6.3 The production of ‘context’ in information seeking research: a metatheoretical view

6.3 The production of ‘context’ in information seeking research: a metatheoretical view

Sanna Talja, Heidi Keso and Tarja Pietiläinen

This article by Talja, Keso and Pietiläinen takes some of the ideas lain out by Dervin in her context article and applies them to information needs and seeking research (INS). They discuss the idea of objectified context, or context used only to explain the motivation or behavior of a user. I don’t think this is an inherently incorrect way to use context in relation to information seeking. Context does affect the way a user will interact with information, and the way he or she will react to it. As I stated in my last entry, if you can understand the context surrounding the user, you can assist in finding appropriate pieces of information.

Talja et al also discuss research studies. Stronger context, they say, makes a study seem more reliable. When multiple methods of data collection are used and more outside variables are considered, the results seem more trustworthy. I think that the extended context given to research data allows the interpreter it to decide if it has value or not. Talja and friends mention that this viewpoint seems to put already existing articles as less worthy, as there has already been an interpretation of reality. I think that is an interesting notion. They are not less worthy, but simply have more contexts applied to them, as you must look at the context the writer applies as well as the context you bring with your reading.

The article seems to focus on the idea that knowledge is contextually constructed. With this theory, knowledge is different for each person, even if they are exposed to all of the same sources of knowledge. It is important to note that knowledge is not only affected by the learner’s personal context, but by whatever context existed in the creation of the document or source of knowledge. This can be connected to social constructivism, and the idea that knowledge is constructed by our own personal discourse. The social discourse that affects knowledge in social constructivism is very similar to the social contexts of knowledge. In both theories, the outside world exists, we simply create our own reality within it.