I. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior II. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups

I.Theories of Information-Seeking

Behavior

II.Information-Gathering Process by

Selected Groups

I.Theories of Information-Seeking

Behavior

Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior

• activities a person may engage in when identifying his or her own needs for information

• searching for such information in any way

• and using or transferring that information (T.D. Wilson 1999)

Information behavior


nested model of the information behavior, information-seeking behavior, information searching behavior areas

•dimension of information behavior studied •methods•purposes and applicationinformation-

searchbehavior

information-seekingbehavior

informationbehavior


• interactions between information-searcher and information-provider

• limited to the design of information retrieval (IR) systems

• models of users in interaction with IR systems (Saracevic, Belkin, Ingwersen)

Information-searching behavior


• Wilson (1981)

• Dervin (1983, 1996)

• Ellis (1989); with Cox and Hall (1993)

• Kuhlthau (1991)

• Wilson (1996)

5 Models of Information(-Seeking) Behavior


Dervin’s Sense-Making Framework

GAP OUTCOME

SITUATION


Ellis’ Behavioral Framework & Kuhlthau’s Stage Process Model

STAGE Initiation Selection/Exploration Formulation Collection Presentation

Recognize Identify / Formulate Gather Complete

ACTIVITY

Starting Chaining Differentiating Extracting Verifying >Ending

Browsing

Monitoring


• Ellis & Kuhlthau: active search mode of information-seeking behavior

• Dervin: framework for exploring the totality of information behavior (exploration of the context in which information needs arise to the means whereby need is satisfied either through active searching or otherwise)

5 Models of Information(-Seeking) Behavior


Wilson’s Model of Information behavior

Information user

Success

Need

Information-seeking behavior

Information use

Satisfaction or non-satisfaction

Other people

Failure

Demands on otherinformation sources

Demands on information systems

Information exchange

Information transfer


• theories are models of methodologies, rather than a model of a set of activities or a situation

• case studies of information-seeking behavior (empirical component) are driven by theories and models of methodologies


• Quantitative methods not appropriate for the study of human behavior (counting of number of visits to libraries, number of personal subscriptions to journals, citation practices)

positivist tradition (1940s to 1970s)


• Qualitative methods appropriate for the study of human behavior (from allied work in related areas that have built robust theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches)

• emergence of general models of information behavior in the last 10-15 years)

post-positivist tradition (from the early 1970s)

An Integrated Model of Information-Seeking Behaviors

• iterative model of information-seeking behavior (series of interactions, learning process by the user, implications for design of IR systems)

• two-step flow of communication model and the notion of the “gatekeeper”

• informal transfer of information between individuals (information exchanges)

An Integrated Model of Information-Seeking Behaviors

• uncertainty vs. relevance as focus

II.Information-Gathering Process by

Selected Groups

Information-Gathering by Selected Groups

(information needs of four professional groups)

Decision-makersProblem-solversPeople-centeredSelf-expression

Information Needs of Four Professional Groups

• politicians, public administrators, judges, managers, supervisors, business people, institution presidents

• scientists, researchers, engineers, architects, philosophers, planners, statisticians, economists, computer programmers

Decision-makers

Problem-solvers


• doctors, lawyers, police, firefighters, clergy, information specialists, social workers, teachers

• actors, musicians, authors, sculptors, composers, photographers, decorators

People-centered

Self-expression


sample questions each group might ask

What must I know about a subject?

What could I know about a subject?

What should I know about a subject?What would I like to know about a subject?


