Information Fieldwork

It seems to me that fieldwork, or what a researcher designates as their “field,” is relative to both the research subject and the discipline in which the research is being conducted. While Park suggests getting out of the library and into the world to do “real research,” it doesn’t seem to be an entirely fair or accurate claim since, for many of us, our research might actually need to be conducted in the library. Having written my SSHRC assignment about the necessity to preserve the tacit knowledge of librarians and information professionals working in special information centres using oral history, my research (should it eventually take place) would ideally involve observation and interaction with librarians working in these specialized institutions. If ethnography involves studying a particular environment through immersion as a means of determining patterns in cognition or behaviour (Hartel 2010, 852), then that is exactly what I would propose to do, in a library. Essentially, I think fieldwork can be what you need it to be. Whether it is an actual outdoor field or a special library housed in an art gallery, if that is the environment essential to what you are you are studying then it becomes the field of your work.

            However, I suppose I can see the challenge of subjects that do not lend themselves to the traditional fieldwork paradigm. If I were to conduct research on a series of oral history projects completed within an institution as a case study of success or lack thereof, what would I call my “field”? Perhaps it would be in the form of surveys for a usability study when attempting to determine the effectiveness of the projects. Perhaps it would involve interviewing the creators to determine more information about the intent and purpose of the oral histories. Fieldwork seems to have a prescribed definition that applies, somewhat restrictively, to those disciplines including anthropology, psychology, and sociology etc., which typically deal with the people behind the actions or practices. But what about objects, both physical and digital? The study of information isn’t limited to a relationship with or the dissemination of information between people, but also concerns the relationships with and between objects. Your fieldwork then, may be your engagement with these objects and the stories they tell. Some information science programs, such as the School of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, even have courses dedicated to fieldwork where the term literally refers to an opportunity to work in the profession, much like the U of T iSchool’s Practicum courses (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee School of Information Studies). The concept of appears to be fieldwork is adaptable and will ultimately vary depending on the discipline, the project, and the researcher.

References:

Hartel, Jenna. 2010. "Managing Documents At Home For Serious Leisure: A Case Study Of The Hobby Of Gourmet Cooking". Journal Of Documentation 66 (6): 847-874.

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee School of Information Studies. “Fieldwork.” Accessed March 1. http://www4.uwm.edu/sois/programs/graduate/mlis/fieldwork.cfm.