Competency J
Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors
Introduction
Joan Durrance, Margaret
Mann Collegiate Professor, School of Information, University of Michigan, said,
" What people do drives their need for information." In LIBR 202 I
learned that an information need is a recognition that your knowledge is inadequate to satisfy a goal, information seeing is a conscious effort to acquire information in response to a need or gap in knowledge and information seeking behavior refers to the way people
search for and utilize information. It can be broken down into two basic
activities; 1) information seeking and 2) information gathering. Seeking is the
attempt to satisfy an immediate need by searching for relevant information
and gathering is an attempt to satisfy a deferred need by
searching for relevant information.
Having information is the same as being informed. Information seeking is a complex process and our perception of what we need often shifts while we engage in a search. One search may progress into other information needs. Librarians and information professionals’ main goal is to resolve the information problems of their users, focusing on the ways information systems meet the information needs of their users. We need to understand how users find their information by observing and learning the way in which they behave, search and create their search strategies. Users’ requests for information usually fall into two categories; 1) the need to locate and obtain a particular document for which the author or title is known, called a known item search or 2) the need to locate material dealing with a particular subject or to answer a particular question, called a subject search. How someone seeks information may very by age, level of education, intelligence and discipline.
Human information behaviorists extensively studied human information behaviors. They found that highly trained scientists, engineers and managers were often unsystematic about their information behaviors. Devrin, along with professor Tim Wilson were very active discovering new ways of thinking about and studying information seeking. These studies have lead to many human information behavior models that have allowed librarians to understand the way and how users search to satisfy their information need.
Human Information Behavior (HIB) Models
Models of information seeking behavior can serve as useful frameworks for specific information seeking environments. The field of human information behavior is related to the cognitive approach to interactive information and retrieval and seeks to research the broader issues related to the human process's for information seeking and use.
One widely used information seeking model is Carol Kuhlthau's Information Search Process. Kuhlthau's model incorporates six stages of information seeking; initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection, and presentation/closure. For each stage, Kuhlthau hypothesizes there is a presence of certain thoughts, feelings, and actions. Brenda Dervin's sense-making model states that information seeking behavior necessarily occurs in an environment highly subject to context, that it is characterized by a gap between the current context and the desired state, and that sense-making seeks a way to close that gap. David Ellis and his colleagues catalog behaviors exhibited by academicians seeking information, including behaviors such as chaining (following footnotes/citations), browsing (semi-directed searching), and monitoring (keeping current with new literature), to name a few. In 1999 Wilson examines models of information seeking behavior developed by other workers, including Dervin , Ellis, Kuhlthau, and two previous models developed by Wilson. He observes that different models are complementary rather than conflicting, and proposes a model that reconciles these multiple models at different scales of information behavior, information seeking behavior, and information searching. Another behavior specific to online searching that has been pinpointed is berry picking, identified by Marcia Bates in 1989. Berry picking differed from previous models because it recognizes that one of the effects of the use of the Internet as a search tool is that searches became dynamic, and previous models did not account for “the changes of an evolving search as the individual follows up various leads and shifts in thinking”.
Research for HIB has become easier with the availability of new technology and tools like analytics. Librarians can now easily collect data about every movement a user made in an information search process. Now every click, every movement of a user in an information gathering process can be studied. In recent years a new HIB model has emerged through a joint effort between US and UK researchers, that takes into account the current HIB models and has resulted into the development of a new model based on the concept of successive searching. As digital libraries become a major source of information for many people, we need to know more about how people seek and retrieve information in digital environments. Users with a problem-at-hand and associated question-in-mind repeatedly search a literature for answers. They seek information in stages over extended periods from a variety of digital information resources. The process of repeatedly searching over time in relation to a specific, but possibly an evolving information problem (including changes or shifts in a variety of variables), is called the successive search phenomenon. The basis of this model is that problem solving may involve information-seeking activities within which search episodes take place, and within these episodes occur the interactions of various kinds. For instance, the relatively mechanical tasks of entering search terms and pressing keys, while at the same time mentally processing relevance judgement formation in response to the retrieved items, is a complex task. Another aspect of this model is the concept of successive searching. Information users with broader problems often seek information in stages over a period of time, which is called successive searching. Successive searching is widely practiced.
