Work and agency in an autonomous women's knowledge centre.

摘要

This study examined the meaning of the work of collecting sources for knowledge in an autonomous women's knowledge centre (AWKC). By developing a methodology for disclosing important aspects of the actual process of collecting, the aim was to identify factors in the process which contributed to shaping its meaning, and hence account for the agency of collecting. A case study was carried out in a single AWKC, and the data collected during this case study, partly through observation, and partly through interviews with 9 workers at the centre, supported the development of the methodology. An analysis of this data indicated that the key point of interest was the disturbance which occurred in that step of the process which involved the actual selection of the material for integration into the collection; further analysis of this disturbance disclosed it as a kind of ontological negotiation which required a decision to resolve. By applying a set of agential skills, it was possible to see how the skills needed to make this decision could vary, hence accounting for the variation of meaning which this particular work process in fact has, in different settings. This leads to the conclusion that the quality of the meaning of collecting sources for knowledge depends on the agential skills of the person doing the actual collecting, and how these skills are developed and encouraged.;This study has direct implications for understanding and improving the work situation in autonomous women's knowledge centres, as well as in conventional archives. It also has implications for research both into the nature of collecting, and in the area of understanding social aspects of work processes. More importantly, however, it provides an initial basis for further exploration of the collecting of sources for knowledge, since it is now possible to see how this kind of activity is necessary for life itself.