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Informing Visual Poetry: Information Needs and Sources of Artists
Abstract
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... The research activities exercised by the studio artists are part of the creative process. However, LIS (Bates, 2001;Bennett, 2006;Cobbledick, 1996;Cowan, 2004;Downey, 1993;Frank, 1999;Gregory, 2007;Hemmig, 2009;Lupton, 2014;Mason & Robinson, 2011;Patelos, 2013;Toyne, 1975), and resources were deficient (Larken, 2010). Studio artists, a poorly understood group, neglected by librarians, are considered unique (Littrell, 2001;Mason & Robinson, 2011). ...
... Lo and Chu's (2015) empirical study on information for inspiration used a library-centric approach. Findings revealed similar results found by other U.S. LIS researchers, such as Cobbledick (1996), Cowan (2004, Littrell (2001), and Pacey (1982). Students relied on traditional print materials and visual resources but also on digital materials and tools. ...
... Budd (1996) stated beneath the surface of research queries, information seeking is highly complex. When adding studio artists' needs, Cowan (2004) argued the library-centric perspective of LIS studies on ISB limits the librarian's ability to understand the artist. Dervin (2003) identified information science studies in ISB as "insular discourse communities" with its own set of assumptions, biases, and "drowning in concepts, variables, methods, [and] theories" (para. ...
Abstract: Material users, such as studio artists, architects, designers, and material engineers, require information specialists who understand the informative qualities of physical materials. Tactility, meaningfulness, emotions, exploration, and experimentation all inform the studio artist’s decisions throughout the process of art creation.
This study was an investigation into how information gathering through materials experience (MX) supports the creative, artistic, and intellectual needs of studio artists. In this study, a mixed-methods approach was used by the researcher to explore the influences of MX as information gathering, combining the use of a questionnaire of students and professional artists, direct observation and focus group, and artist interviews. The total subject population included three groups comprised of 82 studio artists, five art students, and 11 professionals. The operationalized models of MX behavior were (a) experiential levels of engagement; (b) MX through exploration, expression, creation; (c) experiential levels of connection; (d) information-seeking behavior through MX; and (e) MX through material culture. Through the analysis of the data, the complexity of MX as information gathering was illustrated
Findings showed that sight and touch were the first points of engagement for artists and provided the most practical information. Artists also experienced aesthetic intuition and intuitive experimentation. Material experience was not a set of singular actions that must happen in a specific order. Material experience as information gathering was in flux, moving back and forth during the information gathering process. It appears tangible information supported the artists’ practical sides of their processes while intangible information supported the creative side. Based on these findings, a conceptual model was developed to provide a foundation for further research in ISB studies using a materials-centric approach for users who work primarily with physical materials, bringing an added dimension to understand the user experience (UX). Additionally, MX provided an opportunity for librarians and information scientists to re-explore information gathering in all its forms—textual, visual, and physical.
Research into information behaviors through MX may contribute to interaction design, provide a more in-depth understanding of the information experience through physical materials, and the roles of the artist experience in virtual and augmented reality.
Keywords: materials experience, user experience, information experience, information behavior, studio artists
... The only published research since Cobbledick that focuses on practicing artists engaged in the creative process is that of Cowan (2004). She begins with the observation that the entire literature -even in the few cases where studio artists are theoretically the subjects -is actually involved in the study of students, teachers, or librarians. ...
... These inconsistencies indicate that there are differences not only between the information behaviors of artists and art historians, but also between those of practicing visual artists, art students, and academically-affiliated art teachers. Moreover, it is clear that practicing artists, most of whom do not have academic affiliations, have been largely ignored, as Cowan (2004) points out. Most of the authors considered here address art students or art teachers. ...
... Even Cobbledick (1996), herself a public librarian, who illustrates more fully than anyone the rich range of resources used by practicing artists, chose to interview academic studio art faculty. Only van Zijl and Gericke (2002) -albeit inadvertently, through their five respondents from SANAVA -and, quite deliberately, Cowan (2004) conducted formal studies that questioned adult studio artists without academic affiliations, and neither of these attempted to present the information seeking geography of a community of such artists. Although the information sources reported by Cowan bear tantalizing similarities to those noted by previous writers, there is still no substantive research confirming or denying that practicing artists fit the model that the literature describes. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on the information behavior of practicing visual artists to determine if a consistent model emerges and what further research is necessary.
Design/methodology/approach
Works dealing with the information needs and uses relevant to the creative activities of visual artists are discussed in the paper. These works are assessed for their contributions toward understanding of the specific information behaviors of practicing artists.
Findings
The results show that a consistent model of artists' information behavior emerges. However, nearly all of the literature focuses on art students, academic art faculty, or librarians, and so any claim that practicing artists fit the model is largely unsupported by research. There have been no published studies of communities of practicing visual artists. The implications of defining artists as communities of practice are discussed.
Research limitations/implications
Research is proposed that studies the information behavior of communities of practicing visual artists in order to confirm or amend the existing model.
Practical implications
Practitioners will have their attention drawn to an underserved user population whose information needs and behaviors have not been directly targeted for research. They will recognize the need for study of their own artist communities and the development of services for them.
Originality/value
This paper directs the discussion of artists' information behavior away from the art‐library‐specific literature, where it has largely resided, as a means of adjusting the focus of research onto the largely unstudied and underserved communities of practicing artists.
... This study is concerned with art and design students, but the behaviour of practising artists is also considered, since the research is often intertwined. It is acknowledged, however, that there are differences in support network, motivation and purpose between students and practising artists; students often have different information needs (Hemmig, 2008, Cowan, 2004, Cobbledick, 1996). This will be taken into account, however research on artists is still of use because there remain significant similarities in their information behaviour. ...
