Jenna Hartel

Bio: Jenna Hartel is an academic researcher from University of Toronto. The author has contributed to research in topics: Information science & Information behavior. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 65 publications receiving 964 citations. Previous affiliations of Jenna Hartel include University of California, Los Angeles.

The Serious Leisure Frontier in Library and Informtion Science: Hobby Domains

Abstract: The library and information studies (LIS) field conducts a minority of research into leisure realms while favoring scholarly and professional contexts as subjects. Such is the case despite compelling evidence of the desirability and profundity of leisure in human life. This article introduces one popular form of leisure, hobbies, as a potentially provocative topic for LIS scholarship. To facilitate research on information within hobbies, the article discusses two conceptual devices: Serious leisure (Stebbins, 1982) describes essential characteristics of leisure, establishes that some types are information-rich, and provides a framework to study leisure systematically; The collectivist theory of domain analysis (Hjorland and Albrechtsen, 1995) orients research to the hobby milieu and its objective information forms, recasting them as hobby domains. As an example of the application of both devices, a case study is reviewed of the information resources in the hobby of cooking. The article closes with a call to action and suggested research program for the study of hobbies in LIS.

Managing documents at home for serious leisure: a case study of the hobby of gourmet cooking

Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to describe the way participants in the hobby of gourmet cooking in the USA manage culinary information in their homes.Design/methodology/approach – The study utilizes domain analysis and serious leisure as a conceptual framework and employs an ethnographic approach. In total 20 gourmet cooks in the USA were interviewed at home and then their culinary information collections were documented through a guided tour and photographic inventory. The resulting ethnographic record was analyzed using grounded theory and NVivo software.Findings – The findings introduce the personal culinary library (PCL): a constellation of cooking‐related information resources and information structures in the home of the gourmet cook, and an associated set of upkeep activities that increase with the collection's size. PCLs are shown to vary in content, scale, distribution in space, and their role in the hobby. The personal libraries are characterized as small, medium or large and case studies of each ext...

Information and higher things in life: Addressing the pleasurable and the profound in information science

Abstract: The article discusses lower and higher contexts for information phenomena, and argues that there is clearly a need for a more concerted research effort in the latter sphere. The discipline of information science has traditionally favored lower contexts—like everyday life and problem solving—that are neutral or even negative by nature. In contrast, the neglected higher things in life are pleasurable or profound phenomena, experiences, or activities that transcend the daily grind. A literature sample of the scarce information research related to higher things indicates that beyond the spotlight of mainstream research, information processes often seem different and there may be significant dimensions of information phenomena that have been overlooked. Therefore, the article outlines a contextual research area in information studies to address higher things from the perspective of information. It is concluded that optimal functioning requires bringing the lower and higher sides to balance in information science. This would offer a rare chance to promote holism and interdisciplinarity in the field, and to make the discipline more relevant to the human being. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Information Activities and Resources in an Episode of Gourmet Cooking

Abstract: Introduction. This paper contributes to what is known about everyday life information seeking within serious leisure. It is the first case study of a making and tinkering (or craft) hobby, gourmet cooking. The central activity of the hobby is described and serves as a context to relate and locate information activities and information resources. Method. In this scientific ethnography, twenty gourmet cooks from Boston and Los Angeles, USA were interviewed in their residences about their pursuit of the hobby and its associated information phenomena. Then, domestic culinary information resources and spaces were documented through a photographic inventory. Analysis. Interview transcripts and field notes were studied for themes through an iterative process of inductive and deductive analysis. A visual analysis process was performed on the photographs. Results. Hands-on cooking takes the form of a nine step episode. Information activities and resources are instrumental, interwoven, and varied across the process. In any cooking episode use and re-use are the prevailing information activities; the hobbyist is an active producer and manager of information; and the recipe is a primary document. Conclusion. The study demonstrates how to explicate and conceptualize information phenomena in serious leisure, and sets up lines of inquiry to explore in future research.

Visual approaches and photography for the study of immediate information space

Abstract: This methods-oriented paper introduces visual methods and specifically photography to study immediate information space (Lee, 2003); that is, information-rich settings such as offices or homes. It draws upon the authors' firsthand ethnographic field experiences, a review of relevant theoretical and methodological literature, and an analysis of cases within information studies that have made use of visual and photographic techniques. To begin, the traditions of visual research within anthropology and sociology are traced and major epistemological, methodological, and disciplinary debates associated with visual scholarship are presented. Then, investigations of immediate information space that utilize photography are analyzed, including examples from the areas of personal information management, health informatics, information behavior, and computer-supported cooperative work. Moreover, a section entitled “Applying Photographic Techniques…” supplies guidelines for employing photography in a research design, as well as a question-based research framework and tips for photographing information phenomena. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? Thinking from Women's Lives

Abstract: Introduction - after the science question in feminism. Part 1 Science: feminism confronts the sciences how the women's movement benefits science - two views why \"physics\" is a bad model for physics. Part 2 Epistemology: what is feminist epistemology \"strong objectivity\" and socially situated knowledge feminist epistemology in and after the enlightenment. Part 3 \"Others\": \"...and race?\" - the science question in global feminism common histories, common destinies - science in the first and third worlds \"real science\" thinking from the perspective of lesbian lives reinventing ourselves as other Conclusion - what is a feminist science.

Looking for Information: A Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs and Behavior

Abstract: Abbreviated Contents Figures and Tables Preface Introduction and Examples Concepts Relevant to Information Behavior Models, Paradigms, and Theories in the Study of Information Behavior Methods for Studying Information Behavior Research Results and Reflections Appendix: Glossary Appendix: Questions for Discussion and Application References Index