This chapter uses the theory of practice architectures to show how particular kinds of arrangements can make particular kinds of academic practices possible. It does this by exploring the authors’ experiences of being stirred in to practices of academia within a particular practice landscape as part of a research group, and the arrangements that enabled and constrained that stirring in. Employing an auto-ethnographic approach, the authors draw on their individual and collective experiences of research and collaboration with Stephen Kemmis and encounters with the theory of practice architectures. Individual narratives are analysed to identify key cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements that prefigured our being stirred in, a process which has led to deep and long-lasting research collaborations and commitments that have strong and enduring local and international ties. In sharing our analysis and narratives, we provide a glimpse of how these collaborations and commitments, and the theory of practice architectures (itself a prefiguring arrangement of our practices) have influenced our research into practice in our respective fields. Our discussion offers insights not only into the kinds of practice architectures that make up a university landscape, but also how conditions of possibility can be created for academic practices that resist the de-professionalising effects of troubling university conditions.

Information literacy (IL) research tends to fall into one of two spaces. In the conceptual space the research concern rests with understanding the experience and core elements of the practice and how it emerges. In the practical space the execution and outcome of the practice as markers of successful teaching and learning are the focus. The division between these spaces and the lack of researcher/practitioner convergence create a conundrum that limits our ability to theorise IL, to adequately situate IL in library and information science research, to champion its benefits outside the library and information science field, or to promote to funding bodies the impact of IL. To address this conundrum a theory and foundational model of IL is described which attempts to reconstruct the IL space and its enactments without privileging research or practice.

This chapter introduces the theory of practice architectures and locates it within the theoretical terrain of practice theory. It highlights what is distinctive about the theory as a practice theory, and discusses its affordances as a theoretical, analytical, and transformational resource for practitioners and researchers. We argue that, to create new possibilities for practice in our disciplines and professions, and/or to challenge unsustainable or untoward practices in education and professional practice more broadly, our current practices must be interrogated. The theory of practice architectures can inform such interrogative work. This chapter provides a foundation for the case chapters in this book which variously illustrate the kinds of insights yielded by exploring education and professional practice through the lens of practice architectures

This chapter introduces the theory of practice architectures and locates it within the theoretical terrain of practice theory. It highlights what is distinctive about the theory as a practice theory, and discusses its affordances as a theoretical, analytical, and transformational resource for practitioners and researchers. We argue that, to create new possibilities for practice in our disciplines and professions, and/or to challenge unsustainable or untoward practices in education and professional practice more broadly, our current practices must be interrogated. The theory of practice architectures can inform such interrogative work. This chapter provides a foundation for the case chapters in this book which variously illustrate the kinds of insights yielded by exploring education and professional practice through the lens of practice architectures.

Introduction.  The study examines the information practices of enthusiast car restorers in order to gain a greater understanding of embodied information practices.

Conceptual framework. The study is informed by a range of different theoretical approaches including practice theory, sense-making and Foucauldian, multimodal and critical discourse analysis.

Methodology. The study uses an ethnographic approach, using semi-structured interviews and in the garage ethnographic observation.  Analysis was undertaken using an inductive, thematic approach.

Findings. Enthusiast car restorers see the lack of information resources relating to their hobby as a challenge as much as a barrier. Car clubs and informal social networks of fellow enthusiasts provide both mentoring and moral support. Learning by doing is central to developing embodied knowledge. Participants describe working on their cars as providing them with a sense of achievement that was otherwise missing in their lives. 

Conclusion. The study’s findings show that enthusiast car restorers live in a complex information world, where social networks and learning by doing are central. The study’s findings in relation to alienation, achievement and identity suggest that research into embodied practices may have a broader significance than has been hitherto recognised.

Purpose This article introduces a range of sensitising themes that may help to frame the emerging concept of fractured landscapes.

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.

Conceptual paper

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.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to respond to an earlier article in the Journal of Documentation: The Cult of the “I”. Design/methodology/approach – The method is a form of critical response. Findings – Numerous problems regarding the The Cult of the “I” article are discussed. Originality/value – This paper puts forward views about the iSchools Movement

The development of information literacy and learning practices in everyday spaces is explored.

Data for the study was collected using photo voice technique. Data analysis was conducted using photos and analysis of group transcripts. Participants describe how they tapped into social, physical and digital sites to draw information in the process of (re) forming their information landscapes, building bridges into new communities and maintaining links with family overseas. Media formats were identified according to their appropriateness as fit for purpose, suggesting that the enactment of information literacy was agile and responsive to need at the moment of practice. The results indicate that everyday spaces provide opportunities to develop information literacy practices, which support informal learning. Findings of the study conclude that information literacy is played out in a series of digital, vernacular and visual enactments, which shape the information landscape.