A little bit of (self-)promotion. The article Situational appropriation of information published in 2015 in the AsLib Journal of Information Management 65 (5) was awarded the Outstanding Paper Award of 2016 of the same journal. The paper is freely available to download for one year on the Emerald Insight website. Preprint of the text is available on this site.
Abstract of the article
Introduction: In contrast to the interest of describing and managing the social processes of knowing, information science and information and knowledge management research have put less emphasis on discussing how particular information becomes usable and how it is used in different contexts and situations. The purpose of this paper is to address this major gap, and introduce and discuss the applicability of the notion of situational appropriation of information for shedding light on this particular process in the context of daily information work practices of professionals.
Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on the analysis of 25 qualitative interviews of archives, library and museum professionals conducted in two Nordic countries.
Findings: The study presents examples of how individuals appropriate different tangible and intangible assets as information on the basis of the situation in hand.
Research limitations/implications: The study proposes a new conceptual tool for articulating and conducting research on the process how information becomes useful in the situation in hand.
Practical implications: The situational appropriation of information perspective redefines the role of information management to incorporate a comprehensive awareness of the situations when information is useful and is being used. A better understanding how information becomes useful in diverse situations helps to discern the active role of contextual and situational effects and to exploit and take them into account as a part of the management of information and knowledge processes.
Originality/value: In contrast to orthodoxies of information science and information and knowledge management research, the notion of situational appropriation of information represents an alternative approach to the conceptualisation of information utilisation. It helps to frame particular types of instances of information use that are not necessarily addressed within the objectivistic, information seeker or learning oriented paradigms of information and knowledge management.
