There’s no shortcut: Building understanding from information in ultrarunning

Now that information proliferates, information science should turn its attention towards higher order epistemic aims, such as understanding. Before systems to support the building of understanding can be designed, the process of building understanding must be explored. This article discusses the findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis study on the information experience of participants in a 100-mile footrace which reveal how these participants have built understanding in their athletic pursuits. Three ways in which ultrarunners build understanding – by taking time, by undergoing struggle and by incorporating multiple perspectives – are described. The ensuing discussion leads to three questions that can guide the future development of information systems that support understanding: First, how can information science slow people down? Second, how can information science encourage people to willingly struggle? And, third, how can information science stimulate analogical thinking?