The things we carry: migrants' personal collection management and use
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-12-2021-0236 |
| Published date | 22 April 2022 |
| Date | 22 April 2022 |
| Pages | 86-111 |
| 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 | Maja Krtalic,Kingsley T. Ihejirika |
The things we carry: migrants’
personal collection management
and use
Maja Krtalic and Kingsley T. Ihejirika
School of Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington,
Wellington, New Zealand
Abstract
Purpose –This paperexplores personal collection management and use in the context of migration. The paper
further investigates how migrants use items in personal collections to reflect their self-identity andlearn about
their heritage.
Design/methodology/approach –Interviewswere used to collect data from 14 immigrants in New Zealand.
Findings –Findings show how migrants perceive the value of their personal collections, manage their
personal collections during migration and use their personal collections as instruments of identity formation,
self-awareness, and connections to cultural heritage.
Originality/value –Insights presented in this study increase an understanding of the critical role personal
information plays in the migration and integration process.
Keywords Personal information management, Personal collections, Migrants, Information behaviour
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
As a complex global phenomenon experienced by millions of people (Internatio nal
Organization for Migration, 2019), migration is receiving continuous scholarly attention in
many disciplines ranging from sociology, anthropology, human geography, economics,
political sciences, history, law and human resource management (Sayyad Abdi et al., 2019). In
the information science field, past and recent studies on migrant information behaviour have
often focused on areas such as information needs and seeking behaviour, information sources
and enablers, and information engagement obstacles in relation to various stages of the
settling process. Research on migrants’information needs and practices shows what
information different categories of migrants need and when (Caidi et al., 2020;Hertzum and
Hyldeg
ard, 2019;Sayyad Sayyad Abdi et al., 2019;Mansour, 2018;Khoir et al., 2015) and what
sources they turn to, to find that information (Benson Marshall et al., 2020;Ndumu, 2020;
Rayes et al., 2016). It also shows what factors influence migrants’understanding and use of
information in various physical and digital environments (Benson Marshall et al., 2020;
Dekker et al., 2018), and how shifting social contexts and cultural norms shape their
information behaviour (Allard, 2022;Caidi et al., 2020;Allard and Caidi, 2018;Boamah, 2018).
Findings in some of the studies highlight aspects of personal information organisation, for
example, in relation to personal health records or digital public services (Chiesa et al., 2018;
Safarov, 2021), or focus on a specific group of items in personal collections, such as books and
reading (Dali, 2004,2012). However, little is known about the importance and use of items in
migrants’households and personal collections. For example, items carried from home
countries, such as books in their native language, support migrants in maintaining a mother
tongue and preserving traditions within the family (Gsir and Mescoli, 2015;Dali, 2012;Lukas
et al., 2002). These private information sources support migrants through settlement and
beyond and deserve further research attention. Understanding how migrants choose,
evaluate and manage personal information during the migration process can increase
knowledge about the critical role personal information plays in the migration process.
JD
79,1
86
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 8 December 2021
Revised 30 March 2022
Accepted 3 April 2022
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 79 No. 1, 2023
pp. 86-111
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-12-2021-0236
This knowledge can be valuable to those developing support services for migrants in both
sending and receiving countries and to people experiencing practical, emotional, social and
cultural stress associated with migration and integration.
This study focused on one aspect of personal information management: personal
collections that form the core of the personal space of information (Jones et al., 2017). The
study’s objective was to explore the process of personal collection management and use in the
context of migration to identify (a) what items migrants bring and how they perceive the
value of their personal collections, (b) factors that influence how migrants manage their
personal collections during and after migration, and (c) if and how migrants use their personal
collections as instruments of identity formation, self-awareness and connections to cultural
heritage. We define the personal collection as “a collection of physical and digital documents
and items created or collected, intentionally or accidently, by an individual for their personal
use in various life contexts, that is held and curated within their personal physical or digital
space”(Krtali
c and Dinneen, 2022), and has intangible dimensions such as memories, and
emotions.
This study focuses on voluntary migration because we wanted to investigate migrants’
decisions based on an opportunity to prepare, evaluate and select information. Voluntary
migration is a kind of migration that happens based on one’s free will and initiative (Charron,
2020) and is motivated by a variety of reasons such as economic, political and educational
(Ndumu, 2020;Oh and Butler, 2019). Migration inevitably disrupts how people access and
understand information. Voluntary migrants have some degree of control over their
migration experience; therefore, their information landscapes will be less fractured than
refugees’(Lloyd, 2017). However, voluntary migrants do not control the attitudes of their
receiving communities or the often challenging and encumbering process of integration that
may involve some degree of pressure (Ottonelli and Torresi, 2013). For this reason, too, we
wanted to explore if personal collections can help mitigate the anxiety associated with the
integration process.
Previous research
Personal collections and identity
Extensive research has been carried out on the broad spectrum of migrants’information
behaviour, but rare are the studies that comprehensively examine the personal information
management of migrants and their collections. Dali (2004), in her research on reading by
Russian-speaking immigrants in Canada, offered valuable insights into the content, role
and value of home book collections in the context of migration. She identified that new
books are added to collections after migration as a connection to the motherland, to
preserve and pass on one’s cultural, historical and linguistic heritage, for the pleasure of
readinginone’s native language, for education and personal growth. Looking more closely
at the role of leisure reading in the acculturation process of immigrants in a new country,
Dali (2012) identifies the significance of leisure reading in coping with migration-related
challenges, particularly culture shock, identity and changing perspectives on the national
cultural heritage.
Woodham et al. (2017) explored the concept of a “family archive”and its links to meaning
and identity construction, pointing out that “the personal meanings and associations that
everyday objects may possess can be recognised through the concept of “unmanaged”or
“behind-the-scenes”heritage”. These authors identified a knowledge gap in understanding
the content, creation and curation of family archives and raised questions about what families
see as valuable to themselves and society. The creation and management of these collections
might be fluid, informal, and ad-hoc instead of a deliberate and active process of acquisition
and curation (Woodham et al., 2017, p. 207).
Migrants’
personal
collection
management
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