The role of the internet in information seeking. Putting the networked services in context

The role of the internet in information seeking. Putting thenetworked services in context

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Reijo Savolainen*

Department of Information Studies, University of Tampere, P.O. Box 607, 33101 Tampere, Finland

Abstract

The author explores the place of the internet among other sources and channels in informationseeking. Both qualitative and quantitative data were combined in the study. In 1997, the authorconducted 23 theme interviews in Tampere, Finland, Secondly, the data of the national survey on theuse of information technology at Finnish households conducted in 1996, based on the interviews of 2360persons, aged 10±74 yr, were utilized. Both the features of job-related and nonwork information seekingwill be discussed; however, the emphasis is on the latter. The conceptual framework of the study drawson the ®ndings of the studies of computer-mediated communication and the uses and grati®cationsapproach; the ideas of the `media richness' theory and the `social in¯uence' theory are also utilized. E-mail and WWW appeared to be the most frequently used services in information seeking, but discussiongroups and IRC were also utilized to some extent. The major research criteria for preferring the internetare the (relative) easiness of accessing a huge amount of data, savings in time and money, theopportunity to consult a number of experts simultaneously and a greater independence of certain timeand place in information seeking. Thus far, the internet has not been able to supplant other sources andchannels but rather complements them. This is evident, for example, in the utilization of electronicnewspapers in the search for orienting information. # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Currently there is much talk (and hype) about the dramatic changes brought by the internet

in communication and information seeking. This might be due to the fact that in recent years,

Information Processing and Management 35 (1999) 765±782

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people's use of electronic networks has increased rapidly; the internet is no longer a channelavailable only to a minor elite in universities and business enterprises.In recent years, the role of the electronic services, in particular, the internet has been given

much attention in information seeking studies. This applies to both job-related and nonworkinformation seeking. In most cases, the studies have discussed the frequency or the regularityof the use of networked services per se, without attempting to place them in a broader contextof information seeking practices (on the major approaches to network use studies: Savolainen,1998c). However, there are some examples where the role of the internet is related to othermedia (on the job-related studies e.g. Barry, 1997; Nicholas et al., 1997; Peterson Bishop, 1996;nonwork use is discussed by Christiansen, 1996). These attempts are welcomed since it isevident that the deeper meaning of networked services in information seeking can only bespeci®ed by relating them to other sources and channels.Based on the analysis of theme interviews of 23 informants in 1997 and quantitative data

received from a national survey conducted in Finland in 1996, the present paper explores therole of the internet in information seeking (empirical results also in Savolainen, 1998a, 1998b).Both the features of job-related and nonwork information seeking will be discussed; however,the emphasis is on the latter. The major research questions are as follows: (i) by which criteriaare the networked sources preferred in information seeking and (ii) to what extent does theinternet replace other media in this context? Focusing on the criteria of media choice meansthat the issues of information seeking are approached at the macro level; thus, speci®cquestions of IR studies scrutinizing, e.g. navigation strategies in the WWW, are excluded. Thetheoretical framework and the empirical data will be speci®ed below.

2. Information seeking from networked sources

Recently, there are an increasing number of studies comparing the usage of di�erent media(e.g. Kies, Williges & Rosson, 1998). The studies comparing the basic qualities of printed andelectronic sources reveal, for example, that the strengths of the electronic formats are based onthe easiness of updating, modifying, or manipulating data, as well as on the rapid searchabilityof information from various sources. In comparison, the printed formats are superior in termsof high quality of printing, transportability and long tradition of use which is well rooted inthe routines of everyday life (e.g., Ernst, 1993). The studies of CMC have devoted muchattention to the di�erences between computer-mediated communication and face-to-facecontacts (e.g. Ball-Rokeach & Reardon, 1988; Kiesler, Siegel & McGuire, 1984; cf. Lea et al.,1992).The practices of CMC are mostly based on the use of email. As is well known, e-mail

enables the sending and receiving of messages relatively independent of time and place ofcommunication and also the simultaneous mailing of messages to a number of recipients.Because CMC is based on `talking by writing' with geographically separated partners, thecommunication is not a�ected by cultural and social cues such as gestures, a tone and theoutward habitus of the speaker. Due to the lack of e�cient feedback mechanisms characteristicof face-to-face contacts and the weaker social pressures to conformity in discussion, decision-making processes tend to take a longer time when the negotiation is based on the use the tools

R. Savolainen / Information Processing and Management 35 (1999) 765±782766

of CMC. In sum: compared with face-to-face contacts, CMC seems to be more neutral, more`prothetic' and less sensitive in terms of contextual factors of communication and informationseeking (cf. Sproull & Kiesler, 1991, 40±41).The above issues analyzed in CMC studies are closely related to problems discussed in the

