Building Information Worlds through Community and Experience: Preliminary Findings of an Ethnographic Study of Vehicle Residents’ Information Practices

Abstract

Across the United States, an estimated one million people inhabit vehicles as their primary method of housing. While vehicles are among the most common shelters aside from brick-and-mortar homes, few studies have explored this populace. This is among the first studies that investigate vehicle residents from an information perspective. Based on six months of ethnographic fieldwork, this study seeks to explore vehicle residents’ information practices and the resources and source preferences used to support their daily lives. The end goal is to understand how information institutions, namely public libraries, can create service provisions to offer support. Through an information worlds lens, coupled with information horizon interviews, this research seeks to examine how trust is built within this community through information seeking via other vehicle residents. Preliminary findings suggest that the trust constructed within this information world directly impacts vehicle residents’ decisions to turn to their community for information.