In my research, I adopt social informatics, information behaviour, and information practice perspectives to study information-centric communities that are wholly or partially online. I am particularly interested in the roles played by information and communication technologies (ICTs) in online information-centric communities and the relationships and interactions they have with users and their information sharing behaviours and practices within these contexts.

Most of my work applies theories and concepts of boundary objects, boundary spanning, and information worlds to the study of these communities, their actors, and their information practices and behaviours. I focus on the processes of translation of information and knowledge within and across boundaries; coherence of existing information-centric communities around social norms, information values, and information behaviours and practices; and potential convergence and emergence of new information-centric communities as users share, exchange, and interact in these spaces. These processes occur as those from different existing communities come together, with different but overlapping understandings of the information, culture, and nature of sociotechnical infrastructure and of communities; these understandings and their negotiation serve an important mediation role. People often serve as boundary spanners, and technologies as boundary objects, but for successful information sharing — and by extension a successful role for an online information-centric community and its associated ICTs — the translation and negotiation of meanings and understandings must be supported and facilitated through a balanced and careful approach to the interface a boundary object provides. My research looks to help us learn more about this support and facilitation, how and why information is translated and shared, and how and why communities cohere and converge. I look to further develop our understanding within information science around four broad research questions:

• How do users use social media and associated online information-centric communities and ICTs in their everyday lives? What information do they share with others online, and how? What motivates them to share or not share information and interact with other users online?
• What roles do ICTs play, as potential boundary objects, in the information sharing of users in online information-centric communities? In the processes of translation, coherence, and convergence that may occur in the context of their information behaviours and practices, social norms, and information values?
• Do online communities come together — cohere and/or converge — in and around information sharing by users? How and why does this happen (or not happen) for a given setting?
• How best can we support and facilitate successful and meaningful information sharing within and beyond online communities, through a balanced and careful approach that accounts for the varied characteristics and contexts of users and their existing communities?

Over time my focus has shifted somewhat from a tighter view of studying specific platforms and systems to a broader interest in communities and their associated user populations both within and beyond the boundaries of a given platform, system, or service. My interests have led me to examine social digital libraries, social questioning and answering sites, and social media as information-centric communities in research projects and experiences so far. These studies have spanned a range of different populations engaged in what are for them everyday life information behaviours and practices, including immigrants and expatriates, readers and book lovers, academics (including students, faculty, researchers, and librarians, and the general question-asking public. My continuing research interests and agenda remain in examining the everyday life contexts of users in these populations, and possibly others, as they engage with and share information via online information-centric communities and their associated ICTs.

My work and ideas are interdisciplinary, with influences from the literature, theories, and concepts in and of sociology, knowledge management, and Internet studies, and from work applying sociotechnical research concepts and theories within cognate areas of computing, information, and communication sciences. As befits my home in a school of library and information studies, my research is most significantly informed by the methods and epistemologies of social perspectives to information science, particularly those offered by social informatics, sociotechnical research, and social constructionism. As is natural the literature on information behaviour and information practices further impact on and play a strong role in all my work. I focus on socially constructed practices, but also consider cognitive and demographic differences that may individually impact behaviours. While my choice of research methods leans somewhat qualitative, I often apply mixed methods research designs — including surveys, content analysis, ethnographic observation, and semi-structured interviews — to combine their strengths; help minimize their weaknesses; improve validity, reliability, and trustworthiness; and lead to a fuller understanding of the social and sociotechnical contexts of online information-centric communities, ICTs, and information sharing and of translation, coherence, and convergence in these contexts.

Further details of my research interests, agenda, and activities can be found in my full portfolio, including my full research statement, details of publications and presentations completed, and my CV.