Interdisciplinary Humanities Scholars and Hybrid Information Environments

Interdisciplinary Humanities Scholars and Hybrid
Information Environments

Carole
L.
Palmer
Library and Information Science University of
Illinois
palmer@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu

Laura
J.
Neumann
Library and Information Science University of
Illinois

1999

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA

ACH/ALLC 1999

editor

encoder

Sara
A.
Schmidt

Introduction
This paper reports on a study of how interdisciplinary humanities scholars
find and use information. It is part of a series of studies we have
conducted over the past five years addressing information use in fields
ranging from literary studies to artificial intelligence[7], [9], [10]. As
information scientists we are interested in how information is gathered,
used, synthesized, disseminated, and the impact of technology on these
processes. While some of our recent work has been directed at the use of
digital materials, our overall program of research is designed to build a
holistic understanding of the interplay between various types and formats of
information in scholarly work. Hence, our interest in understanding the many
facets of scholarship and research that predate digital systems as well as
how scholars make the transition to new formats and the functions they
provide.
Information science has produced a large body of literature on information
use, most of which has concentrated on scientific information and
communication. However, the results of science user studies can have limited
applicability to other fields that differ in their modes of inquiry. While
we have found that certain information practices hold constant for
interdisciplinary research across the sciences and humanities, we have also
identified critical variations. Moreover, many of the current science-based
initiatives may not be cogent for research traditions that rely on
contextual richness. For instance, important aspects of document modularity,
terminology exchange, and collaborative information spaces will differ in
the humanities, presenting unique problems and priorities. Recently in our
field, investigators have begun to stress the social, ecological, and
content-oriented nature of information and knowledge, focusing on the
differing cultures, communication patterns, and vocabularies of
literature-producing subject fields [3], [8], [15]. Our approach follows
this trend and is grounded in studies of knowledge creation and work
practices that focus on the role of information in relation to material
resources, work practices and environments, and intellectual communities
[12], [13].
We are concentrating on humanities scholars in this phase of our research
because we believe that their work reflects fundamental processes that
should be supported in existing and future libraries. In particular, we are
concerned with the ability to sustain humanists' reliance on a range of
primary and secondary materials, in both physical and digital formats [6],
as well as their deep engagement with texts, artifacts, and other forms of
information. These features may ultimately distinguish working research
libraries from storehouses of physical and digitized materials. By targeting
a subset of interdisciplinary humanists, this study foregrounds the
complications of accessing, managing, and integrating information from both
heterogeneous subjects and sources.

The Study
This study examines the practices and experiences of humanities scholars
whose work requires crossing the boundaries built into our institutions and
information systems. As in our previous work on interdisciplinary
scientists, analysis is based on in-depth interviews with researchers who
fit the conceptual requirements of the study. The scholars have been
recognized for their interdisciplinarity by receiving an appointment at a
respected research institute. They have spent time in-residence at the
facility, which devotes extensive resources to promoting cross-disciplinary
work. The group represents a range of fields, incorporating many different
subject areas, methods, and theoretical perspectives.
We conducted semi-structured interviews with twenty-five center affiliates.
Ten of the scholars were targeted for more in-depth case study, which
included follow-up interviews and content and citation analysis of published
papers, which is ongoing. The interviews covered how the scholars gather and
keep up with information, communicate with colleagues, their reliance on
computers and electronic information systems, and their overall scholarly
work practices. The sessions averaged about 60 minutes and were audio
recorded. Textual accounts of each interview were constructed based on
partial transcription of the tapes and field notes. Iterative rounds of
descriptive and thematic coding were performed with ATLAS.ti, software
designed for qualitative data analysis and theory building. The resulting
codes were brought together into conceptual networks that describe
strategies, interactions, conditions, and consequences--relations considered
significant for grounded theory development [14].
Three specific points that relate to computing and the scholarly process
emerged from our data. First, digital texts are not widely used, but online
bibliographic materials play a consistent yet minor role in the information
routines of the scholars. Selected computer-based systems are being adopted
with continued heavy reliance on conventional libraries, personal
collections, and information gathered through colleague networks. Second,
web-based descriptive materials such as catalogs and guides are highly
valued, especially in preparation for travel to research collections. They
allow scholars to explore the material that surrounds certain items in an
archive or library and can provide a path to other relevant sources beyond
the boundaries of the collection. Third, information technologies play a
significant role in personal communication, information management, the
writing process, and the generation of ideas. The interpretation and
integration that results from interacting with research materials are
embedded in these activities.
While it is possible that these findings are representative of humanities
scholars in general, the resources and practices of these interdisciplinary
researchers are best understood as part of the "dialectic process" that is
the true method of interdisciplinary work [5]. The scanning, gathering,
compiling, consulting, and verifying of evidence and ideas garnered from
texts, people, and other sources are instrumental to this process of
exchange and synthesis. In order to work across multiple intellectual
domains, these scholars develop strategies for extending the scope of their
information field. For example, they are eclectic readers and active
browsers who regularly probe for leads in outside domains. At the same time
they place particular emphasis on what might be called "push" information
sources that deliver diverse information directly into their work routines
through channels such as listserves, editorial and reviewing activities, and
cross-disciplinary colleague relationships sustained through e-mail and
conferences. As a result, potentially fortuitous discoveries in peripheral
subject areas increase, and scholars develop links with reliable sources and
"locals" to assist in explaining and validating material from unfamiliar
territories. Likewise, basic resources such as reference works and textbooks
are essential for verification and self-education. As would be expected,
complications related to language and audience are pronounced. The natural
language used in the humanities is much less effective for communicating and
identifying analogies [1], [2] across domains than the more cryptic
representations used in scientific discourse.

