Making choices: developing digital research frameworks for information management
| Published date | 08 January 2018 |
| Date | 08 January 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2017-0107 |
| Pages | 247-254 |
| Author | Maria Burke |
| 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 |
Making choices: developing
digital research frameworks for
information management
Maria Burke
Department of Digital Futures, University of Winchester, Winchester, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to suggest a digital research framework that can be applied to many
of the areas that encompass the discipline of information management.
Design/methodology/approach –This communication proposes a new “Triple A”framework that allows
the researcher to progress digital ideas by asking a series of staged questions. This is a progressive model
consisting of three stages of acquaintance, adaption and application bounded by three major influencing
issues of culture, communication and context. The Triple A framework is aimed to be flexible to apply to most
styles of research yet robust enough to offer useful insights.
Findings –The model devised will assist (information management) researchers with choices of research
approaches. It may be that early career researchers or those undertaking a postgraduate research will find
this framework especially helpful to clarify thoughts and direction. The model aims to be useful and, whilst no
doubt will be built on in future research, it is offered as foundation, an initial starting point, as those who work
and study in information management fields endeavor to make new choices in our digitally managed
information world.
Originality/value –The originality and value of this work is the proposition of a new model that will allow
researchers to impose structure on ideas and encourage the viewing of work from a multi-disciplinary
perspective within the growing and evolving digital areas.
Keywords Early career researchers, Theoreticalframeworks, Research models, Digital research framework,
Information management, LIS frameworks
Paper type Viewpoint
1. Introduction
The term “digital”has become the part of our twenty-first century vocabulary as we have
become accustomedto life in the “digital economy”andto the use of “digital”communications
in everyday life. Yet, in academic terms, research in this digital area is still a foundling,
compared, for example, to other disciplinesand domains such as philosophy, medicineor law.
As such there is a need for research frameworks which will help clarify research in this area.
A well-chosen framework can help ensure that research is carefully conductedby suggesting
a clear route to follow in terms of structure and contribution. This paper proposes a new
“Triple A”framework whichallows the researcher to progress digitalideas by asking a series
of staged questions. This new “Triple A”framework considers the three stages of research
“acquaintance, adaption and application.”
This paper aims to develop a digital research framework that can be applied to many of
the areas which encompass the discipline of information management. By doing so, the
paper goes someway toward a suggestion for addressing this increasingly difficult current
issue in higher education. As the concerns around the management of “Big Data”become
more complex this work aims to provide a model which is applicable to many UK and
international environments. Whilst it is planned that later research will demonstrate results
based on empirical data, this paper builds on two earlier papers, the first written in 2007
(Burke, 2007) which explored the choices in research paradigms for information
managements and the second more recent paper (Burke, 2016) which established “that
the lack of a readily available, tested, robust theoretical framework for digital research (as)
a problem, as there have no readily available point of reference in order to grasp the true
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 74 No. 1, 2018
pp. 247-254
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-07-2017-0107
Received 17 July 2017
Revised 1 September 2017
Accepted 6 September 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
247
Information
management
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