Navigating the Information Landscape

Abstract

This article explores the tension between the structures by which the library organizes and presents information, and the ways in which students and researchers access, use, and conceptualize knowledge. I suggest that while knowledge structures are vital to learning and research, an overemphasis on structurality is mistaken, and can lead to an inappropriately positivist approach that impedes the research mission. The article examines various metaphoric ways of negotiating meaning and navigating information structures, and of crossing the threshold of structurality. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.