... The process of inspiration seeking for art students is subjective and idiosyncratic (Cowan, 2004). Browsing and serendipity have an important role within their image seeking behaviour. ...
The research investigates the information and image seeking behaviour of Art and Design students in a further education setting. Three research questions were asked:
1. What is the process by which students search for images?
2. To what extent do students find images through serendipitous means?
3. How can the library facilitate this process?
The research adopted a naturalistic inquiry approach, using both diaries and semistructured interviews in order to investigate students image seeking behaviours. A total of 6 students formed the sample, from one group of Foundation Art and Design students on one campus. The findings showed that participants displayed a pattern of behaviour, although there were deviations from this. Participants had a tendency towards performing initial broad searches on the internet, followed by more specific, targeted searches in the LRC. The importance of recommendations from tutors and peers was also identified. The research supports much of the existing literature with some discrepancies, however there are very few recent papers focussing on a similar area of study. Further research was proposed to extend this study, and explore image seeking behaviours of students on related courses or those engaged in different modes of study.
... Yani sanatçılar, diğer kullanıcılara göre, kütüphaneciler açısından daha zor erişilebilen kişilerdir diyebiliriz. Littrell (2001) ve Cowan (2004), literatürde oldukça az ele alınan bu kullanıcı grubunun, bilgi gereksinimleri ve bilgi kullanım özellikleri açısından diğer kullanıcı gruplarından ayrıldıklarını belirtirler. Bu durumun temel nedeni ise çalışma çevrelerinin, metotlarının ve buna bağlı olarak taleplerinin de farklı olmasıdır. ...
... Bu çalışmalarda sanatçıların ve sanat alanındaki akademisyenlerin bilgi gereksinimleri ve kullanım özellikleri ayrıntıya girmeden ve genel olarak değerlendirilip incelenmiştir (Cowan, 2004, s.14). Literatürde, sanat alanına yönelik önemli çalışmalarda, veri toplama tekniği olarak daha çok görüşme kullanılmıştır (Cobbledick, 1996;Challener, 1999;Frank,1999;Cowan, 2004;Day ve Mcdowell, 1985). Bazı çalışmalar ise verilerini anket tekniği ile toplamıştır (Reed ve Tanner, 2001;Van Zijl ve Gericke, 1998;Van Zijl ve Gericke, 2001). ...
... Her study emphasized the importance of non-art-related sources, library browsing, and print and interpersonal sources. Using an interview with a professional artist, Cowan (2004) identified five important visual art sources of inspiration: the natural environment, the work itself, relationships, self-inquiry, and attentiveness. Other visual art studies have examined information sources and practices of art researchers (Layne, 1994), university artists and teachers (Van Zijl and Gericke, 2003;Reed and Tanner, 2001), and student artists (Frank, 1999). ...
... Consistent with Cowan's (2004) findings about visual artists, theatre artists turn to both internal and external sources in seeking inspiration. Sources may be quite personal, such as an observation from life, a personal experience, a relationship with another person, or a cherished memory. ...
Purpose
The aim of this study is to explore the information needs and behaviors of practicing theatre artists. Psychological research into creativity provides a framework for understanding both theatre artists' information‐seeking behavior and the role of information seeking and gathering in the creative process.
Design/methodology/approach
The exploratory study presents findings from an online questionnaire of 73 practicing theatre artists and qualitative data gathered from eight interviews with theatre professionals.
Findings
The study reveals that theatre artists seek information for six primary purposes: understanding a work's historical, cultural, and critical background; finding sources of inspiration; learning about contemporary or historical theatre productions, artists, and events; learning technical or process information; finding performance materials; and furthering career goals. Theatre artists view the information search process as being essential to their creative activities, and their first‐hand accounts of their artistic experiences illuminate the critical role that information seeking and gathering play in the creative process.
Research limitations/implications
Some theatre professions, such as lighting or sound design, were represented in the questionnaire but were not represented in the interviews.
Practical implications
The study has practical implications for the delivery of library and internet theatre art collections and information services.
Originality/value
Few studies have examined the information‐seeking behavior of practicing theatre artists. The paper demonstrates that studies of artists can be used to understand the role of information seeking and gathering in the creative processes of people working in various subject domains.
... Further, we are interested in the nature of information seeking in the domains of art and craft. Studies of the information-seeking needs of artists have not addressed their engagement with online resources in specific detail [7,8,16]. Nevertheless, these studies offer insights into the kinds of information-seeking activities of artists and their motivations. ...
... Nevertheless, these studies offer insights into the kinds of information-seeking activities of artists and their motivations. Cowan emphasizes the search activities of artists as being driven by passion and curiosity rather than a gap in knowledge [8]. In a review of previous literature, Hemmig points out that artists get a lot of information from browsing, particularly for visual images [16]. ...
Communicating the subtleties of a craft technique, like putting a zipper into a garment or throwing a clay pot, can be challenging even when working side by side. Yet How- To content—including text, images, animations, and videos—is available online for a wide variety of crafts. We interviewed people engaged in various crafts to investigate how online resources contributed to their craft practice. We found that participants sought creative inspiration as well as technical clarification online. In this domain, keyword search can be difficult, so supplemental strategies are used. Participants sought information iteratively, because they often needed to enact their knowledge in order to evaluate it. Our description of people learning how allows us to elaborate existing understandings of information-seeking behavior by considering how search originates and is evaluated in knowledge domains involving physical objects and physical processes.
