Search results

This paper examines how bonded design (BD), a participatory design methodology, was influenced by the transition to working in a virtual environment necessitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Abiding by the participatory design tenets of creativity, learning-by-doing and mutual learning, the BD methodology was created for the specific purpose of fostering meaningful communication and interaction between two disparate groups. Previous iterations of BD are discussed, including its naissance with intergenerational teams, its adaptation to provide a framework for a university-wide initiative, the Faculty Information Technology (IT) Liaison Program that brought together faculty members and IT professional staff, and its current use in helping public librarians to develop with older adults, targeted library programming and services.

Analysis of the findings from the assessment of the BD methodology in different physical contexts demonstrates that the flexibility in the makeup and order of design techniques (discussion, evaluation, brainstorming, prototyping, consensus-building) makes BD potentially adaptable to online spaces. Recommendations for implementing the BD methodology online are outlined. It is argued that BD’s adaptability makes it an ideal method for creating meaningful and productive collaborations within both physical and virtual environments.

The proposed iteration of the BD methodology responds to a need for innovative practices to foster collaborative work in a virtual environment. BD is a unique, inclusive and cost-effective methodology to encourage meaningful interaction and communication between disparate groups in physical or online contexts.

Responding to the continuing separation of participants and researchers in LIS participatory research, a new methodology is proposed: action partnership research design (APRD). It is asserted that APRD can mitigate or remove the hierarchical structures often inherent in the research process, thus allowing for equal contribution from all.

Building on the bonded design (BD) methodology and informed by a scoping literature review conducted by the same authors, APRD is a human-centered research approach with the goal of empowering and valuing community partnerships. APRD originates from research investigating the use of participatory design methods to foster collaboration between two potentially disparate groups, firstly with adult researchers/designers and elementary school children, and secondly with university faculty and IT professionals.

To achieve this goal, in addition to BD techniques, APRD draws inspiration from elements of indigenous and decolonization research methodologies, particularly those with an emphasis on destabilizing power hierarchies and involving research participants as full partners.

APRD, which emerged from findings from previous participatory design studies, especially those of BD, is based on the premise of partnership, recognizing that each member of a design team, whether researcher or participant/user, has unique expertise to contribute. By considering participants/users as full research partners, APRD aims to flatten the hierarchies exhibited in some LIS participatory research methodologies, where participants are treated more like research subjects than partners.

Through a review of the literature, this article seeks to outline and understand the evolution and extent of user–participant involvement in the existing library and information science (LIS) research to identify gaps and existing research approaches that might inform further methodological development in participant-oriented and design-based LIS research.

A scoping literature review of LIS research, from the 1960s onward, was conducted, assessing the themes and trends in understanding the user/participant within the LIS field. It traces LIS research from its early focus on information and relevancy to the “user turn”, to the rise of participatory research, especially design-based, as well as the recent inclusion of Indigenous and decolonial methodologies.

The literature review indicates that despite the reported “user turn”, LIS research often does not include the user as an active and equal participant within research projects.

The findings from this review support the development of alternative design research methodologies in LIS that fully include and involve research participants as full partners – from planning through dissemination of results – and suggests avenues for continuing the development of such design-based research. To that end, it lays the foundations for the introduction of a novel methodology, Action Partnership Research Design (APRD).

The paper aims to explore the value of various notions of precarity for the study of information practices and for addressing inequities and marginalization from an information standpoint.

Several interrelated conceptualizations of precarity and associated terms from outside of library and information science (LIS) are presented. LIS studies involving precarity and related topics, including various situations of insecurity, instability, migration and transition, are then discussed. In that context, new approaches to information precarity and new directions for information practices research are explored.

Studies that draw from holistic characterizations of precarity, especially those engaging with theories from beyond the field, are quite limited in LIS research. Broader understandings of precarity in information contexts may contribute to greater engagement with political and economic considerations and to development of non-individualistic responses and services.

The presentation of a framework for an initial model of information precarity and the expansion of connections between existing LIS research and concepts of precarity from other fields suggest a new lens for further addressing inequities, marginalization and precarious life in LIS research.