Foodwork is an information-rich activity that presents unique opportunities to explore information behaviors in everyday life. We expand on McKenzie’s (2003) Information Practice Model and support its original findings by applying the model to a study of the foodwork of individuals who live alone. McKenzie’s (2003) model was designed to explore everyday activities that fall outside traditional information systems; its potential to further expand our understanding of the everyday world is presented and supported.
The research is part of a larger, multi-method project with 59 participants who lived alone. This present study focuses on the textual data collected from their first interviews. Three specific interview questions on food-related information behaviors were selected for further analysis. The responses were analyzed with thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006).
The present research supports and expands on McKenzie’s (2003) Information Practice Model into the domain of foodwork. We found examples of all four established modes of information behaviors along with their corresponding phases. Building upon this model, we introduce three new modes: information mastery, information sharing, and non-traditional information behaviors, while also identifying information behavior patterns.
Everyday life is still understudied throughout the information sciences. This work aims to advance our empirical understanding of the information behaviors that surround foodwork in everyday life and expand on McKenzie’s (2003) Information Practice Model.