... Layne (1994) noted that artists need images with a much broader range of subjects when compared to their academic counterparts, who typically request specific works or types of works. Cowan (2004) performed an in-depth study of a working artist to examine the information needs and uses associated with the profession. Driving the study was her belief that artists' information behaviors were in some way different from those of other user groups. ...
... Driving the study was her belief that artists' information behaviors were in some way different from those of other user groups. The author notes her own bias towards artist-users prior to the study, and states that she saw information seeking as a problemresolution or gap-filling activity when in fact it could be a " … creative process motivated by curiosity, pleasure, or feedback, " (Cowan, 2004, p. 18). Cowan argues that research into the methods used by artists to use libraries have tended to be prejudiced towards viewing artists as disorganized and ineffective information users. ...
The primary objectives of this qualitative research study were the identification, description and explanation of image users’ behaviors. The research examined the image needs, the methods of image retrieval, image selection criteria, and the use of visual materials among several professional image user groups. Also explored were the difficulties these users experienced in their work with visual materials. The findings of the study provide information professionals with the fundamental details of image users’ behaviors. The research presented here should prove useful to system designers, image librarians and collection managers. The study also serves as a framework against which future research can be conducted. Twenty participants from across four professional image user groups, archaeologist, architect, art historian and artist, were recruited for the study. The user groups were selected based on their similarly strong reliance on images of cultural materials in their work. It was believed that selecting users of similar visual materials would clarify the differences discovered among the groups. Data was collected from the participants through a survey and one-on-one semistructured interviews and analysis was completed using case-ordered displays and the constant comparative method. The findings of the study revealed several variations in the image behaviors of the user groups. These consisted of variations in: the reasons behind why images were needed, the kinds of images they sought, their resource preferences, the factors used in image selection, their search techniques, how they incorporated images into their work processes and how images were used. While variation in the image behaviors across the four user groups were found, an overarching theme of frustration was discovered among all of the study’s participants. The reasons behind the frustration the image users experienced were also explored.
... For example, by interviewing four artists (a sculptor, painter, ber artist, and metalsmith), Cobbledick [9] found that these artists had di erent kinds of information needs (e.g., inspiration, technical information, speci c visual information, information about trends and events in the art world, and business information). Inspired by Cobbledick's work, other similar studies have been conducted to investigate the information seeking behaviors of artists [10,18,60] and art librarians [36,54]. ...
Creativity is an essential part of people's daily life and work across a range of everyday tasks. However, little prior work has explored how people use search engines and information resources as part of their creative processes, and how systems might better support users working on creative tasks. In this paper, we conducted an online survey with 175 participants to explore how people use search engines and online resources (e.g., images, videos, and social media) to support their creative tasks. Our participants reported information seeking to support a broad range of everyday creativity including tasks in arts, writing, crafts, and technical projects. Our findings show that participants' tasks included multiple stages of creative processes (e.g., creating ideas, combining ideas, executing plans) and that participants reported using search engines along with other tools (such as images and videos) to facilitate their creative process. By using Bayesian random effects regression models, we found that different stages of the creative process influence participants' use of tools. For example, for tasks that involved creating ideas, participants were more likely to use images and social sites, and when needing to put ideas into practice they were more likely to use videos. We also found differences in users' satisfaction with using the tools for different creative stages. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations for supporting users' information seeking needs during creative tasks.
... In their literature review of the information-seeking behaviors of academic artists and practitioners, Beene and Robinson (2017) built upon what others before them had established: art and architecture patrons often prefer browsing, seeking non-related information, and information related to their field of study (Beene & Robinson, 2017;Cobbledick, 1996;Hemmig, 2009). Numerous studies have confirmed the information-seeking needs and behaviors of art students (Frank, 1999;Pacey, 1985), art faculty (Gregory, 2007;Reed & Tanner, 2001), and art practitioners, both within the academy and external to it, with an underlying theme establishing the importance of browsing for inspiration, directed and undirected information-seeking, and studio practice (Cobbledick, 1996;Cowan, 2004;Hemmig, 2009;Larkin, 2010;Mason & Robinson, 2011). ...
As the number of reference questions continues to decline across academic libraries, innovative models have been developed to highlight collections and reach underserved communities. This article describes four outreach models at the University of New Mexico University Libraries, including satellite outreach services, pop-up book trucks and events, and relationship building at various locations on and off campus. The authors describe innovative approaches including curated browsing experiences and relationship marketing to underserved communities. Lessons learned, future approaches, and the benefits of each model will also be explored.
... Stams påståenden möter kritik från bland annat Sandra Cowan som vid University of Western Ontario 2004 publicerade en litteraturgenomgång över den forskning som finns om konstnärers informationsbeteende. (Cowan 2004a) I samband med denna genomgång gjorde hon också en fallstudie där hon intervjuat en konstnär om dennes informationsbehov och informationskällor. Cowan kritiserar Stams tidigare nämnda studie med orden: "And exactly who does think the way that the Library of Congress does?" (Cowan 2004b, s. 15) Vidare anser hon att det råder ett stereotypt tänkande kring konstnärer som vill göra gällande att de skulle vara sämre på att fungera i samhället och kanske till och med mindre rustade intelligensmässigt. ...
... The techniques used to gather data included a selfadministered questionnaire adapted from previous studies (Stam, 1984; Bates et al, 1995; Cobbledick, 1996; Rose, This is the space reserved for copyright notices. 2002; and Cowan, 2004), which was used to query subsets of visual arts humanities scholars from three academic institutions on demographic information, their use of information resources and their approaches to locating information; an interactive survey instrument using both Web-based and academic image and text retrieval systems to examine user satisfaction and frustration among subsets; audio recorded think-aloud protocol to gather experiential data during the implementation of the interactive survey, coded to identify frequencies of various elements of Larkin's adapted schema (Yang, 2003); and an Information Horizon graphical representation technique (Sonnenwald, 2005) used to enable participants to report on their individual information sources, thus capturing data that could be lost by traditional methods such as questionnaires or surveys. ...
