Autoethnography for Librarians and Information Scientists

240 Pages·2021·15.556 MB·English

by  Ina Fourie

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY
FOR LIBRARIANS AND
INFORMATION SCIENTISTS
Autoethnography for Librarians and Information Scientists illustrates that autoethnog-
raphy is a rich qualitative research method that can enhance understanding of
one’s own work experiences, whilst also facilitating the design of tailored expe-
riences for a variety of audiences.
Starting with the position that librarians and information scientists require
deep insight into people’s experiences, needs and information behaviour in order
to design appropriate services and information interventions, this book shows
that using only conventional methods, such as questionnaires and focus groups,
is insufficient. Arguing that autoethnography can provide unique insights into
users’ cultural experiences and needs, contributors to this volume introduce the
reader to different types of autoethnography. Highlighting common challenges
and clarifying how autoethnography can be combined with other research meth-
ods, this book will empower librarians and information scientists to conceptu-
alise topics for autoethnographic research, whilst also ensuring that they adhere
to strict ethical guidelines. Chapters within the volume also demonstrate how to
produce autoethnographic writing and stress the need to analyse autoethnogra-
phies produced by others.
Autoethnography for Librarians and Information Scientists is essential reading for
any librarian, information scientist or student looking to deepen their under-
standing of their own experiences. It will be particularly useful to those engaged
in the study of service provision, user studies and information behaviour.
Ina Fourie is a full professor and Head of Department of Information Sci-
ence, University of Pretoria. Professor Fourie is currently Vice Chair of the ISIC
(Information Seeking in Context) Steering Committee and part of the ASIS&T
(Association of Information Science and Technology) Executive Board as Treas-
urer. She has published more than 130 articles, books and conference papers and
has presented in more than 16 countries.

