Kapital och karriär. Informationssökning i forskningens vardagspraktik

Abstract

The overall objective has been to find out, understand and consider the development of information seeking during scholarly training and its subsequent later development. Statistically oriented studies of information provision for research have been available, but a reflexive understanding of the information seeking situation on a grassroots level in scholarly practice has been found wanting. The link between the research content and the acquisition of information has been considered meaningful, that is information seeking in context, in a natural setting. How can information seeking be distinguished in its setting? What are the extremes? What are the confines? What is the development? What are the gender consequences? What are the variations? Do these questions have anything in common? Economic capital controls research and scholarly reproduction, the formation of homo academicus. Investments in symbolic capital, and more specifically in academic capital, produce a foundation for a scholarly career. Funds of symbolic capital make investments in social capital viable. Capital types may be added to each other and also traded to some extent. The roads for thinking along such lines have been built by Pierre Bourdieu. Other important concepts of his include field, agent, doxa, habitus and symbolic violence. Concepts in analogy like symbolic capital of an information seeking kind and social capital of an information seeking kind have been added after consideration of empirical findings. Senior scholars have their academic capital in general strengthened by social capital. That is not the case regarding information seeking. Symbolic capital of an information seeking kind is not very valuable on that level of the academic career. Instead, social capital of an information seeking kind is a characteristic asset of scholars in spearheading research. Persons in the early stages of scholarly training typically lack all kinds of capital including that of an information seeking kind. They are bound to make their investments symbolically. Investments in social capital are not useful and may even be negative in this position in the academic field. Some investments in symbolic capital of an information seeking kind are necessary while the prospect of future usefulness is in doubt. There is reason to reflect on the existence of an information seeking career.