ERIC Number: EJ875967
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Apr
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0024-2519
EISSN: N/A
"The Eyes of the Power Company": Workplace Information Practices of a Vault Inspector
Veinot, Tiffany C.
Library Quarterly, v77 n2 p157-179 Apr 2007
To date, LIS studies of workplace information practices have primarily focused on occupations that require a university education, and, consequently, little is known about the information practices of blue-collar workers. This study uses a qualitative case study approach to examine the workplace information practices of a blue-collar worker--a vault inspector at a hydroelectric utility company. Using social practice theory as a framework, this article argues that vault inspection is a practice involving situated judgment, embodiment, educated perception, finding and navigating, and classification. This article also asserts that the practice of vault inspection produces documents that act as "boundary objects" that dynamically connect disparate parts of the organization and meet a range of organizational information requirements. This suggests that vault inspection is an "information practice".
Descriptors: Work Environment, Information Management, Employment Practices, Inspection, Blue Collar Occupations, Utilities, Navigation, Classification, Case Method (Teaching Technique), Qualitative Research, Evaluative Thinking, Attitudes, Experiential Learning
University of Chicago Press. Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005, Chicago, IL 60637. Tel: 877-705-188; Tel: 773-753-3347; Fax: 877-705-1879; Fax: 773-753-0811; e-mail: subscriptions@press.uchicago.edu; Web site: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A