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Natalie Sheehan posted an update in the group
Choosing Your Community Discussion 2 months, 3 weeks ago Hi everyone! Much like @kataloging, I am also feeling somewhat overwhelmed with the process of choosing an information community to focus on; however, by looking at the examples from the list of successfully researched information communities (https://infocom.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/assignments/successful-information-communities/), I was able to gain a little inspiration.
Off the top of my head I was considering researching on the topic of the homeless. I visited the Los Angeles Public Library in Downtown L.A around 3 years ago, and it was such a beautiful library with a lot of homeless people residing in it. It made me think how libraries have come a long way in terms of serving their communities and how they provide free access to most of their resources to all. So the homeless population is one. Other areas I am interested in are film preservation archivists and the Disney community, though that last one might be too broad I am not sure.
The goal is to work in the archival department for Disney someday, so those last two areas of interest could go hand in hand. Thoughts?
Hi @masterkeyper! I think these are all great ideas. I keep flip flopping back and forth between ideas myself. Every time I think I’ve decided, I start going back to a different idea.
I would imagine just using the Disney community alone would supply a good amount of research, as there are so many aspects to Disney that the community could seek and share information on (movies, theme parks, memorabilia, streaming service, DisneyBounding,/cosplay and on). And you could use the serious leisure concept Stephens has brought up.
Or if you do the archivist idea, you could look at all entertainment film preservation archivists as the overall information community and use Disney as the thread throughout (as Disney archivists alone could possibly be too narrow in scope). Researching other entertainment film archivists would broaden it, giving you more content, and when specific Disney archivist research is lacking, you could say something like ‘if such-and-such entertainment company utilizes information in this way, Disney most likely would as well.’ Hope that makes sense. That’s sort of where my head is at with my current thinking of pop culture fandom with a Simpsons focus. But who knows how I’ll feel tomorrow haha
@kevinm I’m laughing out loud as I read your comment about flip flopping back and forth between ideas. I’m right there with you! In some ways I feel like I’ve already researched three communities!
@mkane Haha oh yeah I think I literally *have* researched three communities. It’s been a real ping pong game inside my head. It’s nice to have company in this regard. I think I’m pretty close to decided, but I now have to sift through what I’ve found and make sense out of it all!
@masterkeyper these are all very strong choices, and I’ve had successful papers on all three communities. There is significant literature in library, information science on serving the unhoused, as well as the information behaviors, and needs of the unhoused. Author Ryan Dowd has written on the topic as well for ALA. As to the other communities, there is literature related to preservationists with a bit focused on film. I find that community to be incredibly interesting. You can approach Disney in the number of ways through the lens of fandom and serious leisure for sure.