README file for: Data for “Every step is moving me up - an information behaviour study of hikers on the West Highland Way” This is associated data from a PhD thesis, titled “Every step is moving me up - an information behaviour study of hikers on the West Highland Way”, and contains the following: thesis abstract; demographic data for participants; photographs taken during data collection; participant information sheet, consent form and interview questions; sound recordings made on location on the West Highland Way; and transcripts of interviews with participants. Abstract This thesis explores the information behaviour of hikers on the West Highland Way (WHW), a long-distance hiking route in Scotland. This route has not been studied from an information science perspective before, placing findings in a novel context. To do so, the research focused on how embodied information was experienced by hikers on the WHW, how they sought, gathered and shared information in situ and how their information behaviour might inform wellbeing benefits during their walk. Ethnographic methods were used to conduct interviews in situ and then the qualitative data was subjected to reflexive thematic analysis, revealing a number of discoveries. The WHW is a rich field of embodied information, containing environmental embodied information, embodied information from within, embodied information from others and embodied information recorded using technology, developing new understanding of embodied information in physical activities. Information behaviour on the WHW was characterised by low information needs, which ran counter to everyday life information settings, and this made the activity pleasurable and memorable, placing information needs in a novel context relating to serious leisure activities. Wellbeing benefits were widely reported, principally in improved mindsets of walkers. These, and other benefits, were informed by environmental embodied information, low information needs, exchange of social information and immersion in the cultural heritage of the route. Reflections on this study show that embodied information and wellbeing benefits are ripe for further exploration from an information behaviour viewpoint, particularly in physical activities and creative fields, giving a more holistic view of information behaviour. Recommendations are made for the WHW to become a European Cultural Heritage Route, as well as proposals for the maintenance and promotion of this, and other, long-distance walking routes. Through this study, embodied information, information needs and wellbeing benefits have been placed into novel contexts for information behaviour research. Demographic data This is data that was extracted from audio interviews conducted in situ on the West Highland Way. Data are presented in one .csv file, titled “Demographic question analysis.csv”, and have been processed to be de-identifiable. Photographs Photographs are presented here as part of the ethnographic record of conducting data gathering in situ as I walked the West Highland Way in May 2022, with an additional photo from a personal trip to walk the West Highland Way in May 2021, which demonstrates how I made sound recordings of the route. They can provide some context of what parts of the route looked like as I, and the participants, walked it. The files are all .jpegs and are titled with information about where they were taken. Research instruments I have shared the following research instruments: participant information sheet, consent form and interview questions. These are shared in .pdf format and may be of use to anyone conducting research into similar themes, concepts, activities or in similar research gathering fields. Sound recordings The collection of sound recordings were made during a personal trip to walk the West Highland Way in May 2021 and in a data gathering capacity in May 2022. As with the photographs, they were made as part of the ethnographic record of the data gathering and provide a sonic representation of the research field. They may be of interest for anyone studying the West Highland Way itself, anyone looking to explore the use of sound recordings in information behaviour studies, or even as a listening experience to have a broader understanding of the research field. Sound files are all provided here as .wavs and have been titled according to the date and location of the recordings. All recordings were made on a Tascam dr-100mkiii handheld audio recorder, provided by the University of Strathclyde, with a wind protector over the microphones. Some recordings were made while stopped at a location on or near the path of the West Highland Way, some others were made while walking sections of the route itself. One of the audio files, titled “Every Step Is Moving Me Up.wav”, is a collage of some of the recordings I made to feature in presentations of the thesis and to share for free on Bandcamp ( https://keithmunro.bandcamp.com/track/every-step-is-moving-me-up ). Transcripts Transcripts of the audio recorded interviews are provided in .pdf format and have been edited to not include directly identifiable data of participants. These transcripts may be of use to anyone wanting to explore how I applied thematic analysis of the interview data. Details of my thematic analysis approach are detailed in the third chapter of my thesis, please see attached link 10.48730/pbvd-6q97 , and would allow for a user to check my themes and excerpts match up to the transcripts. The transcripts would also be of benefit to anyone wanting to study the West Highland Way from a different perspective, as well as those who are interested in the concepts of embodied information, Hektor’s information behaviour model (Hektor, 2001) and wellbeing benefits from long-distance walking. They can also provide evidence of my use of ethnographic methods in the field, for anyone looking to adopt these in other information behaviour studies. References Hektor, A. (2001) What's the Use?: Internet and information behavior in everyday life. Anders Hektor.