Information relations for social change: exploring the information behaviour of academics undertaking impact work

Introduction. This paper examines academics’ information behaviour in undertaking research for societal impact. It explores how researcher-stakeholder relationships provide sites of information exchange where academics develop skills and knowledge needed to undertake impact work. Method. This qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews with 27 academics at 18 institutions across Australia. Participants were recruited across disciplines and at various career stages. Analysis. Constructivist grounded theory was used as a methodology, with Fiske's Relational Models Theory  as a framework for analysis. Results. Results show that information behaviours relating to impact work were enacted within relationships with industry, community, and government partners. These relationships were characterised by four elements: curiosity, reciprocity, trust, and engagement. Conclusion. The paper presents a model of Relational-Informational Impact Practice to guide individual researchers’ information behaviours and to inform university support programs for researchers engaged in societal impact work. The model outlines the interplay between curiosity, reciprocity, trust, and engagement, and impact-relevant information behaviours, such as information needs identification, sharing practices, and serendipity.

• Publication year

  2024

• Venue

  Information Research

• Publication date

  2024-06-18

• Fields of study

  Sociology, Computer Science, Education

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.47989/ir292824
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Toward community-engaged information behavior research: A methodological framework

  2022cited by this paper
• "Bouncing ideas" as a complex information practice: information seeking, sharing, creation, and cooperation

  2021cited by this paper
• The Impact Agenda: Controversies, Consequences and Challenges

  2021cited by this paper
• Knowledge co-production in academic-practitioner research collaboration: An expanded perspective on power

  2021cited by this paper
• “I'm in sheer survival mode”: Information behaviour and affective experiences of early career academics

  2020influential reference
• Information Seeking Behaviors, Attitudes, and Choices of Academic Mathematicians

  2020cited by this paper
• The politics of co-production: participation, power, and transformation

  2020cited by this paper
• Examining differentiation in academic responses to research impact policy: mediating factors in the context of educational research

  2019cited by this paper
• The role of serendipity in the story ideation process of print media journalists

  2019cited by this paper
• Experiencing information use for early career academics' learning: a knowledge ecosystem model

  2015cited by this paper
• Bracing for impact: The role of information science in supporting societal research impact

  2015cited by this paper
• Participatory Qualitative Research Methodologies in Health

  2015cited by this paper
• A non-linear model of information sharing practices in academic communities

  2012cited by this paper
• Information sharing as a means to reach collective understanding: A study of design scholars' information practices

  2011cited by this paper
• Fifty years of information behavior research

  2010cited by this paper
• Information sharing in academic communities: Types and levels of collaboration in information seeking and use.

  2002cited by this paper
• Theories of Social Exchange and Exchange Networks

  2001cited by this paper
• "It is what one does": why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice

  2000cited by this paper
• Sense-making theory and practice: an overview of user interests in knowledge seeking and use

  1998cited by this paper
• The many meanings of research utilization.

  1979cited by this paper

• Setting the Course and Embracing the Journey: Reflections on Knowledge Mobilization in the Canadian Research Context

  2025cites this paper
• Exploring Alternative Formats of University-Community Engaged Knowledge Mobilization

  2025cites this paper
• Informačná tvorivosť pri digitálnom akademickom písaní

  2025cites this paper
• Enabling Societal Impact of Research: Exploring Information Behaviors of Academics and Professional Staff

  2024cites this paper