Immigrant Information Seeking Behaviour: Policy Considerations for Information Provision and Access

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Immigrant Information Seeking BehaviourPolicy
Considerations for Information Provision and
Access
Nadia Caidi Danielle Allard Faculty of
Information Studies University of Toronto
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Overview

• What we know
• Information needs and uses theories
• Rethinking social inclusion
• Social capital/social networks
• What we are learning
• Ongoing studies
• IPEC
• DAs dissertation - Living Here and There
• HRSDC Report - What Role do ICTs Play?

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Stages of Settlement and Associated Needs

• Settlement Process involves (Mwarigha, 2002)
• Stage 1 Pressing matters / Survival needs
• Food, shelter, orientation in city, language,
  health, etc.
• Stage 2 Navigating the system and institutions
• Municipal and legal services, long-term housing,
  health services, education, employment, etc.
• Stage 3 Sense of Belonging and Equal
  participation
• Not only do new immigrants need to know how to
  survive in their new home, but they also need to
  feel as though they belong and can contribute to
  the society in which they live.

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Immigrants Information Behaviour

• Little is known about the information behaviour
  of immigrants because they are a heterogeneous
  group at different stages of the immigration
  process.
• New immigrants are at greater risk of lacking
  access to information sources because they may be
  unfamiliar with Canadian information environment
• New immigrant are at risk of becoming
  information
• poor
• Social networks are significant information
• sources for vulnerable populations, but many
• new immigrants do not have social networks when
• they arrive in Canada.

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Information Use Framework

• Everyday life information seeking (ELIS)
  individuals require and seek information on a
  daily basis in order to manage their daily lives
  (Savolainen, 1995)
• Information Poverty lacking necessary resources
  such as adequate social networks, social capital,
  and information finding skills that enable
  everyday life information seeking (Chatman, 1996)
  
• Social Capital resources embedded in social
  networks accessed and used by actors for action
  (Lin, 2001)

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Social Networks

• Role in mediating access to information resources
• Contributes to our understanding of the social
  and cultural context of the information practices
  of newcomers
• Newcomers may not have a fully
• developed social network upon
• arrival to Canada

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Social Networks (2)

• Social networks may not be adequate (i.e., in
  terms of the size, density and strength of
  network ties) to facilitate newcomer transition
  to their adopted society.
• Social networks are significant information
  sources for vulnerable and low income
  populations
• Social networks are assets that information
  providers must take into account

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Information and Social Inclusion

• Lack of information or lack of meaningful access
  to information is a fundamental facet of social
  inclusion those without proper access to
  information risk being socially excluded.
• Information provision is a key component of
  social inclusion (Caidi Allard, 2005)

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Social Inclusion

• Social inclusion can be viewed as a multifaceted
  process
• Requires individuals to be included into society
  and their communities on various fronts
  (economic, cultural, social, political, etc.)
• Need for reorganizing of institutional
  infrastructures and practices
• Access to information is imperative for large
  scale social inclusion (cultural relevance,
  usability, literacies and skills, etc.)

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What we know

• Immigrants tend to prefer to seek information
  from other human sources, particularly other
  immigrants (Fisher et al, 2004 Silvio, 2006)
• Trust may play a large role in selecting
  information sources (Fisher et al, 2004 Sligo
  Jameson, 2000)
• Information practices build local
• networks (Chien, 2005 Dechief, 2006)
• International sources such as websites
• may create feelings of closeness with
• home (Sampredo, 1998)

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What we are learning

• Ongoing Studies
• Information Practices of Ethno-cultural
  Communities (IPEC)
• DAs dissertation - Living Here and There
  Exploring the Transnational Information Practices
  of New Immigrants to Toronto
• HRSDC Report - Including Immigrants in Canadian
  Society What Role do ICTs Play?