This blended theoretical and application-oriented panel will focus on the technologies, metadata standards, and professional tools useful in facilitating humanities activities and research for scholarly and general audiences. Humanities projects are currently being developed with new technical components which enhance overall scholarly use and relevance in this digital era. While digital library and collection projects have been developed on an individual and institutional level, work remains to be done in the area of broad pedagogical goals and community-driven expectations. Characteristics of the humanities disciplines – including the visual arts, history, and literature – will be analyzed with a focus on contextualizing those areas most applicable for digital activity modules and learning activities. This panel would consider how recent advances in digital humanities scholarship can align with ASIS&T members' expertise in interface design, retrieval, and users' information-seeking behavior. Activities related to the description of study objects including cataloging and subject alignment will be assessed and interrogated. Building on the concepts introduced at a 2008 AM panel discussion (http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM08/papers/45.html), this panel will feature presenters' work toward bringing humane information resources both digitized and born-digital to web-based portals, and will advance a community-based information needs appraisal. An analysis of how the digital humanities can further support SIG-Arts & Humanities members' endeavors and research initiatives in a professional capacity will also be presented.
Creative practitioners spend much of their time outside of libraries, working in studios, labs, galleries, and other spaces. For this chapter, we declare that anyone can be a creative practitioner and that inspiration can come from new ways of experiencing the world. However, developing spaces to nurture creativity can be challenging within traditional academic library spaces. For example, if creativity is nurtured through experiential and embodied learning, how do we craft spaces within our libraries to inspire new modes of seeing, being, and knowing in the world? While librarians have long studied the information needs of artists, designers, and architects, less has been written about the role that library installations play in facilitating these mindsets among patrons, and even less has been written about the use of the camera obscura, an optical device made via a darkened room and aperture. This chapter addresses the camera obscura’s use in academic libraries, its pedagogical implications, and its phenomenological potential. Through an innovative partnership between the University of New Mexico’s Fine Arts & Design Library and the Photography program within the College of Fine Art, a camera obscura installation has extended creative learning for all who frequent the library. As a component of this partnership, the camera obscura installation originated with a dialogue between us in 2017, which launched an ongoing collaborative endeavor. Since then, the camera obscura has been installed annually for up to a month at a time. This pop-up installation has become an anticipated event, with students and community members enthusiastically inquiring after its next installation date. Since its inaugural installation, photography instructors have incorporated the camera obscura into their classes, and community members with no photography background are invited to experience a moment of mindfulness in our otherwise fast-paced, screen-mediated world.
This objective of research is to study the usage and usage issues of information on producing artistic works by undergraduates in Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts in public universities. The research will also use quantitative methods to compare the usage and usage issues of information on producing artistic works based on academic year and faculty. Research samples are 456 undergraduates in their junior (3rd) and senior (4th) years who have registered their academic year for 2021. Said samples are selected through stratified sampling and classified based on academic year and faculty. The tool used for collecting data is questionnaires. Statistics used for analysis are percentage value, average value, standard deviation value, and independent t-tests. The study has found that 1) undergraduates that use information to produce artistic works are at high level overall. When considering the highest average in each area, the study has found that undergraduates use information to search for modern techniques to produce works previously done by other designers, artists or experts. As for formats, non-publication media has been used, and searches are conducted on book shelves and other information sources such as natural landscapes, art exhibitions, music, bookstores, material stores; 2) the issues in using information to produce artistic works are at high level overall. When considering each area, the study has found that undergraduates 3 highest average issues namely information source, information resource and service, respectively; 3) the result on the comparison between usage and usage issues on information classified based on academic years and faculty revealed that, overall, undergraduates from different academic years do not have different usage and usage issues. It is also found that undergraduates from different faculties have different usage and usage issues with statistical significance of 0.5
While there have been a growing number of studies on makerspaces in different disciplines, little is known about how young people interact with information in makerspaces. This study aimed to unpack how young people (middle and high schoolers) sought, used, and shared information in voluntary free‐choice library makerspace activities. Qualitative methods, including individual interviews, observations, photovoice, and focus groups, were used to elicit 21 participants' experiences at two library makerspaces. The findings showed that young people engaged in dynamic practices of information seeking, use, and sharing, and revealed how the historical, sociocultural, material, and technological contexts embedded in makerspace activities shaped these information practices. Information practices of tinkering, sensing, and imagining in makerspaces were highlighted. Various criteria that young people used in evaluating human sources and online information were identified as well. The study also demonstrated the communicative and collaborative aspects of young people's information practices through information sharing. The findings extended Savolainen's everyday information practices model and addressed the gap in the current literature on young people's information behavior and information practices. Understanding how young people interact with information in makerspaces can help makerspace facilitators and information professionals better support youth services and facilitate makerspace activities.
Nowadays, interdisciplinary information needs and behaviors has become one of the hot topics in the academic circle, yet the differences between interdisciplinary and single-disciplinary information needs are still not fully explained. Through applying two main methods i.e., Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE), analysis on the perceived importance and satisfaction of interdisciplinary information user’s value driving factors about Web of Science (WoS) were conducted in order to find the characteristics of interdisciplinary researcher’s information needs.
