Informing Research: Art and Design Practitioner Researchers Engaging with Information

Abstract

This phenomenographic study investigates the information engagement practices of experienced art and design practitioner researchers working in university contexts, with the key aim of contributing to developing the information engagement capabilities of novice practitioner researchers. The investigation takes a relational approach that focuses on relationships between particular social practices and the contexts within which they occur. Accordingly, consideration has been given to contemporary political and economic pressures on university research and on the position of art and design practitioner research within that context. In keeping with this relational perspective, phenomenographic interviews garnered data from 28 art and design practitioner researchers working in Australian universities. Findings from the data analysis include six qualitatively different ways that art and design practitioner researchers experience information engagement. For librarians working with novice researchers, these findings provide examples of effective information engagement that extend beyond the perspective of information literacy standards. For curriculum developers, these findings highlight possibilities for using information engagement development to encourage art and design students to self-identify as researchers at earlier stages of their study. For administrators seeking to provide evidence of graduate attribute development, these findings show practical connections between ongoing student inquiry experiences and the development of attributes associated with independent research and self-directed practice.