Conceptualizing self-documentation
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-04-2018-0129 |
| Date | 11 November 2019 |
| Published date | 11 November 2019 |
| Pages | 1352-1361 |
| Author | Tim Gorichanaz |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
Conceptualizing self-documentation
Tim Gorichanaz
Department of Information Science, College of Computer and Informatics,
Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract
Purpose –Self-documentation is an increasingly common phenomenon, but it is not yet well understood.
The purposeof this paper is to provide a philosophicalframework for analyzingexamples of self-documentation
on the dimensions of ontology, epistemology and ethics.
Design/methodology/approach –The framework addresses these three major areas of philosophic
thought by operationalizing insights from philosophy, chiefly the work of Martin Heidegger. Heidegger’s
concepts of authenticity and fallenness inform the poles of each dimension of the framework.
Findings –Ontologically, self-documentation may manifest as document (authentic) or data ( fallen);
epistemologically, as understanding (authentic) or idle curiosity (fallen); and ethically, as self-care (authentic)
or diversion (fallen). These dimensions are presented separately but are understood to be intermingled.
Originality/value –This unified framework offers a lens for examining and comparing cases of
self-documentation and self-documents. No such framework has previously been articulated, but given the
ubiquity and growing importance of self-documentation, it is needed.
Keywords Phenomenology, Document, Autobiography, Philosophy of information, Self-tracking
Paper type Conceptual paper
We humans have painted, carved and written about ourselves for as long as we have been
humans. Indeed, this may be what made us humans, as the earliest human markings
ushered in a new way of being present in the world, allowing us for the first time to
reflect on the question of the mankind as something separate from nature (Gusdorf, 1991).
Today, creating information about ourselves is requisite for functioning in western
society. We build online profiles for commerce, education, entertainment and socializing;
we share selfies and video recordings of our lives; and we are compelled to write resumes
and letters. What is more, some of us perform device-based self-tracking or create
websites, autobiographies, visual self-portraits and other specialized forms of information
about ourselves. Heterogeneous though these forms of information are, they are held
together as a category by their reference to the self and their documentary nature; they
are self-documents.
The internet has increased the visibility of and the possibilities for self-documentation to
the extent that self-documenting practices are ubiquitous. As Mark Fischetti (2014, para. 5)
has observed, today “we’re living to document our lives.”Still, we do not yet have a
framework for thinking through the issues associated with self-documentation. Thus, in this
paper I propose a framework for conceptualizing self-documentation within the
philosophical dimensions of ontology, epistemology and ethics –what there is, how it is
known and what should be done. In this framework, each dimension forms a continuum
from authenticity to fallenness (as defined by Heidegger, 1927/2010), with cardinal concepts
at each pole. This framework can be used for understanding and comparing the meanings of
these cultural forms.
The self and the document
If self-documents are at issue, then two concepts should be clarified at the outset: what the
self is and what a document is.
The sense of self is one of the defining qualities of being human. Each of us has the
experience of being a person set off in some way from other people and the rest of the world.
Online Information Review
Vol. 43 No. 7, 2019
pp. 1352-1361
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-04-2018-0129
Received 15 April 2018
Revised 17 February 2019
Accepted 17 May 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
1352
OIR
43,7
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