This thesis is about information sharing in interdisciplinary research practices. It reports one conceptual and three empirical studies. The studies have been conducted through focusing on the field of design research, and in particular on a Nordic network of design researchers. From a practice-based perspective, the exploration of the study object oscillates between three nested and interconnected frames. The main contribution of this thesis is that it illustrates how activities of information sharing not only contribute to, but actually play a central role in the shaping of the practice of design research. It is shown how information sharing works as a contributor to the development, maintenance and shaping of practices in 1) design research as it is conducted in the Nordic network; 2) in the field of design research; and 3) within interdisciplinary research. Without losing sight of the empirical material, the theoretical analysis has made it possible to illuminate the connection between activities of sharing and the enactment of a discipline. Through analysis and discussion of the four studies as a whole, the reciprocal relationship between information sharing and the area of design research is elucidated. It is shown how information sharing, as it emerges in this interdisciplinary practice, functions as a unifying force towards the probable goal of establishing a discipline. / <p>Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science at the University of Borås to be publicly defended on Friday 25 April 2014 at 13:00 in lecture room E310, the University of Borås Allégatan 1, Borås.</p>

In this two-years masters thesis the information practices of former interns are examined in relation to a possible lack of certain kinds of information in the prison environment. The essay is positioned in the research field of information practices which means its looking at all kinds of information, formal and informal. Since the essay is in the field of information practices it means the focus lies in how information is taught whithin contexts and groups. Information is not looked at solely as an individual process but is seen as a collective experience. The method of the essay is that of the qualitative research interview. Besides taking an interest in information practices i investigate whether access of information in prisons could be improved and whether the library organisations could be a part of those improvements. The result of my research shows that information in the prison coming from the correctional institution is not perceived as well functioning. Some exceptions where found but these where described by the informants as instances where staff had been extra helpful, as opposed to there being a functioning system of information practices in place in the organisation of the prison. Several of the informants thought information within groups of inmates could be motivating. A reason for this could be that groups of inmates are in the same situation, the power differences of the situated identities inmate and prison guard does not exist among inmates. In order of accessing relevant information from prison staff the inmates had to be driven and determined. The result of this essay further shows that it is too late to plan the release after the release has taken place. Several of the informants recounted increased difficulties in adjustment to the new social situation, having gone through psychological breakdown subsequent to their release. Many practical problems like for example homelessness also occurred. The research points to the prison libraries as a place where steps in coping with the release could successfully have been taken. This being so because the libraries are a place where the situated prisoner identity can be dissolved. Where one can remember ones interests and which books one used to read. in which sense there is already in the library room, an opening to the outside world. During the prison stay many find it difficult thinking about the world outside. It can be explained in terms of an adjustment to the social practices in the institution having taken place and in that the contrasts between the correctional institution and the world outside being to wide.

The somewhat controversial Swedish online discussion forum Flashback Forum (Flashback) is used by a large part of the Swedish population and contains large amounts of information with a wide diversity regarding subjects. Flashback is unique, not least with its focus on freedom of speech, and is often considered unreliable and questionable. However, the large amount of information stored enable the use of the forum as a source of everyday information, given the fact that the user remain critical in their approach to the information retrieved. It seems reasonable to assume that students also use Flashback for this reason; and they can be assumed to have certain experiences regarding searching for information and judging the trustworthiness of found information. The purpose of this essay is therefore to study how Swedish students use Flashback to search for and access information, and how they relate to this information. To study this some concepts from Reijo Savolainen’s theory of everyday information practices has been used, in which he takes a social phenomenological perspective to everyday life information seeking (ELIS). These concepts are information source horizons, information fields and pathways, and stock of knowledge. For the method a survey was used, which was distributed online during March 2020 mainly in different student groups on Facebook. The results showed that a majority of the respondents use Flashback to search for and access everyday information, which was mainly related to current crimes and suspects. The majority of the respondents retained a critical approach to the information and used it mainly to still their curiosity about cases mentioned on news sites or papers. This study shows that Flashback can – and is – used by students to retrieve everyday information, mainly because the sought for information is not available, or not openly available, elsewhere. This study also shows that despite Flashback’s questionable reliability, the nature of the forum, and the fact that most respondents had a relatively bad attitude towards the forum, Flashback has a great potential as a source for everyday information of minor importance, and for taking part of others’ experiences.

