Information and experience, a dialogue (original) (raw)

Auto-hermeneutics: A Phenomenological Approach to Information Experience

2017

The need for methodologically rigorous approaches to the study of human experience in LIS has emerged in recent years. Auto-hermeneutics is a research methodology that offers a systematic way to study one’s own experiences. In LIS, auto-hermeneutics offers a way to approach emerging questions regarding information experience and allows researchers to explore yet-undocumented contexts, setting precedents for further work in these areas and ultimately widening our understanding of information. Auto-hermeneutics draws principles from autoethnography (perhaps the most well-known of automethodologies), self-study and systematic self-observation; prior studies of these types in LIS and allied fields are presented. A discussion of generalizability, validity and reliability in auto-hermeneutic research follows. Finally, an example of an auto-hermeneutic study conducted by the author is outlined for illustration.

Elaborating the sensory and cognitive-affective aspects of information experience

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

Drawing on pragmatist ideas proposed by John Dewey, the study elaborates the picture of information experience by examining how researchers have characterized the ways in which people receive, acquire and interpret sensory and cognitive-affective information. To this end, a conceptual analysis was conducted by concentrating on 43 studies pertinent to the topic. The findings indicate that so far, the construct of information experience has remained quite vague. This is mainly due to that experience - the fundamental constituent of information experience – has not been sufficiently reflected in the context of informational phenomena. Information experience studies have mainly contributed to information behaviour research by describing how people receive and acquire sensory information, while the picture of experiencing cognitive-affective information has remained quite vague. There are also gaps in studies examining how sensory and cognitive-affective information are interpreted as an...

A Phenomenological Approach to Understanding Information and its Objects

This paper introduces a phenomenological understanding of in- formation as it relates to technology use. Phenomenology is more commonly applied to the understanding of “things”—or the relationship be- tween things, experience, and cognition—than it is to information studies, but there is much that phenomenological philosophy can contribute to understanding the interactions between humans and information. This paper will focus on how classical and contemporary phenomenological ideas influence our understanding of information, ultimately suggesting a deeper understanding of praxis-based organization and design.

Phenomenography: a conceptual framework for information literacy education

Aslib Proceedings, volume 59, number 2 , 2007

Abstract: Purpose: The paper explores the adoption of a phenomenographic conceptual framework to investigate learning from the perspective of the learner, with the aim of reflecting on the features that this approach shares with information literacy education in general, and with the relational model in particular. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study offers an analysis of phenomenographic research on learning undertaken by Marton, which is further elaborated by examples of collaborative work by Marton and Booth (1997), as well as by Fazey and Marton (2002). The relationship between understanding and learning, promoted by this perspective, is explored in this paper to illustrate its impact on retention and transfer of the learning process. This is compared with the iterative and independent learning approaches promoted by information literacy education, and specific examples are used to illustrate the pedagogical overlap between phenomenography and information literacy. In addition, the paper examines the relational approach of information literacy promoted by the individual and collective works of Bruce, Lupton and Edwards to demonstrate how the person-world relation, advocated by phenomenography, is used to examine the learner-information relationship promoted by the work of these authors. Findings: The paper reflects on the potential impact that phenomenography and the relational perspectives have on pedagogical practices in Higher Education. In particular, it aims to demonstrate how the relational approach, together with the learn-how-to-learn ethos of information literacy, are fundamental in promoting a framework for lifelong learning that leads to the empowering of the learner through an iterative cycle of reflection and practice. What phenomenography defines as variation in practice to foster the ownership of learning. Originality/value: In line with the person-world relation, the paper explores the relationship between learners and information by outlining its internal/subjective and external/objective dynamics. Claims that the learner’s ability to reflect on these dynamics enhances his or her independent learning attitude are explored in the light of current phenomenographic and information literacy research. Paper type: Conceptual paper Keywords: information literacy, phenomenography, relational model, subject-world relation, subject-information relationship.

The Aesthetics of Experience

2008

Let us hark back, if we can, by a retrospective effort of our imaginations, to our youngest, our morning impressions, and we shall recognize that they were remarkably akin to the vividly coloured impressions that we received later after a physical illness…The child sees everything a novelty; the child is always 'drunk'…But the genius is no more than childhood recaptured at will, childhood equipped now with man's physical means to express itself, and with the analytical mind that enables it to bring order into the sum of experience, involuntarily amassed. To this deep and joyful curiosity must be attributed that stare, animal-like in its ecstasy, which all children have when confronted with something new. Charles Baudelaire, 'The Painter of Modern Life') Ultimately this thesis will, I hope, allow us to think about how and to what degree we recognize and interact with this element of the new-what role it has in society and for the life of an individual, how we handle it, what we do with it, what it does for us, and what results in its absence or presence.

Informed Bodies: Does the Corporeal Experience Matter to Information Literacy Practice?

Library and Information Science

Bodies are central to the information experience, but are not often accounted for as a source of information, that is central to the information literacy experience. Drawing from research with emergency services personal and with nurses, this chapter explores the role of the body as a locus for understanding and meaning making. Drawing from a sociocultural perspective, the author suggests that the concept of information experience as a standalone conception is meaningless. A solution is to acknowledge the referencing of experience against social conditions and ways of knowing that inform people's experience of practice. Key questions for researchers considering an information experience approach are posed.

Information as an Aesthetic Event

2007

How do designers of information technology understand the interaction between the users and devices? How do they design user interfaces? In this article I will analyze the recent shift in information technology design. Contrary to ten years ago, today the designers no longer try to make the interfaces invisible. Instead, the interaction is treated as an event - as opposed to "non-event", as in the previous "invisible interface" paradigm. Put differently, using personal information devices is now conceived as a carefully orchestrated experience, rather than only a means to an end. I will discuss different aspects of this new interface paradigm using the examples of OSX, LG Chocolate, and iPhone.