Inner circles and outer reaches: local and global information-seeking habits of authors in acknowledgment paratext

Introduction. This research investigates paratextual acknowledgements in published codices in order to study how relationships inform the information-seeking habits of authors, an understudied group in library and information science. Method. A purposive sample consisting of the books from the 2010 nominations list of the Canadian Governor General's Literary Awards was chosen. An in-hand examination of the books was performed to identify the acknowledgement paratext. The sum of these paratextual parts formed the dataset. Analysis. A qualitative content analysis of the acknowledgement paratext was performed. Throughout this inductive analysis, memos were used to record the creation and refinement of categories, as well as the emerging results. Results.The research reveals that authors rely on people as information resources as well as for moral and emotional support. Sources include personal allies, communities, and publishing staff. Libraries and informational professionals are generally absent from the acknowledgement paratext. Conclusion. Authors seek and find support in their local or personal circles and in global or distant horizons. An information model, based on Robert Darnton's communication circuit, is proposed. Information practitioners may be able to build on cues from the acknowledged relationships in order to tailor services to this group of users.