Sakai-etal2012
| Sakai-etal2012 | |
|---|---|
| BibType | ARTICLE |
| Key | Sakai-etal2012 |
| Author(s) | Shinichiro Sakai, Norihisa Awamura, Nozomi Ikeya |
| Title | The practical management of information in a task management meeting: taking 'practice' seriously |
| Editor(s) | |
| Tag(s) | Workplace, Ethnography, Meeting talk, Information Science, Ethnomethodology |
| Publisher | |
| Year | 2012 |
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| Month | |
| Journal | Information Research |
| Volume | 17 |
| Number | 4 |
| Pages | |
| URL | Link |
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| Howpublished | Online journal |
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Abstract
Introduction. Although researchers have turned their analytical focus to 'practices' in naturally occurring settings, reconsidering the ways in which we approach the information activities undertaken by practitioners is still needed. We argue that we must be able to capture the practical concern that participants experience rather than replace it with theoretical concern. This paper examines the concepts and language that participants (and we researchers) use.
Method. We conducted fieldwork at the workplace of a group of Japanese information technology hardware engineers to understand their practices. Audio and video recordings, as well as field notes and photos, were used as part of the fieldwork.
Analysis. Through explicating the organisation of practical management of information we attempt a detailed understanding of not only what participants do with information or what participants attribute meaning to as information but also how this information is organized in the course of social interaction.
Conclusions. Some distinctive features of practical management of information have emerged from the analysis. First, the information activities of various practical interests are mutually elaborative to one another. Secondly, these information activities are developed in a contingent and ad hoc manner. Finally, they are in line with other work and everyday activities. All of these features point to the embedded nature of information activities within organizational work.
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