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IPEC

• Aim
• To study how immigrant communities in the
  Greater Toronto Area find and use information
  they need in their everyday lives
• 2 Objectives
• to explore the impacts of culture on
• information practices how does ones
• culture affect information seeking behavior
• and use? Does relevance mean different
• things in different cultures?
• to examine the influence of the
• characteristics of social networks on the
  search
• for information among new immigrants to
  Canada

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IPEC

• Methods
• In-depth questionnaire of 300 new immigrants to
  Canada (arrived within 5 years) from
• China
• India
• Iran
• Inquiring about
• Information sources
• Information practices how do new immigrants
  seek information?
• Social networks

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IPEC Cultural Relevancy

• Newcomers and immigrant groups have varied
  backgrounds and different experiences with
  information, its institutions and its
  technologies
• We need to understanding metaphors associated
  with libraries and information systems (e.g.
  health) across cultures

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IPEC Immigrant Social Networks

• New immigrants tend to have small local networks
• but what about their transnational network ties?

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Living Here and There Transnationalism

• Immigrants live their lives simultaneously here
  and there (Smith, 2001)
• Immigration is a process of ties and
  connections whereby many immigrants will sustain
  relationships (i.e. ongoing communication,
  remittances, and political participation etc.)
  with their home country
• Transnational network ties may provide access to
  resources not available through local ties

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Living Here and There

• Objectives
• to examine the composition of new immigrant local
  and transnational networks
• to examine how new immigrants mobilize the
  resources in their networks during settlement
• to examine the settlement information seeking
  context of new immigrants
• Method
• Questionnaire In-depth interviews to new
  immigrants to Toronto from India (arrived within
  3 years)

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What Role do ICTs play?

• Objective
• to examine immigrant uses of ICTs
• to determine how ICTs contribute (or not) to
  social inclusion
• Method
• Literature Review
• Interviews with employees at ICT providing
  organizations in 5 Canadian cities

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What Role do ICTs play?

• The impact of ICTs
• Immigrants are less likely to be digitally
  connected.
• ICTs have changed the nature and frequency of
  contact with home
• ICTs provide new types of cultural consumption
  (online newspapers, newsgroups, chat rooms, and
  access to home country Internet sites).
• ICTs have changed employment seeking practices
  and opportunities

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What Role do ICTs play?

• Preliminary Findings
• Immigrants use ICTs for a range of purposes
  including
• Developing skills for Canadian context
• Maintaining ties and connections with home
• Internet training for new immigrants is needed at
  all skill levels
• Public spaces where ICTs are being accessed also
  contribute to social inclusion because they
  contribute to social network building
• Further funding and resources are needed in this
  area

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In lieu of a conclusion.

• Information providers must take into
  consideration the complex location of immigrant
  lives - including the resources they have,
  barriers they face, and their understandings of
  the world.
• A social inclusion approach will draw on the
  strengths within immigrants lives to facilitate
  their inclusion into a world shaped and
  articulated by immigrants and native born
  alike.

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References

• Caidi, N. Allard, D. (2005). "Social Inclusion
  of Newcomers to Canada An Information Problem?."
  Library Information Science Research, 27(3),
  302-324.
• Caidi, N. Allard, D. (2005). Policy Matters
  Series, No. 23, CERIS publication.
  (http//ceris.metropolis.net/PolicyMatter/2005/Pol
  icyMatters23.pdf)
• Caidi, N Allard, D., Dechief, D. Longford, G.
  (2007). Including Immigrants in Canadian
  Society What role do ICTs play?
• Report to HRSDC, Strategic Policy Division.
• Chien, Elise. (2005). Informing and Involving
  Newcomers
• Online. MA Thesis, Faculty of Information
  Studies,
• University of Toronto.
• Dechief, Diane. (2006). Recent Immigrants as an
  alternate
• civic core Providing Internet services,
  gaining Canadian
• experiences. MA Thesis, Communication Studies.
• Concordia University.

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Contact

• Nadia Caidi and Danielle Allard Faculty of
  Information Studies (University of Toronto)
• Phone [phone]
• Email nadia.caidi_at_utoronto.ca
  allard_at_utoronto.ca
• URL http//www3.fis.utoronto.ca/faculty/caidi/hom
  e.html