{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T04:27:49Z","timestamp":1774326469008,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,13]],"date-time":"2017-03-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1489363200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JD"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,3,13]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In this conceptual essay, the purpose of this paper is to argue that the structure of databases and other information systems provides valuable information beyond their content. The author contends that reading databases \u2013 as a separate, distinct activity from retrieving and reading the documents that databases contain \u2013 is an under-studied form of human-information interaction. Because the act of reading databases encourages awareness, reflection, and control over information systems, the author aligns the author\u2019s proposal with \u201cslow\u201d principles, as exemplified by the slow food movement.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This paper presents an extended argument to demonstrate the value of reading a database. Reading a database involves understanding the relationship between database structure and database content as an interpretation of the world. For example, when a supermarket puts vermicelli in the pasta section but rice vermicelli in the Asian section, the supermarket suggests that rice vermicelli is more \u201cAsian\u201d than \u201cnoodle.\u201d To construct the author\u2019s argument, the author uses examples that range from everyday, mundane activities with information systems (such as using maps and automated navigation systems) to scientific and technical work (systematic reviews of medical evidence).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The slow, interpretively focused information interactions of reading databases complement the \u201cfast information\u201d approach of outcome-oriented retrieval. To facilitate database reading activities, research should develop tools that focus user attention on the application of database structure to database contents. Another way of saying this is that research should exploit the interactive possibilities of metadata, either human-created or algorithmically generated.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This paper argues that information studies research focuses too heavily on seeking and retrieval. Seeking and retrieval are just two of the many interactions that constitute our everyday activities with information. Reading databases is an area particularly ripe with design possibilities.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/jd-03-2016-0030","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,22]],"date-time":"2017-02-22T11:36:36Z","timestamp":1487763396000},"page":"336-356","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Reading databases: slow information interactions beyond the retrieval paradigm"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"73","author":[{"given":"Melanie","family":"Feinberg","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"5","key":"key2020120811295367500_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"575","DOI":"10.1016\/0306-4573(90)90103-9","article-title":"Where should the person stop and the information search interface start?","volume":"26","year":"1990","journal-title":"Information Processing and Management"},{"issue":"3","key":"key2020120811295367500_ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"294","DOI":"10.1177\/0165551515621691","article-title":"Information and the gaining of understanding","volume":"42","year":"2016","journal-title":"Journal of Information Science"},{"key":"key2020120811295367500_ref003","article-title":"\u2018A different kind of knowing\u2019: speculations on understanding in light of the philosophy of information","year":"2016"},{"issue":"2","key":"key2020120811295367500_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"61","DOI":"10.1108\/eb026722","article-title":"ASK for information retrieval: part 1: background and theory","volume":"38","year":"1982","journal-title":"Journal of Documentation"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2020120811295367500_ref005","first-page":"1795","article-title":"The theory\/data thing","volume":"8","year":"2014","journal-title":"International Journal of Communication"},{"key":"key2020120811295367500_ref006","unstructured":"Bui, A. 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