`media richness' theory (Daft & Lengel, 1986; cf. Trevino, Daft & Lengel, 1990; Webster &Trevino, 1995). According to this theory, people choose media for various purposes on thebasis of their `richness'. The choice of media is based on rational considerations of how wellthe qualities of a medium are expected to correspond to the substantial requirements ofmessages to be processed in communication. The more ambiguous a message, the richermedium is required. Interactive media such as face-to-face discussion with contextuallysensitive feedback mechanisms are most functional in the case of ambiguous messages whereasstatic media such as memoranda are the poorest in this respect. By these criteria, for instancee-mail can be located between the `rich' and `poor' media but perhaps closer to the poor thanthe rich end of the scale. However, the empirical ®ndings concerning the relatively `poor'nature of e-mail are not conclusive. For example, according to Rice & Shook (1990, p. 220) itmight be more reasonable to compare e-mail with telephone rather than the poorest mediasuch as letters and memoranda. At all events, the `media richness' theory gives background toone of the most basic issues of the network use studies: in which situations do people preferelectronic media. This question may be speci®ed by asking to what extent the e-mail mayreplace traditional media or would it rather complement them in some respects (Carley &Wendt, 1991, pp. 411±413).Although no conclusive answers have been obtained to these questions, it is obvious that e-

mail and other tools of CMC are able to meet equally all kinds of communicative needs. Inorder to exemplify this assumption, we may brie¯y discuss two empirical studies. Rice & Case(1983, pp. 138±142) compared the ways in which managers and computer experts use the e-mail. The informants felt that e-mail is the most appropriate tool in the transfer ofinformation, communication of opinions, asking questions, keeping in contact with others andthe creation of ideas. In contrast, e-mail appeared to be less functional when one has tonegotiate with others in order to make important decisions, solve con¯icts, to become moreacquainted with people, or transmit con®dential data. These purposes are served better by face-to-face contacts. The comparison of e-mail with other media indicated that the former haddecreased slightly telephone calls and writing of letters even though the changes were notdramatic. They were most visible in cases where the managers had already familiarizedthemselves fairly well with the tools of CMC and used them for a longer time.Peterson Bishop (1996, p. 707) who scrutinized the ways in which aerospace engineers utilize

network services in communication and information seeking found that the purposes ofnetwork services vary according to the task at hand (for example, planning, writing a report,coordination of team work, etc.). The majority (69%) of informants used face-to-face contactsin the performance of various tasks, followed by printed materials (36%) and telephone (36%).The study revealed that 11±17% of the informants utilized networked services; the mainpurposes of use were information seeking, keeping in contact with others and the coordinationof work. As expected, the easy accessibility of networked services correlated positively withtheir active use. Similarly, the use was correlated with positive views concerning the usefulnessof materials available on the net. In addition, the physical distances explained the frequency of

R. Savolainen / Information Processing and Management 35 (1999) 765±782 767

use: e-mail was more likely employed when the colleagues participating in the teamwork werenot easily available for face-to-face contacts.For information seeking, studies, analyses such as these are, however, only partially relevant

because they tend to focus on the communicative use of the e-mail. From the viewpoint ofinformation seeking studies, the analyses of CMC are also problematic in that they rarelydiscuss in detail the ways in which the networked tools are used in relation to otherinformation sources and channels. In most cases, only the frequencies of the use of variousmedia have been communicated (e.g. the survey conducted by Tseng & Atkin, 1997, comparingthe popularity of hard copies, CD-ROM, online and the internet among business schoolacademic and research sta�).

3. Theoretical framework

It is characteristic of network use studies that they focus on the ways in which oneinformation technological tool, for example WWW, is utilized. Correspondingly, one mighttalk about the studies of radio, television or telephone use. The fact that the phenomena beingstudied are closely connected with the utilization of an information technological tool or achannel do imply a number of problems as exempli®ed by Dervin & Nilan (1986) in their well-known critique of the traditional approach to information needs, seeking and use. A channelsuch as the internet may be given the priority over individuals seeking information; ultimately,they may be reduced to `customers' of an information system. However, the starting-point ofthe present study is not information technology or the internet in itself but meanings whichpeople attach to it use by assessing the usefulness of the internet in relation to alternativesources and channels. Therefore, an attempt is made to take a user-centered approach whichconceives of people as active subjects choosing media from various alternatives and usinginformation sources or channels to meet their needs, elicited both in job-related and nonworkcontexts.Because the use studies of the networked services conducted thus far did not o�er a

workable model for the empirical analysis, the theoretical framework was developed bydrawing on a few approaches. In this work, the ®ndings of the CMC studies referred to above,describing the basic qualities of computer-mediated communication were utilized. Secondly, thedevelopment of a theoretical framework bene®ted from the ideas of ùses and grati®cations'approach (McQuail, 1994, pp. 318±321; cf. Rubin, 1994). It provided models concerning theways in which people choose media. This approach addresses questions such as how thecombination of individual level factors, for example, needs and dispositions and social levelfactors such as valuations and norms trigger expectations concerning media. Based on theseexpectations, the individual exposes him- or herself to certain media, seeking grati®cation fromthem. The bene®ts received from use are compared with subjectively perceived costs. Positiveexperiences result in willingness to continue the use, whereas disappointments may lead tostopping the use at least temporarily, depending on the availability of alternative media.Thirdly, questions of the comparative advantages o�ered by various media are central to the