Public libraries of today consist of both physical and digitalized elements. The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of how a group of users, senior citizens, relates to the digital parts of the library. An interview study was conducted with nine persons between 67 and 78 years of age, with the aim to better understand their experiences and thoughts on the subject. A more holistic scope is necessary to fully grasp the prerequisites that the senior citizens had to be able to use the digital library. Therefore, the access and use of information- and communication technology (ICT) in everyday life was approached.  The material from the interviews was analyzed through a thematic analysis of the content. The theoretical framework evolved around two models concerning the concepts of information, that is a model of information practices by Pamela J. McKenzie (2003) and a typology of information limits by Marzena Świgoń (2011).  The study concludes that the senior citizens had access to adequate digital equipment at their own disposal. Though the sample consisted of people with varied interest and time spent on ICT, they can all be regarded as participants in the digital arena. When the interviewees searched for digital content of interest, they described mostly active methods in searching and scanning the internet.  In relation to the digital library, reserving books in the digital catalogue and borrowing digital media was the functions most frequently used. For some, these where new practices that they had developed during the pandemic of covid-19. They often turned to other sources to seek digital support or develop digital skills. Information about the library was to a higher extent sought of using traditional sources and methods.  Overall, though perceived as useful in facilitating reading, the digital library appeared to play a peripheral role in the senior citizens’ information practices in their everyday life. However there seems to be a potential in further marketing the existing digital functions to the target group. In doing so hopefully the digital library can benefit senior citizens, both the digital active and beginners, to a higher extent.  This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

Introduction. The aim of this thesis is to examine information practices among erotic minorities in Sweden in 1975–1995. These minorities include among others sadomasochists, fetishists and transvestites. The survey moves within the subculture that existed around deviating sexual practices. The center of the survey is the association Club Sunrise who organized erotic minorities, where the majority of the members had a mainly heterosexual orientation.  Method. Sixteen semi-structured interviews have been carried out with people active in the Swedish subculture during the studied period. The empirical data also consists of the Club Sunrise member magazine SMART. The author also had access to material from other media, in which the members participated. Analysis. The material has been analyzed based on J. Tuomas Harvianien’s concept of embodied information literacy and Elfreda A. Chatman’s four critical concepts that serve as the basis for defining an impoverished life-world: risk-taking, secrecy, deception and situational relevance.  Results. People belonging to various erotic minorities have used all four of Chatman’s critical concepts, with an emphasis on secrecy and deception. They also obtained information through embodied literacy. In addition to these results, the investigation also resulted in a mapping of various associations and venues that existed in Sweden before 1995. Conclusion. Erotic minorities in Sweden 1975–1995 were in a state of information poverty. However, they have not suffered from any information poverty in their lives as a whole, but it has been expressed in their belonging to an erotic minority. To get in touch with like-minded, without revealing their secrets to outsiders, they used different concepts of secrecy and deception. They also found and identified each other through secret signs and symbols, special clothing or ways of behaving. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

The ongoing covid-19 pandemic has changed the information practices of people, including Japanese immigrants to Sweden. This study aims to clarify the characteristics and problems of everyday information practices of the study group, i.e. Swedish-Japanese, during the covid-19 pandemic. Japanese living in Japan are also included for comparative analysis. I also investigate how information practices relate to the study group’s social context and cultural background, and how they are experiencing information barriers. For this purpose, a qualitative approach was chosen, and semi-structured interviews were carried out. The informants were a total of five Japanese people living in Sweden and five Japanese people living in Japan. The results were analyzed using inductive approaches. Then the empirical data of the informants' information practices were categorized based on Savolainen's (2021) model of everyday information practices (EIP), consisting of three ways, and McKenzie’s (2003) model of information seeking. Then, the informants' barriers with information practices were analyzed using Savolainen's (2016a) sociocultural barriers. Findings show that both groups are similarly actively seeking information and actively scanning for information everyday using multiple sources of information. However, the results also show that the informants have been influenced by social and cultural background. The Swedish-Japanese conduct more active online scanning, while the Japanese in Japan are relatively passive and conduct everyday non-directed surveillance. Trust in politicians and authorities also differed between the two groups. Japanese people in Japan often point out that such information is incomprehensible, and they have a habit of using easy-to-understand sources of information instead. This incomprehensibility seems to be due to Japanese culture, where language expression is ambiguous and situation dependent. In contrast, Swedish-Japanese have confidence in Swedish authorities. In addition, the informants do not state much about socio-cultural barriers to information practices at the interview except for the institutional barriers.  Finally, the characteristics and problems of everyday information practices among Swedish-Japanese were influenced by their cultural background and personal background, as well as the Swedish social context. In addition, their information practices differ from the Japanese in Japan. Through information practices, they may have acquired both global and local identities, which promote integration and inclusion for Swedish-Japanese in the host country of Sweden. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

