Rhythms of Everyday Life in Mobile Information Seeking: Reflections on a Photo-Diary Study

Shankar, Saguna; O'Brien, Heather L.; Absar, Rafa

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/101436 Copy

Description

Title

Rhythms of Everyday Life in Mobile Information Seeking: Reflections on a Photo-Diary Study

Author(s)

• Shankar, Saguna
• O'Brien, Heather L.
• Absar, Rafa

Issue Date

2018

Keyword(s)

• Information science
• Information
• Embodied experience
• Smartphones

Abstract

This work explores embodied mobile information practices through a photo-diary and interview study with nineteen smartphone users. We qualitatively analyze 234 diary entries and one hundred descriptions of diary entries to explore how mobile devices, specifically smartphones, facilitate embodied information seeking and production, drawing insights about the use of mobile devices as nonverbal communication tools. In addition, we probe the notion of smart-phones as an extension of the human body, and ways in which the affordances of these devices (e.g., portability, convenience) support and interrupt information practices. In particular, we observe that mobile devices are not only perceived as extensions of the mind and body, but are embedded in bodily rhythms and routines. This research extends empirical work in Library and Information Science (LIS), which has not focused extensively on mobile information practices in connection with the body, and suggests that the theoretical lens of embodiment may inform future work on mobile information practices.

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press. The School of Information Sciences at Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Series/Report Name or Number

Library Trends 66 (4). Spring 2018

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101436

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2018.0016

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2018 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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