present study. The ®ndings of Rogers (1983, pp. 210±240) concerning di�usion of innovationsyielded background ideas for the study. According to him, criteria such as relative advantage,


compatibility with existing values and past experiences, complexity, tryability and observabilityare central when the di�erent rates of adoption of innovations are scrutinized. Because thepresent study focuses on the use of the networked services already adopted by people, not theadoption process in itself, the general di�usion approach was not utilized in a more detailedway. Instead, in order to concretize the questions emerging on the basis of the uses andgrati®cations approach, the ideas of the so called `media richness' theory were utilized. Themajor assumptions of this theory were discussed above. They proved to be useful in theanalysis, which aimed at putting the utilization of the internet in a broader context: in whichrespects are the face-to-face contacts, telephone and newspapers preferred to the networkservices.Fourthly, in order to have a broader view to the social factors a�ecting media choices, the

ideas of Janet Fulk and her colleagues were utilized. They have developed a `social in¯uence'theory which complements the assumptions of the `media richness' theory. Fulk and hercolleagues argue that the objective qualities of media alone are not su�cient to explain themedia choices because ultimately, they are socially determined (Fulk, Schmitz & Stein®eld,1990). For example, media choices may be a�ected by that of colleagues. In addition, thesechoices are determined by other factors such as the accessibility of services, cost of use, taskrequirements and experiences of use.

Fig. 1. The selection and use of the networked services in information seeking.


By combining the ideas received from the above theories it is possible to draw a tentativemodel which illustrates the conceptual starting points of the empirical analysis (Fig. 1).

The model presented in Fig. 1 focuses on major factors associated with the selection and useof networked services among, alternative sources and channels of information seeking. Firstly,the established ways of job-related information seeking based on the major requirements oftask performance and problem solving are important in this context. Similar to other well-established, sometimes even routine practices of everyday life, they exert a powerful e�ect onthe choices being made. As to the nonwork use of network, the orienting role of way of lifemay here be quite central; the use of networks is a�ected, for example, by the nature of leisuretime activities and consumption models (for a more detailed discussion for their role:Savolainen, 1995, 1998a). In both job-related and nonwork contexts, situational factors such aslack of time or temporary breakdown of an information-seeking channel may cause somevariation in established information seeking practices. The above assumptions mainly drawnfrom the ùses & grati®cations approach' may be summarized as follows: if the earlier ways ofinformation seeking are seen as e�cient enough, it is improbable that alternative ways will beconsidered.

The choice of electronic sources or channels such as the internet is a sum of several factors.Firstly, the awareness of alternative sources (e.g. e-mail instead of long distance calls) may bean important factor, orienting the media choice. Secondly, perceived availability, accessibilityand usability of alternative sources and channels are central in this process (cf. Abels,Liebscher & Denman 1996; Culnan, 1985). Thirdly, the assessments concerning the strengthsand weaknesses of the networked services compared to alternative media are made; particularlyin this context, the questions of `media richness' will arise. The subjective cost/bene®tcalculations are a�ected here by earlier use experiences as well as the values and norms of theworkplace or other societal settings as suggested by the `social in¯uence theory' discussedabove. In addition, the a�ordability of various services, including the networked ones, isassessed in this process involving.

If the networked services are preferred over other candidates, the actual use of them may behampered by various barriers such as lack of computer skills or inconvenient access to theinternet services. If network services do satisfy one's needs, the use of services is felt rewardingand one is willing to continue it. This connection of ùses and grati®cations' is important fromthe viewpoint of attaching subjective meanings to network use. Subjective evaluation of actualuse experiences such as the bene®ts associated with the simultaneous sending of e-mailmessages to 30 people instead of time-consuming chain of long distance calls also elicits speci®cmeanings of use. The actual use of network services is realized by a combination of physicaldoing (keyboarding) and mental construction (reading, browsing, weighting the relevance ofmaterial being found) when one is, for example, writing an e-mail or sur®ng on the web.

The experiences gained from network use will a�ect future use, at least indirectly. Thepositive experiences can be strengthened by the fact that with use, the search skills may be alsoimproved: the user gets positive feedback from his or her abilities to learn new things orperform the urgent tasks more rapidly. Hence, the probability that the networked services willbe used in the future is increased. However, if the experiences of network utilization arepredominantly negative, the use may be limited to the òbligatory' checking of e-mail at the


workplace. Other sources and channels are preferred and the role of the internet remainsinsigni®cant in daily information seeking both for job-related and nonwork purposes.In sum: the model presented in Fig. 1 is explorative by nature; it provides but an overall

picture of the role of the internet in information seeking. The central question is by whichcriteria the internet is preferred over other media and how does the experiences of use a�ectthese criteria. Due to the illustrative nature of the model, no attempts will be made to validateit empirically in the present article. The aim is less ambitious; the model helps to structure theempirical analysis by highlighting the major criteria and processes which seem to associatedwith the selection and utilization of the networked services. The role of the model will bereturned later on.