• task oriented

• goal-oriented

• people-oriented

• expression-oriented

Decision-makers

Problem-solvers

information need /goal

People-centeredSelf-expression


• human-human and human-machine interaction

• aggregated / synthesized / capsulated

• indicators / trends

• “smoothed out” to eliminate aberrations

• assistants and other surrogates

Decision-makers

information modes /resources



• factual / quantitative / detailed / specific

• observations and measurements (data)

• browsing

• documents and literature

Problem-solvers




• “who to see,” “where to go,” “when to do”

• coping

• standards and guidelines / laws, rules, regulations

• “how to use,” “where to find”

People-centered




• travel / visits

• dreams

• observations

• impressions

Self-expression


Implications for Information Service, IR System Development

R.T. Morris: Toward a User-Centered Information Service. JASIS 45 (1) 1994

• forms of delivery • resources• role of information

professionals (intermediaries) and end-users

Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups

conceptual models about information held in a subject domain, by a group of users

user studies focus on information-seeking behaviors of distinct professional groups because these differences among various user populations determine how they organize information for retrieval

•


personal information systems (individual’s information handling)

public schemes (depend on convention)

•


user’s motivation in storage and retrieval of text is important in how personal information space is organized

•


Carol Kuhlthau: The Role of Experience in the Information Search Process of an Early Career Information Worker: Perceptions of Uncertainty, Complexity, Construction, and Sources. JASIS 50(5) 1999

INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS

• longitudinal study of a securities’ analyst

• process of information seeking and decision making are intertwined and in recursive interaction



• study of sources of information used, and of the process of seeking information

• sources: information about events and relationships in a company’s outside environment the knowledge of which would assist top management in its task of charting the company’s future action



• External Personal• External Impersonal• Internal Personal• Internal Impersonal

categories of sources



• EP (customers, competitors, government officers, business associates)

• EI (newspapers, periodicals, broadcast media, conferences, industry and trade association publications and communication)

• IP (superiors, board members, subordinate managers, staff)

• II (internal memos, reports and studies, corporate library, and electronic sources)



• Internal Channels • External Channels• Institutional Resources

classification of sources (Baldwin and Rice 1997)



• Internal Channels (newspapers read, magazines read, personal files maintained, and other securities analysts consulted)

• External Channels (company contacts, visits to companies, annual meetings/trade shows, research report recipients)

• Institutional Resources (use of external and internal libraries)


environmental scanning

• viewing• nonspecific

information seeking

• undirected or conditional

• searching• problem-driven

information seeking

• informal or formal



environmental scanning

• viewing• undirected (casual

exposure to information)• conditional (purposeful

but nonspecific such as browsing a newspaper)

• searching• informal (unstructured,

cursory check of current facts or data)

• formal (structured and in-depth, directed to a specific problem)




• complex tasks require more varied sources than routine tasks, diversified approaches to information seeking, interpretation and construction of information, and result in increased uncertainty and anxiety


Donald Case: Conceptual Organization and Retrieval of Text by Historians: The Role of Memory and Metaphor. JASIS 42(9) 1991

HISTORIANS

• Case designs a study of information systems of historians (teachers and researchers and observes the patterns of behavior with regard to: spatial organization, organization by form, organization by topic)


HISTORIANS

• method of research: participant-observation, interviews

• personal ISAR systems of historians (spatial logic of PIS focuses on offices, how they organize piles of documents, what media they use, how they process information from the information sources and recall / retrieve documents at a later time)


HISTORIANS

spatial organization

organization by form aesthetics as sorting criterion, form over content

(oversized, paperbound, old/new)

keep like things together and close at hand (reminding function)


HISTORIANS

organization by topic

organization by treatment, purpose, quality purpose as sorting criterion

(good and bad books, textbooks and research books, etc.)

keep like things together and close at hand (reminding function)


HISTORIANS

• number of filing cabinet drawers and other storage devices, linear footage of books, journals and notebooks in offices and how arranged

• number of stacks of material lying around the office (19-49) -- physical scheme of organization, not categorical!• sometimes used spatial orientation and other times space in combination with specific labels

spatial organization


HISTORIANS

• subjects’ decisions on how to organize documents is individual not based on document characteristics (Kwasnik: order of importance determined by context, form, use, topic, location, circumstance)

• levels of information storage determine organization of documents: action, personal work files, archive

• examples of movement in these 3 levels: once a semester we clean up our working spaces to be able to reuse information not needed now)


HISTORIANS

• metaphorical use of space: proximity to the chair denotes urgency

• spatial clues -- interaction needed to remember and recall (appropriate only for immediate action, reminder of what to do)

