Jenna Hartel

Biography

Jenna Hartel holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Information Studies from the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. As a child, she had an uncommon enjoyment of information realized in a love of reading, keeping diaries, and writing letters. Today, her research is organized around one question: What is the nature of information in the pleasures of life? She is investigating this matter through the concatenated study of information phenomena in serious leisure — cherished, information-rich pursuits such as hobbies. Her empirical research explores the content, structure, and use of leisure information on personal and social levels, and her theoretical work aims to characterize the nature of information in leisure realms. She has published on these topics in JASIS&T, the Journal of Documentation, Knowledge Organization, and Information Research; and she is the author of the article “Leisure and Hobby Information and its User” for the recent edition of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences (2010).Jenna Hartel holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Information Studies from the Department of Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. As a child, she had an uncommon enjoyment of information realized in a love of reading, keeping diaries, and writing letters. Today, her research is organized around one question: What is the nature of information in the pleasures of life? She is investigating this matter through the concatenated study of information phenomena in serious leisure — cherished, information-rich pursuits such as hobbies. Her empirical research explores the content, structure, and use of leisure information on personal and social levels, and her theoretical work aims to characterize the nature of information in leisure realms. She has published on these topics in JASIS&T, the Journal of Documentation, Knowledge Organization, and Information Research; and she is the author of the article “Leisure and Hobby Information and its User” for the recent edition of the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Sciences (2010).

Research Interest

Viewing herself as an interdisciplinary social scientist, Professor Hartel primarily conducts research in three related areas. These include information phenomena in serious leisure, ethnography and visual methods, and the history and theory of information studies. She examines the nature of information in the pleasures of life through the concatenated study of serious leisure realms, viewing these as crossroads of information and enjoyment. Her empirical research explores the use and structure of leisure information on personal and social levels. Her dissertation was a case study of information phenomena in the hobby of gourmet cooking. Professor Hartel is a methodologist and practicing ethnographer with a particular interest in visual techniques. She is presently the originator of the iSquare Research Program (www.iSquares.info), which applies arts-informed methods to generate a fresh perspective on the concep tof information. Professor Hartel takes an interdisciplinary approach and is involved in sociology and leisure studies, especially through collaboration with Dr. Robert A. Stebbins. For theoretical resources and inspiration she draws heavily upon northern European information scholarship in library and information science. Her goals are to generate basic knowledge about information in the pleasures of life; challenge existing ideas that have largely emerged from academic problem scenarios; establish positive models of organic, flourishing information environments; enliven classrooms with upbeat topics; and enrich the information experience for leisure enthusiasts.