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- Title
Spirituality and everyday information behaviour in a non-Western context: sense-making in Buddhist Laos.
- Authors
Gaston, Nicole M.; Dorner, Dan G.; Johnstone, David
- Abstract
Introduction. We report an investigation into everyday information behaviour in Laos, a non-Western context, that revealed religious and spiritual beliefs played a significant role in information activities. This paper explores the significance of this finding and its implications. Method. Qualitative data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews in using the critical incident technique and Dervin's micro-moment timeline interview instrument with thirty participants in Laos. Interviews ranged from thirty to ninety minutes and were audio recorded and transcribed to provide data for analysis. Analysis. Interview data were analysed using a three-phase analysis process based on Dervin's sense-making metaphor and Gee's discourse analysis tools. Results. Analysis revealed that the primary contextual factors affecting information behaviour among the participants were their social and cultural environments, with the religious context embedded within the social and cultural values playing a significant role. Conclusions. Our study supports Kari's that information can be acquired by spiritual means, and that the conventional conception of information behaviour as happening through the five physical senses is deficient. Rather, these metaphysical ways of knowing should be taken into consideration in the conceptualisation of information behaviour.
- Subjects
SPIRITUALITY; LAO (Tai people); BUDDHISTS; INFORMATION-seeking behavior; BELIEF &; doubt; DATA analysis
- Publication
Information Research, 2015, Vol 20, Issue 2, p1
- ISSN
1368-1613
- Publication type
Article