Promoting transformative encounters in libraries and archives
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2022-0053 |
| Published date | 22 July 2022 |
| Date | 22 July 2022 |
| Pages | 431-441 |
| 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 |
| Author | Carli V. Lowe |
Promoting transformative
encounters in libraries
and archives
Carli V. Lowe
University Library, San Jos
e State University, San Jos
e, California, USA
Abstract
Purpose –In several existing studies of Information Encountering (IE), a recurring sub-phenomenon of
serendipity arises that indicates the potential for certain unexpected encounters with information to be
transformative. The author labels this sub-phenomenon Transformative Information Encountering (TIE),
derivingits definition from an application of Transformative Education (TE) theory to existing understandings
of IE. This paper aims to discuss the potential for librarians and archivists to promote TIE througheveryday
practices.
Design/methodology/approach –After defining and identifying TIE in existing studies of IE, this article
will put models of IE in conversation with theories of TE and propose ways in which TIE may arise in the
everyday work of librarians and archivists.
Findings –In TE theory, there are three phases of the process of critical premise reflection that may be
especiallyrelevant to the work of libraries and archives. These are a disorienting dilemma (phase 1); recognition
that the process of transformation is shared (phase 4); and acquiring knowledge and skills (phase 7). Each of
these aligns with aspects of IE models.
Practical implications –Understanding how TIE might inform everyday Library and Information Science
(LIS) work may increase the positive impact cultural institutions have on the communities they serve.
Originality/value –Whileseveral IE studies have suggested the existence of TIE as a sub-phenomenon, none
thus far have attempted to define it or apply an understanding of it to LIS work.
Keywords Information encountering, Serendipity, Education, Transformative theory
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
When I first read about Sanda Erdelez’s model of Information Encountering (IE) while in
library school, it felt like the beginning of an answer to a question I had long been
contemplating. Throughout my life I have happened upon sources of information I was not
actively seeking but that have had a profound impact on the way I see myself and the world at
large. I had recently begun to wonder about other’s experiences with similarly unsought
information. I soon discovered that IE models speak more to the mechanisms of the
encountering than they do to the impact of those encounters. In response, I began actively
seeking the work of psychologists, neuroscientists and educators who study how the human
mind becomes open to learning something new. Jon Wergin is one such educator. His
discussion of Jack Mezirow’s Transformative Education (TE) theory in his book Deep
Learning in a Disorienting World (2020) included a list of Mezirow’s phases of critical premise
reflection. I immediately recognized parallels between Mezirow’s phases and models of IE,
and began to explore how IE and TE might inform one another.
Studies of serendipity in Library and Information Science (LIS) settings have resulted in a
growing body of models informing the work of librarians, archivists and others who work
with information resources. These models and the studies in which they are rooted are well-
summarized in several existing articles, most recently in Sanda Erdelez and Stephann
Promoting TIE
in libraries and
archives
431
The author wishes to thank Anamika Megwalu for providing feedback on an early draft of this article
and helping to identify a meaningful title.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 3 March 2022
Revised 18 June 2022
Accepted 21 June 2022
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 79 No. 2, 2023
pp. 431-441
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-03-2022-0053
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