This paper proposes that, compared with single-disciplinary users, interdisciplinary users pay more attention to emotional value and show lower satisfaction scores of all the criteria. Besides, “quality of information resources” is the most important as well as a satisfying criterion; “quantity of information resources” is the least important criterion; and “related services” is the least satisfying criterion of interdisciplinary users. In conclusion, the findings can be used as a basis for the deeper investigation of interdisciplinary information user’s value hierarchy.
To better account for information behavior in everyday life, the field must more fully explore information phenomena in the lifeworld, that is, information experience. This article shows that one way to do this is through the concept of understanding. Visual art is identified as an illuminating domain for an initial foray into such research. This article presents findings from a phenomenology‐of‐practice study of the information behavior of visual artists. Seven local artists documented their experiences creating self‐portraits, and semistructured follow‐up interviews were conducted. The findings show how these participants built understanding with information in their work of creating individual self‐portraits. These understandings fall into two categories: of the self and of the artistic process. Many forms of information, traditional and novel, contribute to these understandings; examples of the latter include memories, the lived environment, profound experiences, and online browsing. These findings extend the literature on artists' information behavior, connect everyday information behavior to information experience, and illustrate a method for studying understanding empirically in information science. The article closes by discussing the meaning of these findings for the future of information science, suggesting that the kinds of information employed by artists might be recognized and appreciated more widely throughout society.
In our efforts to design an ethical information future, we must develop a deeper understanding of the information phenomena in everyday lived experience. Based on work in cultural theory and philosophy, art seems to present an illuminating domain for the study of everyday life. This paper presents findings from an exploratory, phenomenology‐of‐practice study of the information behavior of artists. These findings serve as an entryway to information phenomena that have largely gone unexplored in information behavior. The study builds on the literature of everyday information behavior and artists' information behavior, and it draws on a nascent information behavior theory that recognizes understanding as an epistemic aim and conceptualizes understanding as an information constellation. In this study, seven local artists documented their process creating self‐portraits, and semi‐structured follow‐up interviews were conducted. This paper reports on the findings from four of these artists, demonstrating how memories, the lived environment, profound experiences, and online browsing were informative and contributed to the artists' understandings. It closes by discussing the meaning of these findings for the future of information science, suggesting that the information employed by artists might be recognized and appreciated more widely throughout society.
The factors influencing art students’ information-seeking behaviour is illustrated in the findings of this study. A qualitative approach with case study strategy was followed. The data were collected through one-on-one interviews with the responding eleven students. The findings show that aspects in the users’ personal environment, such as meaning, experience, skills, preferences and actions, significantly influence their information-seeking behaviour. Further factors deriving from the students’ context that influence their information-seeking behaviour are curricula, tasks, people (lecturers, artists, designers), sources, and technology applied to accomplish tasks. All these contributing factors have their own sets of requirements with which the art students have to comply. Recommendations are made in order to appropriately address the information-seeking needs of this specific user group and to guide the students to the best ways in information-seeking.
Juristische Regelungen sind im beruflichen Alltag eines Komponisten von großer Bedeutung: bei der Verwendung fremder Musikelemente, der Einräumung von Rechten, der Veröffentlichung, Verwertung und Aufführung ihrer Musik, der Vergütung sowie bei Projekten und Kooperationen. Das Internet und elektronische Kompositionsmethoden haben noch zusätzlich neue Tatbestände geschaffen, die eine Befassung der Musikschaffenden mit den Rechtsvorschriften für die eigene professionelle Arbeit unabdingbar macht. In diesem Kontext erforscht die vorliegende explorative Untersuchung die Informationspraxis der Komponisten und Songwriter in Deutschland durch qualitative Interviews mit Musikern unterschiedlicher Marktsektoren. Diese wurden anonymisiert und mit Instrumenten der empirischen Sozialforschung ausgewertet. Zunächst erfolgt eine Beschreibung der komplexen Urheberrechtsproblematik in der Musik in Deutschland, bevor anschließend der Fokus auf der Wahrnehmung der Rechtslage, der Informationsvermeidung, den relevanten Informationskanälen, dem Suchverhalten, der Informationsnutzung und der Informationsteilung der Untersuchungsgruppe liegt. Die wichtige Rolle der GEMA als Verwertungsgesellschaft bildet dabei einen Hauptaspekt.
Typically, arts information professionals are concerned with the documentation of artwork. As a provocation, this conceptual article explores how art-making itself can be considered a form of documentation and finished artworks as documents in their own right. In this view, art works as evidence in referencing something else, within a broader system, and under scrutiny it exposes how it references. Some implications of this perspective are discussed, springing from a historical discussion of document epistemology, research on the information behavior of artists, and the philosophy of Nelson Goodman. This discussion provides a framework for conceptualizing artistic information behavior along the entire information chain. Framing art-making in terms of information science in this way may help arts information professionals assist artists, as well as provide grounds for deeper co-understandings between artists and information scientists. Once information scientists consider art as a kind of document, one can begin to see that even non-artistic documents perhaps never were as “objective” or “factual” as they may have seemed.
While much has been written about implementing the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education in various classroom settings, this article addresses mapping the ACRL Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education to the Framework in designing instruction for art and architecture students. Disciplinary lenses, allowing for an integrative, pragmatic heuristic, are coupled with an integration of approaches found in the library instruction literature, including faculty and librarian teaching partnerships and assessment. The versatility of mapping these professional documents is demonstrated through implementation in both one-shot and embedded instruction.
[The following article is an expansion of two papers presented at the eponymous panel session, co-organized by the authors at the ARLIS/NA conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 2017.]
