Benson Marshall, M., Cox, A. and Birdi, B. orcid.org/0000-0002-0002-7989 (2020) The role of information in the migration experience of young Polish women in the UK. Journal of Documentation, 76 (4). pp. 849-868. ISSN 0022-0418
Abstract
Since Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004, migration from Poland to the UK has increased substantially. These migrants are generally young and highly educated, and are migrating for reasons of economic improvement and selffulfilment. Many are women migrating independently, an emerging trend in migration in general. Information behaviour research around migration has tended to focus on populations such as refugees; less research has been done on the information behaviour of economic migrants. This paper therefore investigates the role of information in the migration experience of young Polish women in the UK. This study takes an interpretivist, constructionist perspective. An exploratory study was conducted, involving expert and pilot interviews and analysis of secondary data. In the main study, twenty-one participants were interviewed using a semi-structured technique. Data was analysed thematically. The paper provides insights into the information behaviour and experience of this migrant group. They were found to be confident and successful information users, partly because their migration was planned, their language skills were high, and cultural differences from their host country were not substantial. Weak ties were an important source of information. The paper contextualises these findings against previous research on migration in information science, and presents a model of the underlying factors shaping the relationship between migration and information behaviour. The paper examines the migration experience of a relatively under-studied group, drawing attention to a broader range of experience and demonstrating that a wider conceptualisation of migration is required in information behaviour. It presents a model of key factors shaping information behaviour around migration, which is relevant not only to the information field, but also to a wider range of areas. It also delivers practical recommendations for migrants and those working with them.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Emerald Publishing Limited. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Documentation. This version is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. |
Keywords: | Migration; Information literacy; Information behaviour; Information practices; Refugees; Economic migrants |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Jan 2020 16:52 |
Last Modified: | 10 Jun 2020 13:07 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Emerald |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1108/JD-08-2019-0158 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:155978 |
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