4. Empirical data

In spring 1997, the author conducted 23 theme interviews mainly in Tampere, Finland. Atotal of 8 females and 15 males aged 17±62 yr participated in the interviews. The average ageof the informants was about 32 yr. Due to the fact that the number of active users of theinternet was still relatively low at the time of the study (about 5% of Finns), the recruitment ofinformants appeared to be a rather laborious task. The most e�ective way to reach them wasan announcement published in the electronic version of the local newspaper Aamulehti. Theannouncement contained a short questionnaire where those interested in the interview couldwrite their contact information and send the answers by reply command. The conveniencesample gathered in this way re¯ects the current socio-economic characteristics of the internetusers quite well because the majority of the informants were university students and white-collar people working e.g. as computer experts and teachers. The interviews each lasted abouttwo hours. The main themes dealt with the motives for starting network use, current patternsof service utilization in job related and nonwork contexts, major problems of use and theissues concerning the place of network services in everyday life. The future role of the internetin information society was also discussed.Secondly, the empirical data of the national survey on the use information technology in

Finnish households, conducted by Statistics Finland in November±December 1996, are utilized.The sample of this survey is statistically representative, based on interviews conducted in 1080households. Altogether 2360 persons aged 10±74 yr participated in the study. The data coverboth job-related and nonwork use of electronic networks. Due to the nature of thequestionnaires, the statistical data describe the network use on a rather general level.Therefore, the analysis of the statistical data primarily, supports the qualitative study of themeinterviews by providing contextual data.

5. The overall picture of the internet use

Although the number of internet connections per capita in Finland is currently the highest inthe world, most Finns have not yet used any network services. By the end of 1996, about 15%of Finns aged 15±74 yr, had used the internet at least once (Taloustutkimus Oy, 1996). This


percentage is somewhat higher than the corresponding share of British people, i.e. 11% in 1996(Aldridge & Darwood, 1997, p. 286). However, it is rather low compared with the ®ndings of aUS survey, revealing that in the last quarter of 1997, about 62 million adults, or 30% of theUS population aged 16 and older are online (IntelliQuest, 1998). Finns reached this level of useat the beginning of 1998 when 32% of people had contacted the internet at least once(Taloustutkimus Oy, 1998). The percentage of really active users, that is, of those using thenetwork services daily is still rather low (about 10% of the population aged 15±74).Study of the most popular network services yielded no surprises. E-mail and WWW

appeared to be the most frequently used services in both job-related and nonwork contexts.The popularity of other services varied slightly, depending on the purpose of use. In job-relatedcontexts, FTP, mailing lists and discussion groups were also utilized to some extent. Asexpected, the needs of job-related use varied widely, ranging from requesting advice oncomputer problems to data on various products and certain chapters of governmentpublications available on the net. In nonwork use, home banking took the third place,followed by discussion groups and FTP. Recreational services such as IRC and interactivegames do not occupy a particularly central position; other media such as television are seen asmore important in this sense. The purposes of nonwork use also varied considerably; theexamples include the checking the departure times of trains, the availability of sheet music of acomposer in public library and the side e�ects of a medicine.The analysis of statistical data revealed that at the end of 1996, the number of Finnish

people using the internet for the search of problem-speci®c information was insigni®cant.Altogether only 3% of Finns had utilized the internet in order to seek information about newjobs, timetables, etc. Unsurprisingly, males were more active than females in the search forpractical information (w2=21.49, p = 0.001). People with low level of income were morefrequent users than the well to do (r = 0.08, p = 0.002). This may be explained by the fairlylarge share of students among the information seekers. The level of basic education alsocorrelated positively with the frequency, of searches for practical information (r= 0.14,p = 0.003).

6. The use of the internet in job-related information seeking

The theme interviews of 23 informants showed that the seeking of orienting informationwhich serves the needs to stay up to date or to monitor daily events was somewhat morefrequent than searches for practical or problem-speci®c information. In most cases, orientinginformation was sought from the electronic newspapers but sometimes merely by sur®ng fromone link to another and hoping that something relevant could be found by chance. As notedabove, the purposes of practical information seeking varied considerably. In this ®eld, too,some attempts to ®nd information were associated with needs of ``nice to know if somethinghappens to be found during the sur®ng''. However, some examples of purposeful attempts toseek information for problem solving were given. In most cases, the searches were limited toindividual facts or to relatively well-de®ned problem areas. Obviously, the networked sourcesprovided considerable help and in best case, the net search can provide the most economic wayof ®nding a rapid and up-to-date answer to a speci®c problem.


