“Bouncing ideas”: When participants use this phrase, what do they really mean?

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn a qualitative study of the information behavior of early career academics transitioning from doctoral studies to their first continuing academic positions, participants used the phrase “bouncing ideas” with relative frequency to describe their interactions with colleagues. Using constructivist grounded theory methodology, interviews with 20 early career academics were analyzed and for themes and sub‐themes. “Bouncing ideas” emerged as a sub‐theme, related to collegial information exchange, an important way early career academics find workplace information. Despite its common usage, the term remained vague in participant discussions and unexamined in the information science literature. This poster will investigate the meaning of “bouncing ideas” as used by participants, exploring its potential constituent parts including: information seeking, information sharing, collaboration, and information creation. ASIS&T conference attendees will be encouraged to think about and actively engage in discussion about the phrase, in an attempt to answer the research question, What does “bouncing ideas” mean?