How do artists, designers, architects and craftspeople seek and deploy information in support of their practice? It is a question that is of central importance to the learning and teaching that art libraries provide, yet one that has also been subject to much debate within the historical and contemporary literature. An attentive reading of this literature reveals three fundamental metanarratives, each underpinned by a particular epistemology, and it is these narratives that have then informed how institutions construct, embed and assess the teaching of information skills to their readers. Only by critically evaluating the literature is it possible to resituate our own practice and that of our respective institutions within a paradigm that is most appropriate for our particular contexts. It is also possible to identify gaps in our collective professional understanding, in the hope of signposting avenues of research potential for the future.
When we define society today as a ‘global society’ we are saying that we are, or at least we strive to be, an interconnected society, even more than if we were to say society is ‘worldwide’. In a global society, borders are crossed, and the phrase implies interaction, participation and inclusiveness. Artists and designers, as both a product of a global society and in response to the resulting all-inclusiveness, or ‘globality’, of their respective fields, are prompted to cross two kinds of border: physical and methodological. This paper focuses on the crossing of methodological boundaries and, in addition, recognizes the highly individualized nature of art and design research. This serves as a launch pad to explore the question of how librarians can shape their practice in order to respond better to the needs of contemporary artists and designers.
The Dewey Decimal Classification system, frequently used to arrange arts collections, has a number of commendable aspects but also some significant shortcomings. Evidence suggests that visual arts library users can further their creative ideas by browsing library shelves, and the author considers this should inform classification practice. Dewey, approached from a user perspective and applied with attention to the scheme’s potential, can provide a shelf order that promotes browsing. The common perception that Dewey is most suited to general library collections is perhaps not entirely justified. Within the visual arts, it possibly accommodates specialist resources rather better than is sometimes imagined, particularly with judicious adaptation. A number of modifications are easy enough to achieve and may be applied across a range of visual arts resources.
This study presents an analytical literature review of the research surrounding the information behavior of writers, understood here as people whose written output is creative in nature and produced outside of the academia or the traditional news media realm. This group is understudied in library and information science, despite its obvious cultural and enduring link to libraries and archives. A qualitative content analysis reveals that part of the problem lies in establishing the boundaries of the literary field in order to operationalize writers as a group for study. The work of Pierre Bourdieu, cited in the literature itself, provides insight into how the concepts of legitimation, consecration, and professionalism influence methods and findings. However, while approaches differ, researchers tend to discuss similar information-related topics. Using literature pertaining to "sister populations", such as other artists or other types of writers, can help support the design of further research. Professional literature and mainstream media are also suggested as avenues for the study of the relationship between writers, information sources, and information professionals.
http://InformationR.net/ir/19-1/paper608.html
Introduction. This research investigates paratextual acknowledgements in published codices in order to study how relationships inform the information-seeking habits of authors, an understudied group in library and information science.
Method. A purposive sample consisting of the books from the 2010 nominations list of the Canadian Governor General's Literary Awards was chosen. An in-hand examination of the books was performed to identify the acknowledgement paratext. The sum of these paratextual parts formed the dataset.
Analysis. A qualitative content analysis of the acknowledgement paratext was performed. Throughout this inductive analysis, memos were used to record the creation and refinement of categories, as well as the emerging results.
Results.The research reveals that authors rely on people as information resources as well as for moral and emotional support. Sources include personal allies, communities, and publishing staff. Libraries and informational professionals are generally absent from the acknowledgement paratext.
Conclusion. Authors seek and find support in their local or personal circles and in global or distant horizons. An information model, based on Robert Darnton's communication circuit, is proposed. Information practitioners may be able to build on cues from the acknowledged relationships in order to tailor services to this group of users.
The process of information- and inspiration-seeking behaviour amongst artists and designers often involve direct observation, note-taking, collecting materials and image samples, recognising styles, analysing movements, patterns, textures, as well as experimenting with different materials and techniques. They also rely heavily on having access to a variety of visual resources, both physical and digital, during the process of inspiration-seeking. However, there have been few studies on how art and design students look for and use information in the digital age, especially in the context of the library. This paper reports on an empirical study of the inspiration-seeking process and other information-related behaviour of students at the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI). An online questionnaire was created to ask the HKDI students specific questions: the types of library preferred; students' comfort level with the HKDI Library; student respondents' information needs; and their preferred sources for inspiration. They were also asked which media and venues they looked to for information that was important to their creative process. A total of 327 current students at the HKDI completed the survey. The research findings suggest that information-seeking behaviour of the art and design students was reflective of the fluid and creative nature of the art and design domain. They were regular users of traditional printed resources as well as the physical libraries. They also placed heavy reliance on the Internet and a variety of social networks when it came to inspiration-seeking. Inspiration was found from a very diverse and ‘idiosyncratic’ set of sources; often via accidental discovery. The students' status as emergent practitioners also suggested a strong need for career advice and interactions with peers practicing in the art and design field.
This research project explores, through a series of online surveys and subsequent series of individual interviews, stakeholders' attitudes and practices regarding poetry published exclusively in web-based media. This article specifically examines the project's gathered data on creative writing faculty from North American institutions who were surveyed and interviewed about online poetry publishing as both creators and consumers of the literary works. This study also explores creative writing faculty members' opinions about publishing in online literary publications in regard to career impact, including tenure and promotion. As online literary publishing disrupts what continues to be a very print-oriented practice, Rogers' “diffusion of innovations” provides a useful framework for exploring these issues. Because this project considers how innovations diffuse throughout a specific group of artists and scholars, and the information needs that emerge from these transformations, the concept of “communities of practice” also informed data analysis.
