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Information Literacy and the Scottish
Independence Referendum (2014): An
Autoethnographic Exploration of Political
Decision-making
Bill Johnston and
Sheila Webber
October 2015
Focal points/Outline
• Linking this research to our model of the information
literate person
• Basic facts of the referendum
• Autoethnography as a research approach
• myReferendum experiences
• Aspects of information literacy
• Conclusions
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
Information Literate Person
• The study is part of
the ongoing
development of this
model
• Used model to
trigger reflections on
context, experience
and behaviour
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
Scottish Independence Referendum
18 September 2014
The question
• Should Scotland be an
independent nation?
• Note Scotland has its own
Parliament in Edinburgh with a
range of powers devolved from
the UK Government &
Westminster Parliament
Options
• Yes = Yes
• No = “Better Together”(No)
• More Devolution of powers?
This option was proposed by
the Scottish National Party
(SNP) but rejected by the UK
Government and did not
appear on the ballot.
The vote – 85% turn out; 55 No 45 Yes.
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
“an approach to research and writing that seeks to
describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal
experience (auto) in order to understand cultural
experience (ethno)”
Ellis et al. (2011: 273)
A qualitative research approach:
Autoethnography
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
In this case
• Drawing on individual experience of engaging with
information as part of the democratic process
• From these individual reflections and experience,
gain insight into the nature of information literacy
and information behaviour in this process
• Research evidence: Memos, mindmaps, dialogues/
interview, diagrams, documents
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
How to write autoethnography is a key issue,
and finding the approach and voice that works
for you is important
This presentation is part of that work in
progress.
Our roles in Bill’s autoethnography: insider;
informed outsider; facilitator; co-investigators;
developing mutual perspective on
autoethnography
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
myDemocracy:
Principle and Practice
“… the poorest he that is in England has a life to live, as the greatest he; and therefore truly, Sir, I think it’s clear, that every man that is to live under a government ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government; …”
Colonel Rainborough, London, October 1647.
The Putney Debates.
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
My Frame for Engaging with the
Referendum Campaign: A YES voter
• Independence referendum best deployed to
endorse popular will
• Needs a competent government to carry through.
• Risks to my (pension ) income?
• Challenging neoliberal Britain (again)
• 60/40 for yes needed
• If YES – negotiations become the key focus.
• If NO – politics goes on
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
myReferendum
A day like no other – voting day in Glasgow
Preceded by:
• Radical Independence Campaign & YES
• “Better Together” & NO
• Mass media & “Project Fear”
• Many meetings and discussions
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
Political Information
Political Campaign
Open availability Restricted access
“Noise” Leaflets, canvassing.
WingsOverScotland website
Wee Blue Book
Mass media commentary
Meetings: hustings, informal mtgs
Campaign groups
Social media
e.g. Scottish Govt.
“White paper” (2013)
e.g. Scottish Govt. briefing
papers anticipating “yes”;
internal company reports
Decision
Persuasive
arguments
Yes
No
Bill Johnston and Sheila
Webber, 2015
Aspects of Information Literacy
• Not just about “finding the right information”: also
about encountering, browsing, debating & reflecting
• Blended information behaviour (Webber, 2013) – face
to face, print, digital, thus -
– Interactions between sources e.g. Twitter at meetings;
Twitter trends to mass media; Website to print
• My Frame for Engaging acted as a lens and filter
• Simplified generalisations about “overload” or “lack of
skills” or “information scarcity” distort the complexity
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
Conclusions
• Political decisions are very complex and need a well developed concept of information literacy, which acknowledges the complexity.
• Media and Information Literacy concepts needed for political decision making analysis.
• Autoethnography is a potentially useful approach to developing ( media ) and information literacy research.
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
Sheila Webber
Twitter & SL: Sheila Yoshikawa
http://information-literacy.blogspot.com/
http://www.slideshare.net/sheilawebber/
Orcid ID 0000-0002-2280-9519
Bill Johnston
Honorary Research Fellow
University of Strathclyde
All photos by Sheila Webber
Questions
References
• Ellis, C., Adams, T.E. and Bochner, A.P. (2011). Autoethnography: an overview. Historical Social Research, 36 (4), 273-290
• Robertson, G. (2007). The Putney Debates. London: Verso.
• Webber, S. (2013) "Blended information behaviour in Second Life." Journal of information science, 39(1), 85–100.
• Webber, S. and Johnston, B. (2013) Transforming IL for HE in the 21st century: a Lifelong Learning approach. in Hepworth, M. and Walton, G. (Eds.) Developing people's information capabilities fostering information literacy in educational, workplace and community contexts. Emerald. pp.15-30.
Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber, 2015