• weakens as interaction with documents decreases


HISTORIANS

• problems with retrieval in systems organized around space (losing files, misplacing information, need to rely on memory for recall)

• memorizing possible through visualization of details (facts in physical structures)

• spatial logic of elements is less vital while knowledge of category structures becomes more important as information is moved from action, personal working files, to archived files


HISTORIANS

• crowding does not hinder but improve cognitive recall (although historians apologized for their offices being untidy); arrangement otherwise would destroy links and patterns and associations that are mnemonic

• card is a powerful metaphor for historians who are trained to collect information in card-like chunks (conceptual nature of the card as unit of information, a single, multiple instance of ideas, evidence, question, quotation, document)


HISTORIANS


sporadic efforts to build and maintain indexing / elaborate filing systems which are abandoned

labeling is difficult because tied to physical object (objects fall into more categories) -- need to produce a card system that would be access to the location of items which are in different formats or make duplicates (impractical to index that way)


HISTORIANS


reasons for abandoning filing systems is that indexing in paper-and-pencil environment entails high costs for the benefits received in later retrieval

indexing card system used by historians: systems to aid writing (detailed chronologies in case of historians), keeping track of literature


HISTORIANS

implications of findings

How to implement spatial dimensions in computer interface and to enrich temporal and physical retrieval cues for electronic files?

Evidence of inadequacy of existing display and manipulation devices for historians.


HISTORIANS

implications of findings for system development

1. Thoughts / ideas are knowledge spaces in search of a physical location for storage

2. Historians use chronological and geographical facets for information rather than standard vocabulary for topics (display devices needed: maps, chronological)

3. Tactile associations with the material (sensory gloves for document manipulation)


Susie Cobbledick: The Information-Seeking Behavior of Artists: Exploratory Interviews. Library Quarterly 66(4) 1994

ARTISTS

• method of research: in-depth interviews with 4 artists (sculptor, painter, fiber artists, metalsmith)

• neglected group of information professionals


ARTISTS

• inspirational information (sources of ideas, moods, emotions, general or suggestive visual information)

• technical information • information about current developments in the

visual arts• shows, commissions, and sales• technology, books

sources


ARTISTS

• artists make substantial use of libraries and print materials

• much of this material is not art related• they typically find this material by browsing

within specific subject areas• they make substantial use of interpersonal

sources to obtain technical information and information about developments in the local art scene

sources


ARTISTS

• survey instrument designed to aid data collection from this group

• age, educational background, medium of creative expression, geographic location

• sources of visual and inspirational information• sources of technical information• sources of information about current developments in the visual

arts• shows, commissions, and sales• library use, technology use, book use• reliance on gatekeepers and invisible colleges

information needs profile


ARTISTS

• libraries for artists need to be heavy on print materials whose verbal and visual content covers a wide array of topics without an undue emphasis on art

• portability of materials is important (need to take visual information to the studio)

• high-quality photocopying should be available on the premises, and material should be circulating; access to hardware and software for multiplication

Implications for building libraries for artists


ARTISTS

• size of the collection: small but concentrated• sources: technical manuals, visual arts journals,

art monographs• MARC records should be enhanced to include

information about illustrations• development of visual databanks

Implications for building libraries for artists


P. Sandstrom: An Optimal Foraging Approach to Information Seeking and Use. Library Quarterly 64(4) 1994

SCIENTISTS

• foraging theory


John Agada: Inner-City Gatekeepers: An Exploratory Survey of Their Information Use Environments. JASIS 1999

SOCIAL GROUP: AFR0-AMERICANS

• disadvantaged groups and communities


SOCIAL GROUPS

• cf. Metoyer-Duran: developed set of profiles based on study of ethno-linguistic gatekeepers in the American-Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Latino communities in California; Agada: African-American community gatekeepers

community information need profile


B. Hjoerland and H. Albrechtsen: Toward a New Horizon in Information Science: Domain-Analysis. JASIS 46(6) 1995

DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES

• domain analysis --social aspects of information-seeking process

Documents

I. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior II. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups