PurposeSharing information about work processes has proven to be difficult. This applies especially to information shared from those who participate in a process to those who remain outsiders. The purpose of this article is to increase understanding of how professionals document their work practices with a focus on information making by analysing how archaeologists document their information work in archaeological reports.Design/methodology/approachIn total 47 Swedish archaeological reports published in 2018 were analysed using close reading and constant comparative categorisation.FindingsEven if explicit narratives of methods and work process have particular significance as documentation of information making, the evidence of information making is spread out all over the report document in (1) procedural narratives, (2) descriptions of methods and tools, (3) actors and actants, (4) photographs, (5) information sources, (6) diagrams and drawings and (7) outcomes. The usability of reports as conveyors of information on information making depends more on how a forthcoming reader can live with it as a whole rather than how to learn of the details it recites.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based on a limited number of documents representing one country and one scholarly and professional field.Practical implicationsIncreased focus on the internal coherence of documentation and the complementarity of different types of descriptions could improve information sharing. Further, descriptions of concepts that refer to work activities and the situation when information came into being could similarly improve their usability.Originality/valueThere is little earlier research on how professionals and academics document and describe their information activities.
This paper aims to show how videogames are construed as archival objects in the videogame-preservation literature by investigating drivers and motivations, selection of material, and methods of preservation. The review focuses on the expanded notion of videogames ("the EN"), a concept this paper introduces to collectively refer to the cultural and social aspects of videogamesfor example, game culture, experiences, play, and community life and activity. The study's research aims are pursued on the basis of a critical systematic literature review of 42 publications originating from academic research and videogame-archiving projects. The study's main finding is that the archiving literature construes the EN of videogames in three principal ways: i) as an essential part of the videogame as an archival object; ii) as a useful resource in archiving videogames, able to provide documentation of game culture and social context; and iii) as a useful resource in inquiries focused on the current state and recent history of society and culture from a sociotechnical viewpoint. The study suggests videogame community dynamics, videogame ontology, the development of archival theory, and videogame-archive studies as rewarding directions for further research.
This paper examines how the effects of virtual space on learning have been elucidated in recent research with the aim of providing both a comprehensive picture of the current state of research and interesting avenues for future projects. Drawing on a multidisciplinary review, it identifies five key themes that together constitute research in virtual space and learning: analogies between the study of physical space and learning; socio-cultural constructivist perspectives; practical and theoretical pedagogy; architecture; and, aesthetics. Current research on how virtual space affects learning is fragmented, albeit rich. The pivotal challenge for the future is to establish a research infrastructure that can harness the richness of already existing studies, while simultaneously serving to drive, focus, and interconnect future research efforts.
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