Using CWA to frame an investigation into the use of corporate body publications

✍ Scribed by Doctoral Candidate Kari Holland

• Publisher: American Society for Information Science and Technology
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 631 KB
• Volume: 33
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0095-4403
• DOI: 10.1002/bult.2006.1720330106

✦ Synopsis

earching for corporate bodiessuch as government agen-S cies, conferences, international organizations and companies -is a necessary task for many users of information, including researchers. These corporate bodies produce publications and documents -printed, digital and audiovisualthat researchers in many fields need to use in their work. In a field like forest science, there are governmental agencies that produce regulations that both researchers and practitioners need to know about in order to do their work. These agencies also produce important statistical reports. Both researchers and practitioners go to meetings and conferences that result in proceedings. Products from forest product companies are patented, leading to patent documentation. In short, chances are that if one is working in forest science, a search for a corporate body is necessary at some point. Similar patterns repeat themselves in other disciplines.
Is searching for corporate bodies an easy search task for these researchers? And how do we most efficiently go about investigating this question? This article describes a study that looks at how researchers in forest science, oceanography and fishery science search for and use publications from corporate bodies. The term publication is understood in a broad sense, incorporating digital formats and websites. The study is a qualitative study that uses critical realism and cognitive work analysis (CWA) to frame the research question and to inform interview questions and analysis. This paper focuses on how CWA is used to guide the study. The primary purpose of this particular study is to produce recommendations for the design of information systems related to the structure and rep-Kan Holland is a doctoral candidate at the Information School, University of Washington. She can be reached at kh4u. washington.edu.