The use of networked services in job-related information seeking was not yet particularlyactive. In most cases, well-established practices of information seeking employing informalcontacts and printed sources were preferred. If, however, there were positive experiences ofusing the networked sources, they might be utilized, in particular when there is an urgent taskat hand and the traditional ways of information seeking are seen as less functional.

I think that the network has bene®ted me, particularly in information seeking. It is animportant thing for me because, for example, information of governmental budget planningor a draft of a statute is available on the net and the material can be printed from my owncomputer. Thus, there is no need to go outside of my o�ce in order to seek thatinformation elsewhere. (male, government o�cial).

Today I can send an e-mail to my US colleague and get tomorrow a focused answer to myquestion. This will naturally speed up my work. (male, planning o�cial).

E-mail also o�ers the advantage of transmitting exact answers to questions. The telephonemight not be optimal in cases where the message contains a lot of technical details. E-mailattachments can also be used in this context.

Mostly, the questions are quite routinely, concerning the technical details of computers. Itmay be a question of net addresses, ®le names, something that is so easy to copy from onewindow to another and mail right away. This guarantees that the data remain exact; thereare no misspellings that may occur when the technical details are enumerated via telephone.I think I have a relatively well-developed ability to see which way, of communication is bestin various cases. (male, network expert).

The seeking of orienting information manifested itself in the active monitoring of networksources (for example, reading of electronic newspapers). On the other hand, mailing lists wereused for this purpose in that readers exposed themselves to the messages ¯owing daily throughthis channel.

. . .do you use the mailing lists?) . . . yes, I'm on a list of Eurosat, it is about satellitetechnology, data transfer technology. Then I subscribe to a list of Ericsson. (male, student).

I read some mailing lists but the discussion groups are of less interest, because they o�ernothing speci®c for me. Usually I browse them once a month. Perhaps only 1% of themessages are useful. But there are a couple of mailing lists, which I check regularly. I readthem every morning in order to see the new messages mailed since yesterday. (male, projectleader).

In addition, problem-speci®c information was sought from the WWW and discussion groups(for the utilization of these services in job-related contexts, e.g. Berman, 1996; Nicholas et al.,1997). It appeared that discussion groups can be utilized quite e�ciently in job-relatedinformation seeking, provided that the problem area can be speci®ed exactly and that thoseparticipating in discussion groups are experts who are willing to o�er their help in terms of


reciprocity. The information seeker may communicate his or her problem to the discussiongroup and some of the colleagues (alone or together) will ®nd the answer. In most cases, suchdiscussion groups are collegial and thus exclusive; lay people may not bene®t much from themdue to the inaccessible terminology. In addition, the experts might not be interested in thetrivial questions mailed by òrdinary people' because answering them would o�er noprofessional challenges.However, the utilization of discussion groups involves certain problems. One of them is the

limited amount of work time, which can be allocated to helping information seekers. Secondly,the relevance of answers received from discussion groups is not necessarily guaranteed.

Sometimes I have visited the discussion groups, but actually they tend to engage people fora long time; you may waste a whole day and the answers received might not be particularlyhelpful. (male, planning o�cer).

Obviously, the networked sources are not perceived as a value in themselves because theirimportance is most clearly seen in the context of alternative information sources and channels.One of the informants considered this question from the viewpoint of job-relatedcommunication and information seeking.

Typically, a useful channel of information transfer consists of a number of people workingin similar tasks. There is a suitable number of acquaintances and colleagues, you can callthem any time. In fact, there is no need to set up an electronic network at all because it is ahuman network. The tools, which are used for maintaining contacts, vary considerably,almost all between earth and heaven, depending on the issue at hand. (male, networkexpert).

It is easy to agree with the above informant in that for instance, e-mail and IRC is only atool which enables contacts between people belonging to this `human network'. This can beseen as a realistic viewpoint; there is no hype about the unlimited capacities o�ered by theinternet for information seekers. On the other hand, the threats brought by the networks arenot exaggerated: there are no horror scenarios of daily communication becoming highlymechanized, with the end result that people are reduced to pieces of information technologicalmachinery.

7. When are the networks preferred?

In the consideration of the special meaning of network tools in information seeking, it isadvisable to discuss the criteria by which they were preferred over other media. Severalinformants agreed that factors such as the relative easiness of use and the speed of datatransmission are important in this respect. In addition, the opportunity, to send and readmessages in times which best suit one's working rhythm is an advantage.

Certainly, the rapidness of communication is a central factor . . . if I now send a message andthe recipient is not there, the message will reach her next time she opens the network


connection: she sees that there is new mail. I think most people are curious enough to checkwhether there are new messages and most people also answer them. However, if I have aparticularly important question, I will call her and if she does not happen to be available,I'll send her e-mail. (female, postgraduate student).

