Open AccessInformation world mapping: A participatory, visual, elicitation activity for information practice interviews
Author(s) -
Greyson Devon
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
proceedings of the american society for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1550-8390
pISSN - 0044-7870
DOI - 10.1002/meet.14505001104
Subject(s) - photovoice , participant observation , citizen journalism , photo elicitation , participatory action research , knowledge management , interpersonal communication , sociology , qualitative research , computer science , psychology , social science , world wide web , visual arts , art , anthropology
In an increasingly visually‐oriented world, researchers within and beyond LIS can benefit from exploring, developing and applying creative methods for data collection and research participant engagement. Participatory, arts‐involved methods can complement more traditional elicitation techniques, generating rich data that allows researchers to explore participant experiences with socially‐ and culturally‐constructed information practices. This poster presents a novel drawing‐based elicitation technique, Information World Mapping (IWM), which was developed to augment traditional qualitative interview methods. IWM combines elements of three established arts‐involved methods: information horizons (Sonnenwald, Wildemuth, & Harmon, 2001), relational mapping (Radford & Neke, 2000), and Photovoice (Wang & Burris, 1997). Aiming to enable creative communication about the information world of the research participant as it relates to a social process of interest (e.g., making a health decision or completing a work‐related task), IWM guides participants in generating drawings or maps of their personal information worlds, including key interpersonal and institutional relationships. These drawings are then used to facilitate elicitation of participants' own stories about, and interpretations of, their information practices. A case example of IWM in practice is provided, based on a study of teenage parents' health‐related information practices.