The materiality of encyclopedic information : Remediating a loved one – Mourning Britannica
Author
Summary, in English
Abstract in Undetermined
This paper presents a qualitative thematic analysis of reader comments posted in connection to a series of articles published after Encyclopaedia Britannica’s announcement to forego its print edition. It shows how ideas of what information is, are entangled with ideas of what a certain medium is and does. Two research questions guide the analysis: 1) How are encyclopedias as information sources imagined in contemporary public discourse? 2) How does the materiality of encyclopedias shape ideas of knowledge, information and memory? A theoretical basis is the distinction between an epistemological discourse and a practice discourse of science as proposed by Bernd Frohmann. Furthermore, the concept of remediation as developed by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin is drawn on. The analysis maps out different functions encyclopedias as information sources and external memories are assigned in contemporary society and in the recent past. It shows how these functions go into one another and how they are entangled with certain social practices. Through this it makes visible how understandings of information at a personal level are entwined with ideas of materiality,technologies, and culture that are formed in conjuncture with larger historical and societal shifts.
This paper presents a qualitative thematic analysis of reader comments posted in connection to a series of articles published after Encyclopaedia Britannica’s announcement to forego its print edition. It shows how ideas of what information is, are entangled with ideas of what a certain medium is and does. Two research questions guide the analysis: 1) How are encyclopedias as information sources imagined in contemporary public discourse? 2) How does the materiality of encyclopedias shape ideas of knowledge, information and memory? A theoretical basis is the distinction between an epistemological discourse and a practice discourse of science as proposed by Bernd Frohmann. Furthermore, the concept of remediation as developed by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin is drawn on. The analysis maps out different functions encyclopedias as information sources and external memories are assigned in contemporary society and in the recent past. It shows how these functions go into one another and how they are entangled with certain social practices. Through this it makes visible how understandings of information at a personal level are entwined with ideas of materiality,technologies, and culture that are formed in conjuncture with larger historical and societal shifts.
Department/s
- Division of ALM, Digital Cultures and Publishing Studies
- Information Practices: Communication, Culture and Society
Publishing year
2014
Language
English
Pages
1-10
Publication/Series
Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology
Volume
51
Issue
1
Full text
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Document type
Conference paper
Publisher
ASIS&T AM
Topic
- Information Studies
Keywords
- Practices
- Encyclopedias
- Remediation
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- information studies
Conference name
Annual Meeting of The Association for Information Science & Technology
Conference date
2014-11-01 - 2014-11-04
Conference place
Seattle, WA, United States
Status
Published
Project
- Out/sourcing Knowledge
- Knowledge in a Digital World: Trust, Credibility and Relevance on the Web
Research group
- Information Studies
- Information Practices: Communication, Culture and Society