Information practices among Taiwanese writers and makers: an exploration of digital natives
| Date | 08 July 2019 |
| Pages | 823-837 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-09-2017-0125 |
| Published date | 08 July 2019 |
| Author | Su-Yen Chen,H.Y. Kuo,H.-Y. Chang |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
Information practices among
Taiwanese writers and makers:
an exploration of digital natives
Su-Yen Chen, H.Y. Kuo and H.-Y. Chang
Institute of Learning Sciences and Technologies,
National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to explore two types of Net-generation practitioners –writers and
makers born in the 1980s –and how they describe their professions and their information practices.
Design/methodology/approach –The authors distinguished the information practices of Net-generation
writers and makers from those of their older counterparts and then examined the contextual factors
associated with the shared meanings in each community of practice, by interviewing a total of 14 participants,
7 writers and 7 makers, and qualitatively analyzed the resulting data.
Findings –First, the professional boundaries perceived by Net-generation practitioners are more blurred
than those of their olde r counterparts. Second, they rely on lif e experience, online platforms and pri nt for
their sources of inform ation and inspiration. Thir d, Facebooking and the use of f ilter bubbles are among the
most popular informat ion practices. Fourth , diversity, uniquene ss, multimodal, part icipatory and
self-media are keywords i n their content creation and informa tion produced. Fifth, connecti vity (connecting
people and resources) and collective intelligence (emphasizing how expertiseis collected and distributed)
are key themes associat ed with these digital na tives. Sixth, the autho rs also identified and c ompared
differences between th ese two groups.
Research limitations/implications –The study limitations include the small sample size of each
practitioner group and the fact that the methods are dependent on the participants’abilities to describe their
information practices.
Originality/value –This study is among the first to focus on the characteristics of digital natives and their
information practices. It provides a tentative framework for further exploration and contributes to our initial
understanding of this topic.
Keywords Internet, Change, Behaviour, Communities, Information research, Learning, Communication,
Literacy
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Many authors have examined the information behaviors and/or practices of writers (Brandt,
2005; Desrochers and Pecoskie, 2015; Ko, 2012), artists (Beaudoins, 2014; Hemmig, 2008, 2009;
Mason and Robinson, 2011), welfare workers (Lea French and Williamson, 2016), theater
professionals (Medaille, 2010; Olsson, 2013) and journalists (Olsson, 2013). The discourse on
information behavior draws on the cognitive viewpoint and focuses on aspects related to
information seeking and communication. In contrast, studies of information practices are
inspired by ideas of social constructionism, in that these practices are regarded as being affected
and shaped by social and cultural factors and are embedded in work and social interactions
characterized by the shared meanings developed within a community of practitioners
(Lea French and Williamson, 2016; Robson and Robinson, 2013; Savolainen, 2007). In this study,
we explored the information practices of young Taiwanese writers and makers born after 1980,
who are generally referred to as digital natives (and sometimes as Net Geners or the Wired).
Digital natives are characterized as preferring constant connectivity, enjoying mixing work and
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 75 No. 4, 2019
pp. 823-837
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-09-2017-0125
Received 8 September 2017
Revised 7 January 2018
Accepted 8 January 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of China
for financially supporting this research under Contract Nos MOST 104-2420-H-007-015 and MOST
104-2410-H-007-030-SS2.
823
Taiwanese
writers and
makers
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