Purpose

Studies on the information behaviour of immigrants including refugees across the globe show a significant dependency of immigrants on their informal networks for meeting various settlement and everyday life information needs. Although there are quite a few studies in LIS that globally report the dependency of immigrants on their personal networks, very little is known about their experiences with their informal personal networks in the contexts of their settlement in informational terms. This paper explores the information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada consulting informal networks including broader Bangladeshi community people in pre- and post-arrival contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a mixed-method approach including semi-structured interviews (n = 60) and surveys (n = 205) with Bangladeshi immigrants who arrived in Canada between the years of 1971 and 2017. Interview data were analysed thematically, and descriptive statistics are used to describe the survey data relevant to this study.

Findings

Although the overall scope of the original study is much larger, this paper features findings on the information experience derived from an analysis of the interview data with some relevant references to the survey data when deemed appropriate. This paper provides insights into the information experiences of Bangladeshi immigrants within their personal networks, including friends, family and ethnic community people. The findings of this study show that participants sometimes received discouraging, unhelpful or wrong information from their personal networks. The multiple dimensions of the information experiences of the study participants show the many consequences for their settlement lives. For some participants, settlement was particularly impacted by the concept of “information sharing fear” that emerged from the interviews. Information sharing fear relates to concerns that sharing information about the challenges faced by newcomers could be considered by potential immigrants as a kind of active “discouragement”. Participants described being sensitive to charges of envy or jealousy when they shared information related to challenges newcomers face, as friends and family see them as trying to prevent competition for social status.

Originality/value

The findings related to the information experiences of immigrants consulting informal networks has potential implications for research in various discipline such as LIS, migrational studies and psychology that explore the benefits of social networks in newcomers' settlement. The study also sets a ground to take a more holistic approach to the information experiences of newcomers, not just naming the sources newcomers utilize in settlement and everyday life contexts. The study also provides some future directions to comprehensively understand the culturally situated information behaviour of various immigrant groups.

中文翻译：

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孟加拉国加拿大移民的信息经验

目的

对包括全球难民在内的移民的信息行为的研究表明，移民严重依赖其非正式网络来满足各种定居和日常生活中的信息需求。尽管LIS中有许多研究报告了全球移民对个人网络的依赖性，但对于他们在非正式环境下以信息形式解决的非正式个人网络的经验知之甚少。本文探讨了加拿大孟加拉移民在咨询非正式网络方面的信息经验，这些网络包括在抵达前后的广泛孟加拉国社区人士。

设计/方法/方法

这项研究采用混合方法，包括 对1971年至2017年间抵达加拿大的孟加拉国移民进行半结构式访谈（n  = 60）和调查（n = 205）。对访谈数据进行了主题分析，描述性统计数据如下：用于描述与此研究相关的调查数据。

发现

尽管原始研究的总体范围要大得多，但本文认为，通过对访谈数据的分析得出的信息经验的发现，以及在认为适当时对调查数据的一些相关引用。本文提供了对孟加拉国移民在其个人网络（包括朋友，家人和种族社区人士）中的信息体验的见解。这项研究的结果表明，参与者有时会从其个人网络中收到令人沮丧，无助或错误的信息。研究参与者的信息体验的多个维度表明了他们定居生活的许多后果。对于某些参与者，定居点尤其受到访谈中出现的“信息共享恐惧”概念的影响。信息共享的恐惧与担心新移民面临的挑战的信息共享有关，潜在的移民可能会将其视为一种积极的“不鼓励”。参与者说，当他们分享与新来者面临的挑战有关的信息时，他们会嫉妒或嫉妒，因为朋友和家人认为他们试图阻止竞争社会地位。

创意/价值

与移民咨询非正式网络的信息经验有关的发现，对LIS，移民研究和心理学等各个学科的研究具有潜在的启示，这些研究探索了社交网络在新移民定居中的益处。该研究还为采取新的方式来了解新移民的信息打下基础，而不仅仅是命名新移民在定居和日常生活环境中使用的资源。该研究还提供了一些未来的方向，以全面了解各种移民群体在文化上的信息行为。