices. The analysis of a speech by a teacher about what can be learnt from a short story during a Swedish lesson in a primary school in 1968 illustrates how document work such as reading activities are value-laden, and tied into ideologies and political projects. In this specific case, reading is in dialogue with the political project of realising the democratic and egalitarian “People’s home” which, somewhat paradoxically, required the disciplining of its young citizens. It is concluded that a dialogical document theory, which focuses on document work as it unfolds in localised activities and at the same time on situation-transcending documentary practices, can be useful for studies within Library and Information Science on reading in both utilitarian and pleasure oriented empirical contexts.

Proceedings of ISIC, the Information Behaviour Conference, Leeds, 2-5 September, 2014, 2014

Introduction - This study explored how various meanings are attributed to the term facts in Swedi... more Introduction - This study explored how various meanings are attributed to the term facts in Swedish schools and how this may shape conditions for students' learning. The understanding of information activities as social, communicative, and discursive, which motivates the study, is informed by a sociocultural perspective of learning and information interaction. Method - The study re-analyses empirical data from four previous research projects, where material was collected through various qualitative methods, mainly interviews, observations, and document analysis. The material involved 14 classes from year 2 to year 12. Analysis - The data were analysed thematically. In the material, 565 occurrences of facts are identified and categorised. Results - The analysis generated three themes. Firstly, facts were associated with specific genres or modalities. Secondly, facts were seen as distinguishable, external, and tangible. Thirdly, facts came across as having strong connections to neutrality and they were viewed as evidence. Conclusions - The analysis showed variation in how the study participants talked about facts. Despite the dominant associations, each theme displayed more complex meanings of the term, which indicates that fact cannot be equated to how the term has been used as an analytical term in previous research. The frequent use of the term facts can be understood as a result of the strong focus on students seeking and using certain types of information for writing school reports. The results show how important it is that information researchers adopt an open and explorative approach to the meaning of the language used in school activities that they study.

The overarching aim for this thesis is to describe and illustrate how information literacies are ... more The overarching aim for this thesis is to describe and illustrate how information literacies are enacted, and what opportunities for learning that children encounter, in the information activities in Swedish primary schools in the beginning of the 21st century. A starting-point is that information literacies are enacted in different ways in different settings. To describe what information literacies might imply in primary school is therefore treated as an empirical question.

In this research, information literacies are approached through the study of information activities in relation to project-based teaching and learning methods in three Swedish primary schools. Such methods are widespread throughout the Swedish educational system and have been introduced concurrently with the computerisation of the Swedish compulsory school. These parallel processes entail new challenges, questions and requirements in relation to information activities for primary school pupils as well as educators.

The aim of this thesis is fulfilled by means of four ethnographical studies of information activities in three Swedish primary schools, where project-based teaching and learning methods are used. The first study focuses on primary school educators’ descriptions of primary school children’s use of new information and communication technologies (ICT). The second study concerns how primary school pupils formulate their questions when working with project-based methods, and discusses how question-formulations can be studied empirically. The third and fourth studies concern primary school children’s information seeking and information use, with a special focus on how they seek and use pictures.

Together, the four studies describe and illustrate what project-based working methods seem to require from primary school pupils, in terms of information activities. Firstly, the studies show that the pupils are required to learn how to use ICT, especially for information seeking, when project-based teaching and learning methods are used. However, ambivalent approaches to ICT are identified in the studies. Even though the information activities studied include the children’s use of ICT, this use is not a given part of everyday activities in primary school. It is suggested that these approaches should not be seen as unique for the participating schools, but as historically recurrent discourses on the negative effects of new tools for communication.

Secondly, the studies illustrate how the pupils are given responsibilities in quite complex communicative activities, when project-based working methods are used. For example, the studies indicate that the children have to learn how to formulate imposed questions as if they were not imposed. It is suggested that the pupils would benefit from more support in formulating questions that are suitable in a primary school context, rather than being left alone with such as demanding and complicated task.

Thirdly, in addition to learning how to formulate questions, the pupils are required to look for, read, write and copy text, as well as look for, find, use and produce visual material. However, the studies indicate that written text is regarded as the most informative mode, whereas visual material is primarily seen as having decorative functions. If it is considered desirable for primary schools pupils to find and learn from pictures, then their opportunities for doing so could be increased.

On an overall level, the studies indicate that the introduction of project-based methods, together with the introduction of ICT in primary school, does not seem to be a frictionless process, as they seem to be in conflict with traditional teaching methods and traditional tools for communication still prevalent in primary school. Thus, the studies in this thesis suggest that in the information activities of project-based work in primary school, information literacies are enacted in relation to conflicting rationales.

The studies further exemplify how information activities can be understood, illustrated, and described within the research field of Information Needs, Seeking and Use (INSU) in Library and Information Science. The studies build on a neo-Vygotskian sociocultural perspective which has implications for how information activities are understood and studied. In the thesis it is questioned that people’s doings with information predominantly consist of and should be studied as private information processing. Furthermore, an interconnected idea is that which emphasises the multimodality and materiality of information activities. The theoretical basis of the studies entails a methodological shift; the studies exemplify how conversations and interactions taking place in information activities, as well as artefacts used and produced within these activities, can be analysed. Furthermore, ideas within the INSU field of children as a natural and given user group are questioned with the help of the research tradition of the New Sociology of Childhood.

These theoretical ideas do not mean that other possible interpretations and perspectives in the INSU field should be excluded. Instead, it is argued that the field would benefit from an ongoing discussion of how its basic concepts can be understood and (re)defined through different theoretical approaches. That is how the field can render nuanced pictures of the complex activities that are its object of study.

Reading in Changing Society, 2014