En egen värld gjord av information : Fan fiction författares sökning, användning och producering av information i Sci-Fi fandoms

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to identify the information behavior of fanfiction authors by applying Reijo Savolainen’s model of Everyday Life Information Seeking to the function of information in fandom spaces. Fandom is a group of people and a space that is constantly dealing with and surrounded by information, which requires specific strategies and knowledge to be able to search for and find information. Fanfiction authors are in a role where they both require information in order to produce their works, and creators of information which are of use to other members of the fandom and other fanfiction authors. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews with five fanfiction authors who write multi-chapter fanfictions in the Sci-Fi genre this study seeks to answer how they seek, choose and value information in the creation process of their work, how they produce information in their work, and how this behavior can be understood by applying the theory of Everyday Life Information Seeking. A thematic analysis identifies six recurring themes in the interviews: verification of sources; choice of platform for publication; social searching; passive searching; avoidance of searching; attitude towards and utilization of Wikis. The themes are then analyzed to identify whether the Everyday Life Information Seeking model fits these themes. This analysis shows that fanfiction authors have diverse and creative methods for searching for information, methods that are similar to ones developed for other areas of their life. They have good skills in evaluating sources but still end up selecting sources that might be inaccurate if it is more convenient or better suited, and they avoid seeking information they deem too difficult to find, understand, might elicit negative feelings, or they believe the reader won’t notice. In conclusion, fanfiction authors keep within a rigid role of authors, and do not aim to reproduce facts, but to tell a believable story, and in the process they become producers of information themselves.