Communication of emotionally sensitive matters was seen to be much easier by e-mail thanby face-to-face contacts. È-mail does not blush', as one of the informants put it. In addition,e-mail communication seems to be less formal, at least if the norms of society, or a subgroupallow it (cf. Lea et al., 1992). Persons in high social positions can also be contacted more easilyby e-mail in comparison to face-to-face discussion or telephone calls. Network services alsomake it possible to browse and search for information in a broad ®eld at low cost. One of theinformants crystallized this viewpoint by saying that the networks o�er a marvelous possibilitybecause there is a ``global knowledge bank at your disposal''.

8. The place of networks in job-related information seeking

As noted above, e-mail was the most frequently used network tool for job-related purposesof communication. The central role of the e-mail was also highlighted in the discussionconcerning the role of networks among other media. The informants felt that thus far, e-mailhas not yet replaced other media but anyway, it had decreased long distance calls in certainsituations. Ultimately, the choice of media depends more on the task at hand than the easyavailability of media.

If I have something to ask I'll call a government o�cial whom I know. The problem is thathe is not always available. In case of an urgent need of advice or information, the telephoneo�ers the easiest way but the network connection is better in that the message reaches himlater on. He can answer me when it best suits him. Thus, e-mail has replaced a number offruitless attempts to reach people by, telephone because one call may be enough to learnthat he or she is unavailable for a longer time: you can always leave a message and he orshe will contact you in due time. All in all, the telephone is most suitable for an urgent needand the network serves needs of lesser importance. (male, government o�cial).

The utilization of e-mail is sometimes criticized in that it tends to decrease face-to-facecontacts in daily communication and information seeking. One may ask, for example, what thereason for sending e-mail messages to a colleague working next door is; would it be morenatural to take a few steps and ask him or her face-to-face? However, the use of e-mail may bereasonable in certain situations. For example, the sender may know that the colleague isperforming an urgent task or having an important meeting; e-mail messages do not interrupthim, as do to telephone calls or face-to-face enquiries.In sum, e-mail has to some extent replaced the use of telephone and face-to-face contacts at

the workplace but these changes should not be exaggerated. Rather, network services seem tocomplement traditional media (cf. Nicholas et al., 1997). The analysis of statistical data utilizedin the present paper supported these ®ndings. Network services occupy a more central position


in daily communication but at the end of 1996, only 18% of the Finnish informants preferrede-mail to telephone in internal communication. The same conclusion could also be drawnconcerning external connections in job-related contexts.

9. The use of the internet in nonwork information seeking

The relationships between network services and other media can be reviewed by looking, atthe number of computers and modems acquired for Finnish households. In 1998, thepenetration rate of color TV was about 97% and telephone 90% (Luoma-Marttila, 1998).Altogether 33% of households had a home computer and about 16% had a modem. In thiscontext, the percentages of users per media can also be discussed. In spring 1996, about 87%of Finns read a newspaper daily and 85% watched TV (Nurmi, 1997, p. 57). Further, about76% listened to the radio and read magazines. The use of the above mentioned media seems tobe very routine and it is also obvious that they are felt most reliable channels serving the needsof monitoring everyday events. According to the surveys conducted in the US, television hasmanaged to keep its leading position in this sense (Castells, 1997, pp. 313±315). For example,in 1992, about 69% of US people preferred television in the monitoring of everyday events,followed by newspapers (43%) and radio (16%). A similar ranking order was obtained as tothe reliability of various media. In the light of these percentages it is no wonder that thenetworks have not yet been able to challenge the traditional media, However, there are sonicempirical ®ndings already, available indicating that the active use of networks slightly decreasesthe watching of TV (Patrick, 1997, p. 79; Pitkow & Kehoe, 1997).The potentials of network services in the replacement of long distance calls were evident in

the context of job-related use. The analysis of nonwork use of networks led to similarconclusions. E-mail was preferred in certain information seeking situations.

It may decrease telephone use to some extent; at least if I have to ask something, forexample, the timetables of the national railway company. Currently you can do it by e-mailor check the timetable on the net . . . there is no longer any need for a telephone call. On theother hand, the telephone is easier to use. You just dial the numbers, but the computershould ®rst be turned on. But if you happen to sit at the screen and it comes into your mindthat now I should send a message, it goes very easily. (female, bank clerk).

The qualities of network use can be speci®ed by asking which problems of everyday life havealready been eased most e�ciently by means of the internet. The answers given to this questionwere spread over a rather wide area; in this context, for example, home banking wasmentioned. Communication and information seeking also received attention.

Probably I have bene®ted most from the networks in keeping in contact with others. Thereare also other purposes. If I have to reserve a book in a library, there is no longer any needto visit it personally. In addition, I can check my bank balance or pay a bill by using thehome computer. It means savings in time. If I have to seek information about some issue,


there is no need to go out because the computer is waiting for you there and the problemcan be solved at once. (female, university student).

