Information creation and the notion of membership

Purpose – This article aims to examine a particular sub‐set of human information behavior that has been largely overlooked in the library and information science (LIS) literature; how people are socialized to create and use information. Design/methodology/approach – Naturalism and ethnomethodology were used as theoretical frameworks to examine what a group of fifth grade students were taught about documents, how this information was imparted to them, and how social factors were manifested in the construction and form of those documents. Two concepts are shown to be critical in the explication of students as document creators and users: the notion that there is a “stock of knowledge” that underlies human interaction (some of which relates to recorded information), and that this socialization process forms part of a school's “hidden curriculum.” Findings – Students were socialized to be good (in the sense of being competent) creators and users of documents. Part of the role of “being a student” involved learning the underlying norms and values that existed in relation to document creation and use, as well as understanding other norms and values of the classroom that were captured or reflected by documents themselves. Understanding “document work” was shown to be a fundamental part of student affiliation; enabling students to move from precompetent to competent members of a school community. Originality/value – This research demonstrated that people possess a particular stock of knowledge from which they draw when creating and using information. Competence in this aspect of human information behavior, while partly based on one's own experience, is shown to be largely derived or learned from interaction with others.