The goal of the course is to help prepare students for the art documentation professions. This course is survey of the history and practice of art and visual resources librarianship/ curatorship, with an emphasis on on art librarianship as a profession, administration, collection development, public services and instruction, special collections, facilities and preservation, cataloging, digitization and image access, copyright issues, and staffing. Special guest speakers and field trips to regional art libraries, museums and collections will be included.
I nformation Competencies for Students in Design Disciplines compiled, for the first time in the US, a list of core information literacy skills for design students. Divided into basic, intermediate, and advanced skills in each design discipline, it helped to define and delimit information literacy skills in these subjects, and were intended to facilitate a systematic means of integrating information literacy skills into the core curriculum of design courses. Closely related to the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, Information Competencies were written by a group of art and design librarians (Jeanne Brown, Jane Carlin, Thomas Caswell, Edith Crowe, Maya Gervits, Susan Lewis, Alan Michelson, Barbara Opar and Jennifer Parker) and published by ARLIS/NA in 2006 (rev. 2007). This article is personal reflection by one of its authors on its legacy ten years after publication.
Purpose
Little is known about the information‐seeking behavior of practicing visual artists; what research exists has focused largely on art students, art faculty and librarians, although an untested model does emerge. The aim of this paper is to report the findings of an empirical study of a community of practicing visual artists, and to determine whether the model can be applied to such communities.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative study was administered to a sample of a community of practicing visual artists in order to determine the community's use of various information sources in the service of creative and sales activities.
Findings
The paper finds that the model may be applied to practicing visual artists. It provides a portrait of the information behavior of a specific community of practice, and suggests how information use may differ, while following the model, among different demographic groups within the community.
Research limitations/implications
The research approach and findings do not conclusively define the uses that artists make of information. The sample size prohibits definitive analysis by demographic data. The quantitative approach facilitates effective identification of community behaviors, but qualitative research might enhance these findings by illuminating the information‐seeking and use processes of individuals.
Practical implications
Information providers will have a means of gathering and analyzing data about the information behaviors of specific communities of visual artists to be used in the creation of enhanced information environments.
Originality/value
The paper presents the first published research into the information behavior of a community of practicing visual artists without regard to alternative sources of income, academic affiliation, or library use. It presents a means of focusing on these unstudied and underserved communities.
Purpose
This paper aims to report an empirical study of the information‐related behaviour of emerging artists and designers. It also aims to add to understanding of the information behaviour of the group both as practising artists (a little understood category of information users), and also as “new practitioners”.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature analysis is used to guide creation of an online questionnaire, eliciting both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 78 practising artists participated, all having graduated in the seven years prior to the survey.
Findings
The group have generally the same information practices as more established artists. They place reliance on internet and social networks, while also using traditional printed tools and libraries. Browsing is important, but not a predominant means of accessing information. Inspiration is found from a very diverse and idiosyncratic set of sources, often by serendipitous means. Their status as emergent practitioners means that their information behaviour is governed by cost factors, and by needs for career advice and interaction with peers.
Research limitations/implications
The study group are a convenience sample, all having access to the internet. No observation or interviews were carried out.
Practical implications
The results will provide guidance to academic and public librarians serving artist users, and to those providing career advice to them. It will also be valuable to those providing services to “new practitioners” in any field.
Originality/value
This is one of a very few papers reporting empirical studies of the information behaviour of artists, and has the largest sample size of any such study. It is one of a very few papers considering the information needs and behaviour of new practitioners.
In a comprehensive study of the behaviors and correlates of information seeking by Australian new car buyers, the authors examine three dimensions of information seeking—a sources of information dimension, a brand dimension, and a time dimension. Cluster analysis is used to develop consumer taxonomies of search behavior based on measurements of each of the dimensions. The resulting taxonomies are a high search group, a low search group, and three clusters collectively styled selective information seekers. Examination of the correlates of the individual search dimensions suggests that only certain predictors of search behavior are related to the different search dimensions.
Artists make up a considerable proportion of this nation's educated professional class, but their information needs have been neglected by information professionals. The purpose of this study is to establish a framework on which future research can be built. In-depth interviews with four artists - a sculptor, painter, fiber artist, and metalsmith - representing different media disciplines are described and analyzed; that analysis suggests that (1) artists make substantial use of libraries and print materials, (2) much of this material is not art related, (3) they typically find this material by browsing within specific subject areas, and (4) they make substantial use of interpersonal sources to obtain technical information and information about developments in the local art scene. To aid future research in this area and to tap into larger, more reliable samples, these data have been used to design a survey instrument that is described in an appendix to the study.
The information needs and information-seeking behavior of scholars and students in interdisciplinary fields has been studied very little. The few scattered studies available suggest that such fields may require striking and distinctive information-seeking adaptations by researchers that mark this area as different and very much deserving of research. Kinds of research needed at both basic and applied levels and with respect to both scholars and students are discussed.
Discusses what is known of the information-seeking and information-using behavior of artists, particularly in the applied arts, and art historians. Points out the strong need for visual, as well as textual, information in art. Reviews the particular problems inherent in obtaining visual information, including the variety of information represented by an image, and the technological complexities of storng and retrieving visual information. Discusses the current solutions to these problems, both technological and intellectual, and how to make the best use of these solutions. Discusses the role of the reference librarian in matching artists and art historians with the visual information that they need.
Asked about how artists use libraries, art librarians confirm that artists gather ideas from a wide spectrum of subjects and sources, beyond the scope of the art library; they also need images and other, specific, information which art libraries often can supply. Their approach is typically exploratory and intuitive; they are compulsive browsers, but are likely to be impatient of catalogs and only occasional users of standard references tools. They expect a lot of help from specialist librarians. Art libraries serving artists generally provide access to a wide range of images, and invariably house their collections on open stacks. Photocopying, including color copying, is an essential service, and other visual and ‘studio’ facilities may also be provided. As more and more visual and other relevant information is made available through electronic networks, art libraries can provide artists with assisted, convenient access to it.