The informants participating in the theme interviews were not asked whether they usedteletext in information seeking and whether it replaces other media, including the internet ininformation seeking. However, the analysis of the data gathered by Statistics Finland revealedthat the teletext service accessible through the remote control device on a television is usedrelatively often even though not very actively in problem-speci®c information seeking. This isinteresting because in certain respects, teletext and WWW have some similarities: the pages canbe updated quite rapidly and information is sought from the screen. At the end of 1996, everythird Finn consulted the teletext daily and every second more infrequently. People aged 10±30are the most active users of this service. The most popular subjects were daily news, includingsporting news, weather forecasts and information on forthcoming TV and radio programs. Incontrast, problem-speci®c information concerning timetables and the stock exchangequotations were checked infrequently. Similarly, the discussion and contact pages of theteletext did not elicit much interest and they seem not be able to compete with the discussiongroups available on the internet, because only 0.2% of the informants used them daily andabout 4% weekly.

10. Electronic or paper formats?

In order to exemplify the criteria of media choices between networked services andtraditional sources and channels, we may have a look at the role of electronic newspapers,primarily in nonwork information seeking (for an earlier treatment of electronic newsreading,e.g. Dozier & Rice, 1984). Most of the informants participating in the theme interviews alreadyhad experiences of the electronic versions of newspapers. Some of the informants read them assupplements of printed papers or out of curiosity. Three informants out of the 23 read dailyprimarily from the electronic journals; two of them studied abroad and had di�culties inacquiring current Finnish newspapers.

Currently I'm reading Aamulehti and Iltalehti (Finnish newspapers/RS) on the net if I havetime. Anyway, the reading of an electronic version is quite slow. I like Aamulehti becausethe pages are transmitted quite rapidly . . . there are no extra pictures in this newspaper. Atall events I think that it is a kind of a severely edited version because only the mostimportant news are included. Sometimes I remain a little bit unaware of what has reallyhappened . . . (do you make clarifying questions by e-mail when you contact your friends inFinland?) . . .yes, almost daily I may ask what actually has happened there in Finland.(female, university student).

The electronic versions have certain advantages over the printed ones. However, in thecomparison, the printed version was preferred in many respects.

. . . the web pages of Aamulehti and Iltalehti seem to gravitate towards entertainment, even


though no sensations are sought for. Perhaps this impression is due to the fact that I'm soused to reading the printed version of Aamulehti. (female, university student).

One of the informants read electronic newspapers in order to meet professional needs.

In fact, I have bookmarked a number of various media, both Finnish and foreign. Often Icheck them from a technical point of view. For example, today I may have a look atKauppalehti (a Finnish newspaper) in order to scrutinize the way in which it has been editedand tomorrow I will choose another newspaper. (male, project leader).

There was not much variation in the ways in which the informants read printed newspapers.They had kept their central position as sources of orienting information, except the two casesdiscussed above. In general, the printed newspaper seems to be superior in its coverage anduser friendliness. The electronic versions merely complement them in some respects. Inaddition, the reading routines of printed newspapers are very well established and thesepractices will not be abandoned easily. Reading a newspaper and drinking a cup of co�ee inthe morning is one of the rituals, which was frequently mentioned in the interviews. In termsof ergonomy, too, the electronic versions are still felt problematic.

It is bloody di�cult to read on the screen, you have to take printouts in any, case. Simply,you cannot read longer text in this way. The reading posture is also quite inconvenient.(male, planning o�cer)

Thus far, the electronic journals have not threatened the printed ones. Obviously, theelectronic newspapers should make considerable progress in order to be able to competeequally with other media as sources of information seeking. It seems that people are unwillingto pay equal sums of money for printed and electronic newspapers because the latter are easilyfelt as secondary and just o�ering the same material as the printed versions (Kuluttajat jamultimediapalvelut, 1997, pp. 115±116). In addition, the coverage of electronic newspapers wasfelt to be quite limited. The competitive position of electronic newspapers is also underminedby the fact that corresponding. information can be received quite easily from alternative mediasuch as radio and television. However, the popularity of electronic versions might increase ifthe printed papers were unavailable or their prices were to rise intolerably high.Obviously, the prospects of the electronic versions depend on how they succeed in the

development of new qualities, which yield added value compared with printed newspapers. Therapid updating of news is one of the advantages. Secondly, electronic versions might o�er linksto materials giving background knowledge on individual news items. However, the competitionwith traditional media is hampered by the fact that the use of printed newspapers is associatedwith everyday routines and that normally, the availability of newspapers is quite good. Inaddition, electronic versions require a speci®c interface. Because other media already providenews abundantly, the need for a new channel is insigni®cant. In contrast, the electronicversions well the needs of foreign newspapers serve very because their availability is oftenproblematic.