AUTOETHNOGRAPHY
FOR LIBRARIANS
AND INFORMATION
SCIENTISTS
Edited by Ina Fourie
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Ina Fourie; individual chapters,
the contributors
The right of Ina Fourie to be identified as the author of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-43999-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-43979-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-01477-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
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CONTENTS
List of contributors vii
List of abbreviations xiii
Preface and acknowledgements xv
PART I
Introduction to autoethnography as research
method for librarians 1
1 What is autoethnography? 3
Ina Fourie
2 Autoethnography as a tool for critical reflection
on library practice: making the case 15
Anne-Marie Deitering
PART II
Different types of autoethnography 31
3 Evocative autoethnography – evoking is as evoking does 33
Lisa P. Spinazola, Carolyn Ellis and Arthur Bochner
4 Analytic autoethnography 49
Ina Fourie
5 Collaborative autoethnography as method and praxis:
understanding self and others in practice 61
Kathy-Ann C. Hernandez
vi Contents
PART III
Challenges of autoethnography 77
6 “How does this move us forward?”: a question of
rigour in autoethnography 79
Tim Gorichanaz
7 Ethical challenges and protection of privacy 92
Anika Meyer and Ina Fourie
8 Supplementary and alternative methods: Dervin’s
sense-making methodology 112
Christine Urquhart and Louisa Lam
PART IV
Autoethnography in contexts 129
9 Moments of illumination: a personal experience
narrative of cultural competence 131
Fiona Blackburn
10 Autoethnography, law enforcement and an
opportunity for libraries 146
Naailah Parbhoo-Ebrahim and Ina Fourie
11 Caregiving and autoethnography – a librarian perspective
reinforced by experience as an academic and researcher 161
Olívia Pestana
PART V
The way forward 175
12 Taking on social challenges, personal growth and keeping
momentum as autoethnographic reader and writer 177
Ina Fourie
13 Reflection and concluding remarks 187
All contributing authors
Glossary 198
Appendix A: Bibliography of autoethnography in library and
information science 204
Appendix B: Addresses for websites mentioned in the chapters 208
Appendix C: Further reading from related fields 210
Index 212
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Editor: Dr Ina Fourie
Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria (South Africa)
[email protected]
Ina Fourie is a full professor and Head of Department of Information Science,
University of Pretoria. She is a rated South African researcher. Her main research
focus is on information behaviour, current awareness services, information lit-
eracy and autoethnography with special reference to cancer and palliative care
and other existential contexts. She is a regular speaker and author in national
and international contexts ranging from library and information science and
education to healthcare. Ina serves on the editorial advisory boards of Library Hi
Tech, Online Information Review, Information Research and The Bottom Up. She was
guest editor with Dr Heidi Julien of an Aslib Journal of Information Management
special issue on Innovative Methods in Health Information Behaviour Research
(vol. 71 [6]: 693–702). Ina is currently Vice Chair of the ISIC (Information
Seeking in Context) Steering Committee and part of the ASIS&T (Association
of Information Science and Technology) Executive Board as Treasurer. She has
published more than 130 published articles, books and conference papers and has
presented in more than 16 countries.
Fiona Blackburn
Senior Archivist, Print and Manuscript Collections
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Studies, Canberra (Australia)
[email protected]
Fiona Blackburn, Collections Manager, Manuscripts, at the Australian Institute
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), is an Australian with
viii List of contributors
English and European heritage. She has worked in libraries and archives for
thirteen years, beginning at Alice Springs Public Library as Special Collections
Manager. This is where she started thinking about the cross-cultural provi-
sion, completing a Masters degree in Information Management which included
research into cultural competence and libraries. At AIATSIS, she advocated for
the endorsement and implementation of the International Council on Archives
Tandanya-Adelaide Declaration about decolonising archives, and investigated
how to facilitate the right of reply to records. She acknowledges that the will-
ingness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to engage with libraries
and archives enabled her to do her job.
Dr Arthur (Art) Bochner
Distinguished Professor Emerita, Department of Communication, University of
South Florida
University of South Florida
[email protected]
Art Bochner is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of
South Florida. He has published more than 100 articles and book chapters as well
as two award winning books, Coming to Narrative: A Personal History of Paradigm
Change in the Human Sciences (AltaMira Press, 2014) and (with Carolyn Ellis)
Evocative Autoethnography: Writing Lives and Telling Stories (Routledge, 2016). He is
a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association (NCA) and
served as President of NCA in 2007. He has received lifetime achievement awards
from the International Association of Qualitative Inquiry and the Ethnography
Division of NCA. His endowed awards for his scholarship and teaching include
NCA’s Charles Woolbert Award, Bernard J. Brommel Award for pioneering
research in family communication, the Samuel Becker Distinguished Service
Award, the McKnight Foundation’s William R. Jones Most Valuable Doctoral
Mentor Award for mentoring minority students, and the Goodall and Trujillo
Award for Narrative Ethnography.
Anne-Marie Deitering
Interim University Librarian and Franklin A. McEdward Professor, Oregon
State University Libraries and Press, USA
[email protected]
Anne-Marie Deitering is the Interim University Librarian and the Franklin A.
McEdward Professor for Undergraduate Learning Initiatives at Oregon State
University Libraries and Press. She thinks broadly about the library’s role as a
centre for learning and engagement on campus, and she thinks her best work hap-
pens when she collaborates with others. In her research and practice she exam-
ines the intersections between curiosity, affect and information literacy and how
these intersections affect the choices we make as teachers and learners. She brings
List of contributors ix
these interests to her work as part of the Association of College and Research
Libraries’ Immersion Program facilitation team. She is also deeply interested
in the connections between reflective practice and professional knowledge. She
facilitated a learning community about autoethnography and library practice,
which resulted in the 2017 book The Self as Subject: Autoethnographic Research into
Identity, Culture and Academic Librarianship. She has an MLS from Emporia State
University and an M.A. in History from Syracuse University.
Dr Carolyn Ellis
Distinguished Professor Emerita, Department of Communication, University of
South Florida
University of South Florida
[email protected]
Carolyn Ellis is Distinguished University Professor Emerita at the University
of South Florida. She has established an international reputation for her
contributions to autoethnography and the narrative study of human life. Dr.
Ellis has published eight monographs, six edited books, and more than 150
articles, chapters, and essays. She has edited two book series and presented
keynote addresses and workshops in sixteen countries. Her most recent books
are Final Negotiations: A Story of Love, Loss, and Chronic Illness Expanded and
Revised Edition and Revision: Autoethnographic Reflections on Life and Work, Revised
Classic Edition. Her awards include the Charles H. Woolbert Research Award
and the Distinguished Scholar Award, both from the National Communication
Association (NCA), The Legacy Lifetime Award and best book and article
awards from NCA’s Ethnography Division, a Lifetime Achievement Award in
Qualitative Inquiry, two best book awards from the International Center for
Qualitative Inquiry at the University of Illinois, and the Goodall and Trujillo
Award for Narrative Ethnography.
Dr Tim Gorichanaz
Assistant Teaching Professor
College of Computing & Informatics, Drexel University, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania (USA)
[email protected]
Tim Gorichanaz is Assistant Teaching Professor at the Drexel University
College of Computing & Informatics, where he received his PhD. Before that,
he received his Bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and his Master’s
degree in Applied Linguistics and Hispanic Cultural Studies from New York
University in Madrid, Spain. His research centres on information experience.
His book Information Experience in Theory and Design was published by Emerald
in 2020.