Une experience menee en 82 au Nigeria (Ibadan), a permis aux villageois qui ne savaient ni lire ni ecrire de beneficier des services d'une bibliotheque adaptes a leurs besoins. Cette experience est decrite dans sa methologie, son deroulement, ses specificites et ses resultats
Drawing upon existing research and previous attempts at modeling the int'orma- tion-seeking behavior 01 specific pt-ofessional groups, this article posits au origi- nal model of information seeking that is applicable to all professionals. The model was developed through a careful analysis and interpretation of empirical studies on the information habits and practices of three groups: engineers, health care professionals, and lawyers. The general model and its six major components are presented in detail. These six components are (1) work roles, ('I) associated tasks, and (3) characteristics of information needs and three fac- tors affecting information seeking: (4) awareness, (5) sources, and (6) outcomes. In turn, each component contains a number of variables that are described with examples from the literature. The complexity of the information-seeking process is conceptualized in terms of the interaction and simultaneous occur- rence of the model's components and variables, including a feedback mecha- nism. The article concludes with suggestions as to the potential usefulness of the model.
This study attempts to gain information concerning the receptive, as opposed to the creative, aesthetic experience by talking to museum professionals who spend their working lives identifying, appraising, and explicating works of art. The study is based on an underlying assumption that rules and practices for looking at art exist and must be mastered if success is to ensue. The anthropological research approach uses semi-structured interviews and subjects the responses to systematic analysis. Major conclusions emphasize the unity and diversity of the aesthetic experience. The structure of the aesthetic experience is found to be an intense involvement of attention in response to a visual stimulus, for no other reason than to sustain the interaction. The experiential consequences of such a deep and autotelic involvement are an intense enjoyment characterized by feelings of personal wholeness, a sense of discovery, and a sense of human connectedness. The aesthetic content requires two sets of preconditions that make the experience possible: the challenges contained in the object and the skills of the viewer. While the structure of the aesthetic experience is rated similar in terms by all the respondents, the challenges, or content stimuli that triggers the experience vary considerably. These challenges of art are the formal structure of the work, its emotional impact, the intellectual references it carries, and the opportunities it creates for a dialogue among the artist, his time, and the viewer. Without this content challenge there would be nothing to arrest the viewer, and consequently no experience. Level of skill is critical. Challenges and skill must be nearly in balance for the attention to become focused. A complex work of art will engage only a person who has developed complex visual skills. The book is divided into six chapters and concludes with appendices. "Interview Questions for Museum Professionals" and "Aesthetic Experience Questionnaire Form." Contains approximately 100 references. (MM)
Although academic librarians may not be fully aware of how student artists use library collections, information obtained from focus group interviews reveals how student artists use academic libraries to support their artwork, what these students seek, and how they feel about their experiences.
Drawing on extensive literature reviews focusing, in particular, on user (and audience) research in the fields of library and information science and communication studies, the author describes the increasing chaos of human studies and user studies: the plethora of theories, concepts, approaches, methods, and findings which plague researchers within and between fields and bewilder policy maker and practitioner observers. The origins and symptoms of these disciplinary overloads and the usual forms of inter-disciplinarity brought to bear on them are traced. The author argues that most usual approaches to inter-disciplinarity act as more of the same and contribute to overload conditions. She calls for a methodological approach to inter-disciplinarity based on fundamental communicative principles. For library and information science, which as a field has traditionally drawn on multi-disciplinary sources, the author cautions that, as the field sets itself to the task of assisting the inter-disciplinary needs of its constituencies, it is especially important that the field also attend to inter-disciplinary needs within its own walls, between its many disparate and disconnected discourse communities.
Knowledge and Knowing in Librany and Information Science: A Philosophical Framework
- John M Budd
John M. Budd, Knowledge and Knowing in Librany and
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Context, Power, Bodies and Information: Exploring the 'Entangled' Contexts of Information
- Lucas D Introna
Lucas D. Introna, "Context, Power, Bodies and
Information: Exploring the 'Entangled' Contexts of
Information," in Exploring the Contexts of Information Behavior:
Proceedingsfrom the 2nd International Conference on Research in
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21. Dervin, "Human Studies and User Studies," 7.
22. Case, Lookingfor Informnation, 138.
- Hans-Georg Gadamer
Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, 2nd ed. (New
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29. Ibid., 269.
Volume 23, Number 2 * 2004 * Art Documentation
Looking for Information
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Case, Looking for Information, 286.
Patrons, Processes, and the Profession: Comparing the Academic Art Library and the Art Museum Library
- Kim Collins
Collins, Kim. 'Patrons, Processes, and the Profession: Comparing
the Academic Art Library and the Art Museum Library."
Journal of Library Administration 39, no.1 (2003): 77-89.
Dance in the Hermeneutic Circle
- Joann Mcnamara
McNamara, Joann. "Dance in the Hermeneutic Circle." In
Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Inquiny, edited by Sondra
Horton Fraleigh and Penelope Hanstein, 162-87. Pittsburgh,
PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1999.
A Ghost in Your Library: The Artist's Relationship with the Art Library, the Need for Information and the Need for Recognition
- Jean-Paul Oddos
Oddos, Jean-Paul. "A Ghost in Your Library: The Artist's
Relationship with the Art Library, the Need for Information
and the Need for Recognition." Art Libraries Journal 23, no.1
(1998): 13-21.