Holistic information research: From rhetoric to paradigm

Abstract

Many researchers in library and information science have claimed that studies that are holistic are critical to understanding various phenomena. On closer examination, however, the term “holistic” is used mainly as a rhetorical device in the literature, rather than as one that embraces the epistemological tenets of a holistic paradigm, and applies these to research design. This paper examines this rhetorical use, and explores what it would mean, and why it would matter, to adopt substantively holistic approaches to research. We review relevant literature in library and information science to position past uses of holistic and compare these to the conceptual intentions of holism. We also outline the concept of holism, itself, with a focus on methodological and ontological holism, which can most deeply inform research design in our discipline. Greater methodological diversity, including much wider adoption of interpretivist and critical approaches, can address the concerns underlying the use of holistic rhetoric. We illustrate this central conceptual argument with a roadmap illustrating holistic considerations throughout the research process. The paper demonstrates that it is possible to shift away from predominantly rhetorical use of holistic, toward paradigmatically holistic research, which will provide for richer analyses of critical phenomena in the discipline.

Infotainment as a hybrid of information and entertainment: a conceptual analysis

“…Another issue to be examined is the way in which the use of infotainment is conceptualized in studies on this topic. The findings will not only deepen our understanding of the relationships between information and entertainment but also serve the ends of holistic information research recently advocated by Polkinghorne and Given (2021). Similar to the hybrid turn in communication studies, information research of this kind suggests that to make sense of their daily world, people seek both information and entertainment and that these elements are often amalgamated.…”

From nostalgia to knowledge: Considering the personal dimensions of data lifecycles

“…This paper proposes a human‐centered model of research data curation lifecycles that considers the personal dimensions of affect and time in decisions to preserve and share data. The study and proposed model adopt a “holistic” approach to grappling with complexity, which is defined as “the inherently high level of organization among the constituent parts of information‐related phenomena, including information systems, social information behavior, and individual information experiences” (Polkinghorne & Given, 2021, p. 1262). Holistic research traverses information contexts to “highlight the socially‐situated practices that span people's lives” (p. 1269).…”

Making and taking information

“…They can similarly be used to refer to material or non-material construction of things and nonthings that convey meaning without necessarily demanding that information per se would need to be a thing. It entails only that the focus is on information as made and taken without ruling out it being that in a holistic (Polkinghorne & Given, 2021) sense that traverses cognitive, anthropological, and biological frames of reference both online and offline (cf. Resmini & Rosati, 2011).…”