Staying close to the subject of Fife’s investigation, let us look at a school library. In order to understand our users we would have to understand its wider social, cultural and historical context, current legislation and the expectations of those who use the library. An understanding of these factors would establish context and background for the locally situated investigation. As an ethnographer this is part of immersing yourself into the reality of your research participants. As I said earlier, ethnographic studies in LIS tend to be conducted by researchers who are already situated within a particular context or at least approaching the research having existed within a similar social milieu. Even so, the use of historical and current primary sources is a must before you engage in empirical data collection. We enter a context with an open mind but that is not the same as an empty head.