Usually I read special magazines which are related to information technology or which I do


not subscribe to as printed versions. These magazines have fairly well functioning systemsbut anyway I prefer the printed version; the electronic version rather complements it. Forexample, I have subscribed to MikroBitti (a Finnish computer magazine/RS) but it also hasan online version. I'm used to checking it several times a week, because there is a rapidconnection and information can be sought quite easily in Finnish. (Male, student).

Even though the electronic versions do provide new possibilities for monitoring daily eventsand seeking problem-speci®c information, the electronic newspapers still face a number ofproblems. In fact, we are living the very early days of the development of this medium.

Recently, some people have been concerned about the future of printed newspapers. as inthe age when radio and television were introduced. But actually, nothing dramatic happenedat that time. There is always room for various channels, needs and uses. I think thatelectronic journals will form a new tool or channel, which would give the basis and idea fora new kind of journalism. Thus far, we have not yet seen a genuine electronicpublication . . . the current ones are tentative, they are just some kind of exercises. (Male,project leader)

11. Concluding remarks

In recent years, the role of networked services has been devoted increasing attention ininformation seeking studies. As suggested in the present study. the comparative researchsettings in which the use of the internet is related to other media might yield more interesting®ndings than merely focusing on the ways in which individual services such as e-mail areutilized. However, the number of comparative studies is still rather low. We also lacktheoretical approaches discussing the utilization of the networked services in a broader contextof information seeking and use. It is also apparent that alone, with the growing popularity ofthe internet, the interests of IR and information seeking (IS) studies will overlap more strongly,because in the future, a major part of information will be sought by using computers.Consequently, there might be growing needs for models which integrate more strongly theissues discussed in the ®elds of IS and IR. Attention should be devoted to the ways in whichpeople select sources and channels, including, the networked ones and search information frominteractive media. The model outlined in the present study may be seen an indication of thiskind of needs.The empirical analysis revealed that the internet is quite rapidly occupying its place in the

daily mediascape. Understandably, there is much talk of the dramatic changes in the practicesof daily communication and information seeking caused by the advent of the networkedservices. Although the internet o�ers a new repertoire of information sources, the changes seemto be less dramatic, at least as far as information seeking is concerned.Due to the popularity of e-mail, the changes brought by the internet are more visible in

communication than in information seeking. Similar to the ®ndings of Robert Kraut and his


colleagues, the internet is used more frequently and regularly for interpersonal communicationcompared to information seeking for various purposes (Kraut et al., 1997). It is also evidentthat thus far, the internet has not been able to replace other media such as telephone,television, radio and newspaper in information seeking. On the contrary, the network servicescomplement them both in job-related and nonwork contexts. However, we are living the earlydays of this development and the empirical evidence of the ways which the internet is able tochallenge other media is quite patchy (cf. Nicholas et al., 1997). Currently, the share of dailyusers of the internet is about 10% of the Finnish population at the highest and the percentageof people actively seeking information from the net is much lower. The use of the internet isdominated by the early adopters and the majority of people may follow suit much later.In both job-related and nonwork information seeking, WWW, e-mail and discussion groups

are the most popular information sources. The major criteria of preferring the networkedservices over other media in information seeking are the (relative) easiness of accessing a hugeamount of data, savings in time (e.g. reading documents on computer screen in work roomagainst visiting a library), savings in money (e.g. by decreasing long distance calls), the chanceto consult a number of experts by a single request (e.g. through discussion groups or IRC) anda greater independence of speci®c time and place of information seeking. Depending on thecontextual requirements of information seeking, e-mail may be preferred to the telephone callsor a web search may replace, at least partly, the visit to the library.On the other hand, there are ®elds in which the electronic formats face di�culties in

competition with traditional media. The use of networks requires a speci®c interface and thewillingness to learn computer skills. In addition, it is not necessarily guaranteed that thenetworked sources are up-to-date and reliable, due to insu�cient quality control of the internetsupply. The slow response times, temporary breakdowns of data transmission, the fragmented,sometimes even chaotic nature of the internet and the inconveniences of reading longer textson the screen cause their own problems for information seekers (cf. Savolainen, 1998a). Thetraditional media also have the advantage that their use is quite ®rmly established as a part ofpeople's everyday practices and routines. Because even the most popular network services arestill used by a minority of the population, most people are reached more easily by telephone ora letter than by e-mail. However, the importance of the latter problem will decrease all thetime, along with the growth and routinisation of network use among people at large.In the light of the empirical ®ndings it seems that the substituting e�ects of network services

to daily communication and particularly to information seeking are quite minimal, as far as wediscuss people's media habits at large. It should be noted, however, that the current practicesof information seeking are subject to changes that are underway all the time. In fact, the e�ectsof this `silent revolution' can be discerned only afterwards when one considers how muchcommunication and information seeking practices have actually changed, say, during last ®veyear. This seems to be case at least as far as the use of e-mail and WWW is concerned.

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Documents

The role of the internet in information seeking. Putting the networked services in context