{"title":"Unfolding material constraints and opportunities in biodiversity citizen science information practices","authors":"Björn Ekström","doi":"10.47989/colis2235","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to outline an approach for understanding how information practices in biodiversity citizen science are enabled and constrained through participants’ interactions with material objects such as cameras, artificial intelligence-supported smartphone applications and information systems. The approach draws on the theory of objectual practice; how knowledge is constructed iteratively through interaction with epistemic objects. Epistemic objects are understood as objects sustained by projections of knowledge, open for interpretation and question-generation, rather than clearly defined things. The approach is empirically contextualised through a study of biodiversity citizen science activities in relation to a bioblitz, a short-term, intensive period of species observations in a given geographical setting. Three empirical units of analysis are to be studied: binoculars, cameras, and loupes for observing species; field guides, identification keys and smartphone applications for identifying species; and standardising, large-scale information systems for reporting identified observations. The approach opens up for studying how material objects enable and constrain biodiversity citizen science information practices. The objectual practice approach in relation to a multifaceted empirical setting such as biodiversity citizen science extends sociomaterial aspects to citizen science studies by enabling practice-oriented observation and trace investigations of large-scale phenomena.","PeriodicalId":47431,"journal":{"name":"Information Research-An International Electronic Journal","volume":"23 6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2022-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Information Research-An International Electronic Journal","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.47989/colis2235","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to outline an approach for understanding how information practices in biodiversity citizen science are enabled and constrained through participants’ interactions with material objects such as cameras, artificial intelligence-supported smartphone applications and information systems. The approach draws on the theory of objectual practice; how knowledge is constructed iteratively through interaction with epistemic objects. Epistemic objects are understood as objects sustained by projections of knowledge, open for interpretation and question-generation, rather than clearly defined things. The approach is empirically contextualised through a study of biodiversity citizen science activities in relation to a bioblitz, a short-term, intensive period of species observations in a given geographical setting. Three empirical units of analysis are to be studied: binoculars, cameras, and loupes for observing species; field guides, identification keys and smartphone applications for identifying species; and standardising, large-scale information systems for reporting identified observations. The approach opens up for studying how material objects enable and constrain biodiversity citizen science information practices. The objectual practice approach in relation to a multifaceted empirical setting such as biodiversity citizen science extends sociomaterial aspects to citizen science studies by enabling practice-oriented observation and trace investigations of large-scale phenomena.
期刊介绍:
Information Research, is an open access, international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal, dedicated to making accessible the results of research across a wide range of information-related disciplines. It is published by the University of Borås, Sweden, with the financial support of an NOP-HS Scientific Journal Grant. It is edited by Professor T.D. Wilson, and is hosted, and given technical support, by Lund University Libraries, Sweden.