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

2. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior

3. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior
Information 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)

4. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior
nested model of the information behavior, information-seeking behavior, information searching behavior areas
information
behavior
dimension of information behavior studied
methods
purposes and application
information-seeking
behavior
information-
search
behavior

5. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior
Information-searching behavior
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)

6. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior
5 Models of Information-Seeking Behavior
Wilson (1981)
Dervin (1983, 1996)
Ellis (1989); with Cox and Hall (1993)
Kuhlthau (1991)
Wilson (1996)

7. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior
Wilson’s Model of Information behaviour
Information user
Satisfaction or
non-satisfaction
Need
Information exchange
Information use
Information-seeking
behavior
Demands on
information systems
Demands on other
information sources
Other people
Success
Failure
Information transfer

8. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior
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

9. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior
positivist tradition (1940s to 1970s)
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)

10. Theories of Information-Seeking Behavior
post-positivist tradition (from the early 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 years)

11. 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)

12. An Integrated Model of Information-Seeking Behaviors
uncertainty vs. relevance as focus

13. Information-Gathering Process by
II.
Information-Gathering Process by
Selected Groups

14. Information-Gathering by Selected Groups
(information needs of four professional groups)
Decision-makers
Problem-solvers
People-centered
Self-expression

15. 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

16. Information Needs of Four Professional Groups
People-centered
doctors, lawyers, police, firefighters, clergy, information specialists, social workers, teachers
actors, musicians, authors, sculptors, composers, photographers, decorators
Self-expression

17. Information Needs of Four Professional Groups
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?

18. Information Needs of Four Professional Groups
information need /goal
task oriented
goal-oriented
people-oriented
expression-oriented
Decision-makers
Problem-solvers
People-centered
Self-expression

19. Information Needs of Four Professional Groups
information modes /resources
human-human and human-machine interaction
aggregated / synthesized / capsulated
indicators / trends
“smoothed out” to eliminate aberrations
assistants and other surrogates
Decision-makers

20. Information Needs of Four Professional Groups
information modes /resources
human-human and human-machine interaction
factual / quantitative / detailed / specific
observations and measurements (data)
browsing
documents and literature
Problem-solvers

21. Information Needs of Four Professional Groups
information modes /resources
human-human and human-machine interaction
“who to see,” “where to go,” “when to do”
coping
standards and guidelines / laws, rules, regulations
“how to use,” “where to find”
People-centered

22. Information Needs of Four Professional Groups
information modes /resources
human-human and human-machine interaction
travel / visits
dreams
observations
impressions
Self-expression

23. Implications for Information Service, IR System Development
forms of delivery
resources
role of information professionals (intermediaries) and end-users
R.T. Morris: Toward a User-Centered Information Service. JASIS 45 (1) 1994

24. 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

25. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
personal information systems (individual’s information handling)
public schemes (depend on convention)

26. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
user’s motivation in storage and retrieval of text is important in how personal information space is organized

27. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
longitudinal study of a securities’ analyst
process of information seeking and decision making are intertwined and in recursive interaction
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

28. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
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

29. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
categories of sources
External Personal
External Impersonal
Internal Personal
Internal Impersonal

30. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
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)

31. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
classification of sources (Baldwin and Rice 1997)
Internal Channels
External Channels
Institutional Resources

32. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
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)

33. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
environmental scanning
viewing
nonspecific information seeking
undirected or conditional
searching
problem-driven information seeking
informal or formal

34. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
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)

35. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
INFORMATION WORKERS / MANAGERS
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

36. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
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)
Donald Case: Conceptual Organization and Retrieval of Text by Historians: The Role of Memory and Metaphor. JASIS 42(9) 1991

37. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
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)

38. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
HISTORIANS
medium (determines form in which information is found)
labels and meanings (are culturally determined; how users impose meaning on text; how do they develop labels for categories of documents)
how they recall and retrieve these documents at later time

39. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
HISTORIANS
spatial organization
keep like things together and close at hand
(reminding function)
organization by form
aesthetics as sorting criterion, form over content
(oversized, paperbound, old/new)

40. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
HISTORIANS
organization by topic
keep like things together and close at hand
(reminding function)
organization by treatment, purpose, quality
purpose as sorting criterion
(good and bad books, textbooks and research books, etc.)

41. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
HISTORIANS
spatial organization
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

42. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
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)

43. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
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

44. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
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

45. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
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)

46. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
HISTORIANS
organization by topic
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)

47. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
HISTORIANS
organization by topic
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

48. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
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.

49. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
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)

50. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
ARTISTS
method of research: in-depth interviews with 4 artists (sculptor, painter, fiber artists, metalsmith)
neglected group of information professionals
Susie Cobbledick: The Information-Seeking Behavior of Artists: Exploratory Interviews. Library Quarterly 66(4) 1994

51. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
ARTISTS
findings
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

52. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
ARTISTS
sources
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

53. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
ARTISTS
findings
survey instrument designed to aid data collection from this group

54. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
ARTISTS
Implications for building libraries for 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

55. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
ARTISTS
Implications for building libraries for 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

56. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
SCIENTISTS
foraging theory
P. Sandstrom: An Optimal Foraging Approach to Information Seeking and Use. Library Quarterly 64(4) 1994

57. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
SOCIAL GROUP: AFR0-AMERICANS
disadvantaged groups and communities
John Agada: Inner-City Gatekeepers: An Exploratory Survey of Their Information Use Environments. JASIS 1999

58. Information-Gathering Process by Selected Groups
DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES
domain analysis --social aspects of information-seeking process
B. Hjoerland and H. Albrechtsen: Toward a New Horizon in Information Science: Domain-Analysis. JASIS 46(6) 1995