Comparing American to Finnish Oral Information Behaviour1
Deborah Turner
affiliations:
Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media,
University of Tampere, Finland
Information School, University of Washington, United States
mailing addresses:
through 31 May 2009
Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media
University of Tampere
FIN-33014 Finland
email: deborah.turner at uta.fi
phone: +358 (0)3 3551 8973
fax:
+358 (0)3 3551 6560
after 1 June 2009
The Information School
University of Washington
Box 352840
Mary Gates Hall, Ste 370
Seattle, Washington 98195-2840, United States
email: turned at u.washington.edu
phone: (206) 685-9937
fax:
(206) 616-3152
email address:
deborah.turner@uta.fi
abstract:
This poster expands on information behaviour investigations limited to a
single context. It reflects research conducted to grapple with how contemporary life demands
that professionals maneuver across contexts over time. Designing a way to study this research
area introduces challenges. However, an initial study, involving interviews with and observations
of professionals who aspire to or who are positioned for career mobility, helps describe their
information behaviour and inform a future study. The initial study especially considers
interactions with orally based information, which research shows is preferred when interacting
with new information typical when facing change. Early analysis of initial data, gathered in two
countries, provides insight into how context and culture influence professionals’ interactions with
information. Accounting for these influences is essential for a future study on information
behaviour used to negotiate the dynamic nature of contemporary professional life.
1
This material is based on work supported by the United States Department of State (the Fulbright
program), the Finnish Fulbright Center, and the Center for International Mobility (in Helsinki, Finland), the
Department of Information Studies and Interactive Media at the University of Tampere (Finland),
and the Nordic Research School in Library and Information Science.
Information behaviour in contemporary times:
An investigation of American and Finnish professionals
Deborah Turner
Abstract
This poster expands on information behaviour investigations limited to a single context. It
reflects research conducted to grapple with how contemporary life demands that professionals
maneuver across contexts over time. Designing a way to study this research area introduces
challenges. However, an initial study, involving interviews with and observations of
professionals who aspire to or who are positioned for career mobility, helps describe their
information behaviour and inform a future study. The initial study especially considers
interactions with orally based information, which research shows is preferred when interacting
with new information—typical when facing change. Early analysis of initial data, gathered in two
countries, provides insight into how context and culture influence professionals’ interactions with
information. Accounting for these influences is essential for a future study on information
behaviour used to negotiate the dynamic nature of contemporary professional life.
Introduction
Information behaviour used within a single context has been studied widely. Information
behaviour used to move across multiple contexts and over time has received less attention.
Investigating information behaviour that reflects how contemporary professional life involves
context in this manner presents challenges. This poster reflects an initial research effort to
determine how to investigate information behaviour used to support the kinds of mobility
possible at this point in history. Although designing a study to investigate this research area
introduces challenges, an initial study informs this area for future investigation. Interview and
observation data gathered provide insight into the information behaviour of professionals who
aspire to or who are positioned for career mobility. The initial study especially considers
interactions with orally based information. Research shows that talking is preferred when
interacting with new information, typical when facing change.
Background
People are increasingly mobile in their professional lives. This is especially true for individuals
who aspire to or are positioned for career change or who work in industries that respond to it. In
the course of their careers, these individuals assume a number of different roles, work with a
variety of organizations, and even pursue multiple career paths. They gain a wide variety of
experiences and access to a significant amount of information key to making transitions in the
face of change. Information behaviours that support their information interactions in and
between contexts are critical.
Existing research findings in information behaviour explain how information is used in static
settings (Leckie, Pettigrew, & Sylvain, 1996; Mackenzie, 2005; and more). Research is also
needed to explore information behaviour that reflects how professionals to move between
multiple settings for various lengths of time—e.g., like for a conference, a temporary working
group, or a new position (see Williamson, 1998). Additionally, information scientists have
studied information in a wide variety of formats including auditory, digital, and visual. However,
research reveals that professionals persistently prefer to talk when obtaining information (Case,
2007; Turner, forthcoming). Research also suggests that orality is preferred for accessing new
information (Daft & Lengel, 1983; Huotari & Chatman, 2005; Mackenzie, 2005; Turner,
forthcoming; Wilkinson, 2001), which facing change typically involves (Auster & Choo, 1993).
Research goal
The research goal is to identify a way to study information behaviour that supports movement
across contexts over time. A number of initial studies are anticipated to inform a research
design for eventual implementation and to accomplish this goal.
Initial study
An initial study involves three American and two Finnish middle managers in information
institutions, or organizations that primarily provide information products or services (e.g.
libraries, museums, archives). Middle managers are positioned to ascend to leadership posts,
which turn over more frequently than in the past (McAnally & Downs, 1973; Veaner, 1990).
Interview data gathered helps ascertain how information institutions have contexts replete with
parent organization(s); a hierarchy of customers and of staff; and, numerous internal
departments and external entities (e.g., professional associations, labour unions, institutional
member organizations, vendors, funding agencies and more). Observation data is gathered to
study differences in professionals’ uses of orally based information (Krathwohl, 1998).
Results
Early analysis of initial data reveals how organizations and entities beyond them influence the
information behaviour of professionals. Specifically, the data gathered reflect how the
information behaviour of middle managers is influenced by how they negotiate economic,
geopolitical and technological change. It also reflects that information behaviour is influenced by
how professionals in the U.S. have more career mobility; professionals in Finland have more
stable careers, yet respond to ongoing political transitions that involve multi-national customer
bases.
Although gathered from one large and one small developed nation, the initial data demonstrate
how context and culture influence the information behaviour of both sets of professionals.
Emerging data also reflect cultural differences in the use of information conveyed orally. Overall,
the analysis provides insight into the information behaviour of professionals who are poised for
career mobility as they make transitions between contexts, regardless of their career goals.
Discussion and conclusion
Results of this initial research suggest that context and culture influence information behaviour
in ways not reflected in previous research. This suggestion provides insight into issues for which
investigations of information behaviour across context and over time must account. For
example, a research design to study career mobility must acknowledge the broad nature of
contextual and cultural influences beyond a single organization in which a professional works.
In summary, this poster presents issues that must be considered when studying information
behaviour across multiple contexts and over time. An initial investigation into the information
behaviour of American and Finnish middle managers provides insight into future research that
reflects the mobility possible in contemporary professional life. The main contribution of this
poster lies in how it identifies a way to apply existing information behaviour research findings to
study a dynamic problem.
References
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