The impoverished life-world of outsiders

Drawing upon a series of studies that examines the information world of poor people, the author discovers four critical concepts that serve as the basis for defining an impoverished life-world. These concepts are risk-taking, secrecy, deception, and situational relevance. Moving back and forth among the worlds of janitors, single mothers, and an aging population, the author develops a conceptual framework that links the world of the information poor—the outsiders—with a world of insiders. Paradoxically, the author finds that the very existence of two worlds is in itself a hindrance to information seeking and sharing behaviors. Insiders, because of their status, reinforce information poverty by neglecting to accept sources of information not created by themselves. The author's findings thus indicate that the world of insiders is one in which outsiders are not sought for information and advice and is a world in which norms and mores define what is important and what is not. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.