Mapping the positive turn for information science

Abstract

This half-day workshop will bring together scholars, practitioners, and students from across the iSchool community to discuss current research around “positive” information phenomena, that is, non-problematical perspectives on the information experience. The session will explore a range of positive concepts recently emerged in information science, such as: well-being, happiness, leisure and positive computing. Throughout the session, our conversation will move between information science to specialties such as positive psychology, positive sociology, and the sociology of happiness; we will clarify terms, concepts and themes and ultimately generate an interdisciplinary map of positive scholarship. Participants will share their own thinking and research on these topics, map current and future research trajectories, and produce a foundation for future collaboration. In keeping with a spirit of interdisciplinarity, the event will feature a keynote by the architect of positive sociology, sociologist and leisure scholar Dr. Robert A. Stebbins.