Evidence
I was introduced to information-seeking behaviors in the LIBR 200, 202 and 210. My first piece of evidence is from LIBR 210 Introduction to Reference. We were given many reference assignments and asked to script our search strategies, which shows us our information-seeking behavior. In this assignment we were given questions on geographical, governmental & statistical sources and health/legal/business references. In my current position I am fortunate to have interactions with a web team that is always trying to "enhance" our website according to the analytics they receive from the usage of the site. It is very interesting how changing or tweaking a few things on a website could change users information seeking behaviors. My second piece of evidence is actually a screencast of the Google analytics that I have created for my blog, The Spunky Librarian. It shows me what people have viewed, the most popular items viewed on my site and even where they were searching from geographically. It is a great way for librarians to find out how their website is being used and what needs to be improved or taught to enhance their users’ information seeking behaviors.
Conclusion
Seeking and gathering information is a very complex process. Effectively assessing individuals' information wants and needs requires knowledge of how a patron searched for information and how they learn. Research for HIB has become easier with the availability of new technology and tools like analytics. Librarians can now easily collect data about every movement a user made in an information search process. Now every click, every movement a user makes in an information seeking activity can be studied. Librarians and information professionals need to know how to interview effectively, how to evaluate the patron's need and how to evaluate the degree to which the information has satisfied the need. This requires librarians to have the technological knowledge of the most current electronic, print and resources and how to access them, and the theoretical knowledge to study their information seeking behavior.
Having information is the same as being informed. Information seeking is a complex process and our perception of what we need often shifts while we engage in a search. One search may progress into other information needs. Librarians and information professionals’ main goal is to resolve the information problems of their users, focusing on the ways information systems meet the information needs of their users. We need to understand how users find their information by observing and learning the way in which they behave, search and create their search strategies. Users’ requests for information usually fall into two categories; 1) the need to locate and obtain a particular document for which the author or title is known, called a known item search or 2) the need to locate material dealing with a particular subject or to answer a particular question, called a subject search. How someone seeks information may very by age, level of education, intelligence and discipline.
Human information behaviorists extensively studied human information behaviors. They found that highly trained scientists, engineers and managers were often unsystematic about their information behaviors. Devrin, along with professor Tim Wilson were very active discovering new ways of thinking about and studying information seeking. These studies have lead to many human information behavior models that have allowed librarians to understand the way and how users search to satisfy their information need.
Human Information Behavior (HIB) Models
Models of information seeking behavior can serve as useful frameworks for specific information seeking environments. The field of human information behavior is related to the cognitive approach to interactive information and retrieval and seeks to research the broader issues related to the human process's for information seeking and use.
One widely used information seeking model is Carol Kuhlthau's Information Search Process. Kuhlthau's model incorporates six stages of information seeking; initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection, and presentation/closure. For each stage, Kuhlthau hypothesizes there is a presence of certain thoughts, feelings, and actions. Brenda Dervin's sense-making model states that information seeking behavior necessarily occurs in an environment highly subject to context, that it is characterized by a gap between the current context and the desired state, and that sense-making seeks a way to close that gap. David Ellis and his colleagues catalog behaviors exhibited by academicians seeking information, including behaviors such as chaining (following footnotes/citations), browsing (semi-directed searching), and monitoring (keeping current with new literature), to name a few. In 1999 Wilson examines models of information seeking behavior developed by other workers, including Dervin , Ellis, Kuhlthau, and two previous models developed by Wilson. He observes that different models are complementary rather than conflicting, and proposes a model that reconciles these multiple models at different scales of information behavior, information seeking behavior, and information searching. Another behavior specific to online searching that has been pinpointed is berry picking, identified by Marcia Bates in 1989. Berry picking differed from previous models because it recognizes that one of the effects of the use of the Internet as a search tool is that searches became dynamic, and previous models did not account for “the changes of an evolving search as the individual follows up various leads and shifts in thinking”.
