Researching fractured (information) landscapes. Implications for library and information science researchers undertaking research with refugees and forced migration studies
| Published date | 09 January 2017 |
| Pages | 35-47 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2016-0032 |
| Date | 09 January 2017 |
| Author | Annemaree Lloyd |
| 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 |
Researching fractured
(information) landscapes
Implications for library and information
science researchers undertaking research with
refugees and forced migration studies
Annemaree Lloyd
Swedish School of Library and Information Science,
University of Boras, Boras, Sweden
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to introduce a range of sensitising themes that may help to frame the
emerging concept of fractured landscapes.
Design/methodology/approach –Key concepts are drawn from the forced migration field, from social
theory and from Library and information science research to frame the concept of fractured landscape
research. Methodological and ethical aspects that influence research are also introduced.
Findings –The importance of nomenclature is identified in relation to designations of refugee and migrant.
The concept of a fractured landscape provides a suitable way of describing the disruption that is caused to
refugees’information landscapes in the process of transition and resettlement. The sensitising themes such as
the exilic journey, liminality, integration, bonding and bridging capital are introduced to provide a way of
framing a deeper analysis of the information experience of people who must reconcile previously established
ways of knowing with the new landscapes related to transition and resettlement.
Originality/value –Original paper that introduces an emerging conceptual framework and a range of
questions that may be useful to library and information science researchers who wish to pursue research that
contributes to the humanitarian area or library services.
Keywords Public libraries, Forced migration, Migrants, Information practices, Refugees,
Information science research
Paper type Conceptual paper
Introduction
The humanitariancrisis brought about by the forcedmovement of people across the globehas
caught the attention of researchers in many academic fields. In the library and information
science field, research that focusses specifically on refugees’information experience of forced
migration, transitions and resettlement is still fragmentary and often still confined to
programmeor service delivery (Quirke, 2014),limited to descriptionsof how refugees seek and
use normative information or employ technology or social media to access and share
information or to discussions about the digital divide (Yu, 2010; Maitlandet al.,2015).Ofthe
research that is available there is a tendency to treat migrants and refugees as belonging to
the same category. This tendency to group refugees and migrants together fails to
acknowledge the political nature of the refugee designation (United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, 2015a). Because of the relatively new interest in this field,
there have been no attempts at deeper explorations of the information aspects of this crisis.
The current situation therefore presents, on one hand, a significant gap in our knowledge
about how to bestsupport refugees through the publiclibrary system and, on the other, a new
avenue for researchers that could have impacton research within our field but also contribute
to the body of knowledgein other fields and therefore make an interdisciplinary contribution.
Supporting the research efforts of other disciplinary areas in the growing area of refugee
and forced migration area is an important functional area for library and information
science. However this focus could also constrain the expertise of information science
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 73 No. 1, 2017
pp. 35-47
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-03-2016-0032
Received 19 March 2016
Revised 7 June 2016
13 July 2016
Accepted 14 July 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0022-0418.htm
35
Library and
information
science
researchers
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