This study maps and describes adolescents´ conceptions of information literacy on social media, with the aim of shedding light on their everyday information life and shared information landscape. 7 focus groups with a total of 33 teenagers were conducted and the outcome was analyzed using a phenomenographic approach and the concept of information literacy landscapes.  Four categories of description were identified: Participation, Critical thinking, Understanding and Use. The Participation category sees information literacy as engaging socially within the information landscape, the Critical thinking category puts emphasis on evaluating information and the Understanding category represents conceptions that show an understanding of the practice as well as the underlying infrastructures of social media. The last category, Use, sees information literacy as the use of social media mostly for entertainment purposes. These four categories represent different ways of looking at information literacy within the social media context and are hierarchically related, with Understanding being the most complex level. The teenagers engage in a range of information literacy practices, which in part differ from the practices taught in information literacy education.  This study indicates a gap between the adolescents’ information literacy practice on social media on the one hand and the way they perceive information literacy and source evaluation on the other hand. By understanding how the practice is situated within the social media context, the education in information literacy can become more relevant to the everyday lives of teenagers. This is a two-year master´s thesis in Library and Information science.

The aim with this master’s thesis is to examine the information practices and information literacies among social workers in the field of the social services and in the work with child welfare investigations. This is in this study related to their ambition to fulfill the requirements of an evidence-based practice. On a theoretical level, the study is based on three theories grounded in the idea of situated learning and of human activities based in a social context. These are the sociocultural theory, the theory of communities of practices and the theory of information practices. On a methodological level the survey is carried out, and the empirical material is extracted, by using semi-structured interviews with five social workers in two different social offices. The result of the analysis shows that the social workers see the need of, search, share, evaluate and use several sources of information. They include information from the social workers own working experience and expertise, information from the clients and their social network, colleagues and professionals in institutions and agencies external to the social offices. The survey also shows that scientific research information is searched, used and evaluated by the social workers to a low degree. This is connected to the information barriers found in the empirical material, including lack of time and lack of access to digital databases. The main conclusion is that the social workers see the need of scientific research and the academic information literacy related to this, and that the information barriers at the same time force them to evolve an information literacy fitted to the practical work situation. For an evidence-based practice, the social workers see the need to incorporate more of the academic information literacy and practices with the information literacy and practices of the workplace. This is a two years master’s thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies.

The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to explore the information practices present in hobby genealogy. The thesis uses a qualitative content analysis to analyse two popular Swedish genealogy magazines published between 2016 and 2019. The study investigates the information sources, objects, competences and emotions that the practice is built on. Our theoretical framework is centred around Reckwitz’ ideas of practice theory (2002), and the practice theory model introduced by Shove, Pantzar, and Watson (2012). The study finds that the information practices within hobby genealogy are heterogenous and extensive, and that information is a central part of the practice. The study also finds that emotions and motivations are important parts of understanding how the practice is maintained.

Digitalisation and access to informationAn interview study about information practices in an increasingly digitalised society This essay is about the increased digitalisation in society in relation to available information and the digital divide. The title of the essay suggests that there is a relationship between digitalisation and accessibility. Being connected via the internet and having access to digital information, news, municipal functions, and social media requires that you have both the technical hardware and the competence to use it. The thesis of this essay intends to shed light on aspects of digitalisation and access to information. An interview study of people who are between 70-80 years old shows that increased digitalisation in society does not automatically mean that groups become digitally excluded. The digital divide does not arise by itself or with given conditions but can rather be described as a grey area. Several different factors and conditions interact where challenges, obstacles, opportunities, and attitudes are affecting. For those who have access to digital technology and knowledge to use it, it is easy to access information and be involved in society. But those who feel digital exclusion are continuing to be excluded without receiving help and knowledge about digital information and technology. The faster the digital development goes, the greater the risk of falling behind in the digital divide.