‘Get rid of the unimportant so that the important can shine’: an exploration of vehicle residents’ personal collections and information practices
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47989/ir31ISIC65288Keywords:
Sustainability, Information Practices, Personal Information Management, Personal Collections, Minimalism, Qualitative MethodsAbstract
Introduction. For vehicle residents—people who live in vehicles—reduction and minimalism are byproducts of living in a small space. Their physical personal collections, and practices around managing these collections, illustrate how information practices can be sustainable.
Method. This multi-method study used ethnographic and visual methods. Data was collected using participant observations, information horizon interviews, guided tours and photographs of participants’ immediate information spaces.
Analysis. For the current study, 25 guided tours and ~125 photographs of participants’ immediate information space were analysed, using abductive analysis and, additionally, visual analysis for the photographs.
Results. Vehicle residents highlighted aspects of reduction, minimalism, and reuse in their engagement with their personal, physical collections. We propose a model of components for sustainable information practices, including each of the three aspects: reduction, minimalism and reuse, placing physical personal collections at the centre of an ongoing (recycling) process.
Conclusion. By looking at vehicle residents’ physical personal collections (and the practices involved in selecting and maintaining them), this study expands previous definitions of sustainable information practices. By pointing to possible components of these practices and focusing on (more tangible) physical aspects, vehicle residents’ information practices are highlighted as an example to further explore sustainable information practices in future research.
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