Kunskap i det kreativa ordets tjänst : En studie i skönlitterära författares informationsbeteende

Sammanfattning: Purpose: There is very little research about fiction writers’ information behaviours. The aim of this paper is to explore this in an empirical study. It also aims to add understanding of how novelists’ information behaviour relates to their creative writing process.Approach: The exploratory study presents findings based on qualitative data from interviews with six professional novelists.Findings: The study found that the novelists have a wide and deep information need in their creative writing, and seek a large amount of information in their research. Seeking information appears also to be an important part of their creative process. The novelists in the study, like other artistic workers, take advantage of the internet and library, museum, and archive services in their information-seeking. They also practice some largely unique methods, namely visiting environments and interviewing people. The information novelists seek are of both objective and subjective nature.Research limitations: This is a relatively new professional group to study within information behaviour research, and the small sample prevents a conclusive analysis. Further quantitative and qualitative research would enhance and confirm the findings of this paper.