Research for HIB has become easier with the availability of new technology and tools like analytics. Librarians can now easily collect data about every movement a user made in an information search process. Now every click, every movement of a user in an information gathering process can be studied. In recent years a new HIB model has emerged through a joint effort between US and UK researchers, that takes into account the current HIB models and has resulted into the development of a new model based on the concept of successive searching. As digital libraries become a major source of information for many people, we need to know more about how people seek and retrieve information in digital environments. Users with a problem-at-hand and associated question-in-mind repeatedly search a literature for answers. They seek information in stages over extended periods from a variety of digital information resources. The process of repeatedly searching over time in relation to a specific, but possibly an evolving information problem (including changes or shifts in a variety of variables), is called the successive search phenomenon. The basis of this model is that problem solving may involve information-seeking activities within which search episodes take place, and within these episodes occur the interactions of various kinds. For instance, the relatively mechanical tasks of entering search terms and pressing keys, while at the same time mentally processing relevance judgement formation in response to the retrieved items, is a complex task. Another aspect of this model is the concept of successive searching. Information users with broader problems often seek information in stages over a period of time, which is called successive searching. Successive searching is widely practiced.
Evidence
I was introduced to information-seeking behaviors in the LIBR 200, 202 and 210. My first piece of evidence is from LIBR 210 Introduction to Reference. We were given many reference assignments and asked to script our search strategies, which shows us our information-seeking behavior. In this assignment we were given questions on geographical, governmental & statistical sources and health/legal/business references. In my current position I am fortunate to have interactions with a web team that is always trying to "enhance" our website according to the analytics they receive from the usage of the site. It is very interesting how changing or tweaking a few things on a website could change users information seeking behaviors. My second piece of evidence is actually a screencast of the Google analytics that I have created for my blog, The Spunky Librarian. It shows me what people have viewed, the most popular items viewed on my site and even where they were searching from geographically. It is a great way for librarians to find out how their website is being used and what needs to be improved or taught to enhance their users’ information seeking behaviors.
Conclusion
Seeking and gathering information is a very complex process. Effectively assessing individuals' information wants and needs requires knowledge of how a patron searched for information and how they learn. Research for HIB has become easier with the availability of new technology and tools like analytics. Librarians can now easily collect data about every movement a user made in an information search process. Now every click, every movement a user makes in an information seeking activity can be studied. Librarians and information professionals need to know how to interview effectively, how to evaluate the patron's need and how to evaluate the degree to which the information has satisfied the need. This requires librarians to have the technological knowledge of the most current electronic, print and resources and how to access them, and the theoretical knowledge to study their information seeking behavior.
Evidence Summary and Artifacts
#1 LIBR 210 Reference Information Seeking and Search Strategy Reference Assignment
libr_210exercise_4__search_strategies_and_behavior_assignment.docx | |
File Size: | 24 kb |
File Type: | docx |
References
Bates, M. J. (1989). The design of browsing and berrypicking techniques for the online search interface. Online Review, 13(5), 407-424.
Case, D. (2008). Information Seeking. In K. Haycock, & B. Sheldon, The Portable MLIS (pp. 35-41). Westport: Libraries Unlimited.
Chowdhury, G. (2004). Introduction to Modern Information Retrieval. London: Facet.
Dervin, B. (1977). Useful theory for librarianship: Communication, not information. Drexel Library Quarterly, 13(3), 16-32.
Dervin, B. (1983). An overview of sense-making research: concepts, methods and results to date. in International Communications Association Annual Meeting. Dallas, Texas.
Durrance, J. C. (1989). Information needs: Old song, new tune, Rethinking the library (pp. 159-178). Washington , DC : United States Government Printing Office.
Ellis, D., D. Cox, and K. Hall. (1993). A comparison of the information seeking patterns of researchers in the physical and social sciences. Journal of Documentation, 49, 356-369.
Kuhlthau, Carol C. (1993). Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Publishing Corp.
Manuel, K. (2002). Teaching information literacy to Generation Y. Journal of Library Administration, 36(1/2), 195-217.
Marchionini, G. (1997). Information Seeking in Electronic Environments. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Rubin, R. (2004). Foundations of Library and Inforamtion Science. New York: Neal-Schuman.
Walker, G., & Janes, J. (1999). Online Retrieval. Englewood: Libraries Unlimited.
T.D. Wilson, (1999) "Models in information behaviour research", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 55 Iss: 3, pp.249 - 270