Information Border Crossing (IBC)

A dissertation proposal defense

by Barbara A Miller

Department of Information Studies,

GSE&IS, University of

California, Los Angeles

June 16, 1999

Information Border Crossing

• Why do I want to conduct this study?• What am I proposing to study?

– What are the goals of this study?– What are its objectives?

• What are the theoretical foundations informing this study?

• How will the study be constructed?

Why do I want to conduct this study?

• Personal background• Experiences at border libraries• Experience as border crosser

What am I going to study?

Problem Statement• Researchers seeking information often

encounter barriers or obstacles.• An international border can be considered

a barrier to the flow of information.• However, borders are more than barriers.

– filters unwanted information– space in which to share information

What am I going to study?

Problem Statement continued

• Little is known about scholarly communication and information seeking behavior of researchers across borders or within border spaces.

• Therefore, I propose to study:

What am I going to study?

• Information seeking activities of researchers who study environmental issues and problems of the U.S.-Mexico Border.

• Compare U.S.-based researchers with those in Mexico.

What am I going to study?

This Study has two major goals:

• The first is to identify and explore the elements contributing to successful scholarly information seeking across barriers.

• The second uses the findings of the first goal to construct an information border crossing model for scholarly information seeking.

What am I going to study?

Research Objectives

• To describe IBC in the context of the U.S.-Mexico border– Identify instances of IBC in this

context– Identify characteristics of IBC in this

context

What am I going to study?

Research Objectives, continued

• To understand the conditions under which IBC takes place.– To determine the effect of geography– To identify & determine the roles

played by intermediaries•people•technology

Information Border Crossing

Internet Lab, Library, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California,Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico

Information Border Crossing

What am I going to study?

Research Objectives, continued

• To profile characteristics, attitudes and behaviors of environmental researchers who cross the U.S.-Mexican border to advance their work

What are the theoretical foundations informing this

study?

• Border theory• Invisible Colleges

and scholarly networking

• Information seeking behavior

• Organizational Boundary Spanning

• Gatekeeping

Definition of IBC

Information border crossing is the physical or virtual movement across any barrier of (1) persons in pursuit of information or (2) the information itself. Any IBC context consists of four components: (1) the organizational environment in which IBC occurs; (2) the individuals seeking information across barriers; (3) their information need(s); and, (4)

the information resources available.

Theoretical foundations

Network typologies • Branch• Circuit• Barrier

– Isolated– Interconnected– Jointly controlled

(Suarez-Villa & others 1992)

Theoretical foundations

• Strength of Weak Ties(Granovetter 1973)

• Boundary as space(Irwin & More 1991)

Theoretical foundations

Consider the following question:

Is the border a space or a line?

Theoretical foundations

How will the study be constructed?

Methodology• Qualitative research design

– Data collection: in-depth interviews– Sample

• minimum number of interviews: 30• non-random, purposive• balanced between U.S. and Mexico

How will the study be constructed?

Methodology, continued

• Sample selection– Take advantage twin cities

• San Diego/Tijuana• Las Cruces/El Paso/Ciudad Juarez

– Limit to persons located or doing research about these regions.

Information Border Crossing

San Diego/Tijuana

Las Cruces/El Paso/Cuidad Juarez

How will the study be constructed?

Interview Questions• Concentrate on in-depth questions

about:– nature of their research– how they got started– experiences at the border– Problems encountered doing research on the

border– personal networks– interaction with other researchers– Technology use

Information Border Crossing

Timetable:• July-Sept 1999

– Select of interview subjects– Develop and translate interview protocol, letter of

introduction and web site– Pretest of interview protocol– Search for sources of outside funding

• Oct 1999-June 2000– Conduct & transcribe interviews– Code and process results– Convert proposal into first chapters of dissertation– Begin writing up results

Information Border Crossing

Timetable continued• July-Sept 2000

– Finish interviews, if necessary– Complete transcription and data processing– Continue write up

• Oct-Dec 2000

– Complete dissertation

– Defend dissertation

Information Border Crossing

Thank you for coming!