Introduction: Meta-games and meta-gaming refer to various second-order conceptions of games and gaming. The present article discusses the applicability of the notions of meta-game and meta-gaming in understanding the patterns of how people use, misuse, work and work-around information and information infrastructures. Method: Twenty-two qualitative interviews of archives, library and museum professionals conducted in two Nordic countries in 2009-2011. The interviews were semi-structured and based on the thematic interview approach of Hirsjärvi and Hurme as a part of a larger study of the information work of such professionals. Analysis: An exploratory qualitative analysis based on constant comparative method was carried out on the interview data. Results. The analysis shows that the information work of the interviewed professionals contained a large number of examples of different types of meta-gaming. Conclusions: The analysis suggests that the notions of meta-games and meta-gaming can be used to explain peripheral and second-order information activities and to analyse the aspects of work that relate to gameplay and playfulness. [This paper was published as part of: Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, Copenhagen, Denmark, 19-22 August, 2013.]