Conclusion
Complex arrays of interrelated activities, information, and intellectual
communities are formed through the practice of interdisciplinary
scholarship. The composites constructed through the work of these scholars
can serve as a schematic of the content, functions, and relationships that
are vital to information environments designed for interdisciplinarians in
the humanities. Our long-term studies of both interdisciplinary and more
discipline-based humanities scholars will continue to document their
transition to the evolving "hybrid library" [11]. As we continue to follow
scholars, over time we hope to be able to discern anticipated changes in the
dynamics of knowledge creation, exchange, and distribution [4], as they
emerge.

References

David
Bawden

Information Systems and the Stimulation of
Creativity

Journal of Information Science

12

203-216
1986

Kenneth
A.
Cory

Discovering Hidden Analogies in an Online Humanities
Database

Computers in the Humanities

31

1-12
1997

Birger
Hjorland

Hanne
Albrechtsen

Toward a New Horizon in Information Science: Domain
Analysis

Journal of the American Society for Information
Science

46
6
400-425
1995

Susan

Hockey

Computer Networking and Textual Sources in the
Humanities

Teresa
M.
Harrison

Timothy
Stephen

Computer Networking and Scholarly Communication in the
Twenty-First-Century

ALbany, NY
State University of New York
1996
83-93

Julie
Thompson
Klein

Crossing Boundaries: Knowledge, Disciplinarities, and
Interdisciplinarities

Charlottesville and London
University Press of Virginia
1996

David
M.
Levy

Cathy
C.
Marshall

Going Digital: A Look at Assumptions Underlying Digital
Libraries

Communications of the ACM

38
4
77-84
April 1995

Laura
J.
Neumann

Ann
P.
Bishop

From Usability to Use: Measuring the Success of
Testbeds in the Real World

Proceedings of the 35th Annual GSLIS Clinic, March 22-
24, 1998

Urbana, IL
Graduate School of Library and Information
Science
forthcoming

Carole
L.
Palmer

Aligning Studies of Information Seeking and Use with
Domain Analysis

Journal of the American Society for Information
Science

(50th anniversary issue)

forthcoming

Carole
L.
Palmer

The Information Connection in Scholarly
Synthesis

Raymond
G.
McInnis

Discourse Synthesis: A Volume Dedicated to the History
and Theory of Knowledge Cumulation

Westport, CT
Greenwood Press
forthcoming

Carole
L.
Palmer

Structures and Strategies of Interdisciplinary
Science

Journal of the American Society for Information
Science

50
3
242-253
1999

Chris
Rusbridge

Towards the Hybrid Library

D-Lib Magazine

July/August 1998

<>

Susan
Leigh
Star

Working Together: Symbolic Interactionism, Activity
Theory and Information Systems

Yrjo
Engestrom

David
Middleton

Communication and Cognition at Work

Cambridge, MA
Cambridge University Press
1996
296-318

Susan
Leigh
Star

Karen
Ruhleder

Steps towards an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design and
Access for Large Information Spaces

Information Systems Research

7
1
111-134
1996

Anselm
Strauss

Juliet
Corbin

The Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory
Procedures and Techniques

Newbury Park, CA
Sage
1990

Howard
D.
White

Katherine
W.
McCain

Visualization of Literatures

Annual Review of Information Science and
Technology

37

99-168
1997