"I have to read the signs like you reads a book": Examining experiential information through non-fiction accounts of guided trips into the interior of Algonquin Provincial Park Ontario

Abstract

Skill-based careers and remote rural settings are often overlooked in LIS research. Analyzing the content of historical non-fiction accounts of extended canoe trips, this poster explores the information life world of wilderness guides in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, providing a glimpse into the unique ways they have of acquiring and sharing their particular brand of knowledge and wisdom. Results suggest their life experience is rich with information behaviors and skills both similar to, and unique from, other contexts. They also support the advancement of information theory by further challenging the boundaries between formal and informal information systems and by conceptualizing information in terms of intangible, undocumented experiences.