Competency J
describe the fundamental concepts on information seeking behaviors
In order to serve users information needs it is vital that librarians and information professionals are deeply acquainted with their information-seeking behaviors. What exactly does 'information-seeking behavior' mean? According to Case (2002) it is a conscious effort to acquire information in response to a need or a gap in one's knowledge. The sum of passive behaviors (i.e. glimpsing, encountering information) and purposive behaviors (i.e. avoiding or selecting information) that users engage in during the information-seeking process constitute information-seeking behaviors (Case, 2002). If we consider for a moment that we are living in the era that has been dubbed the information society , where information dissemination and consumption is inherent to societal life, it is evident that librarians and information professionals must make it a priority to understand the processes that users employ to search for information. Doing so allows us to provide users with accurate information that is relevant to their particular needs. One of my goals in my future career as an information professional is to constantly keep in mind the characteristics, barriers, and issues of information-seeking behavior as it applies to the different groups of users. My courses in the MLIS program and my work experience have throroughly equipped me with the knowledge and skill set to make this possible. Following I discuss the models or strategies that have influenced my understanding of user information-seeking behavior along with their applications in my future life as an information professional.
In 1991 Kuhlthau developed a model, based on student user studies, which identified six stages (initiation, selection, exploration, formulation, collection and presentation) in the Information Search Process. Kuhlthau proposes that at each stage of the search the user experiences various feelings ranging from optimism and satisfaction to confusion and disappointment. Her theory is important because it focuses on the information-seeker as a human, complete with feelings and emotions that can influence the information-seeking process. For example, if a user is an impatient person his searches for information will tend to use familiar tools that afford him to perform the search quickly and with the least amount of expended energy. Likewise, other emotions, feelings, and states of mind affect the users' information-seeking behavior. I can attest to the applicability of Kuhlthau's theory through my own behavior when searching for information. The search tools and methodology I employ during any given search are heavily influenced by internal factors such as mood, sense of duty, and emotions as well as by external factors such as looming deadlines. I realize that librarians and information professionals must understand the process by which people search for information in their daily lives so that we can appropriately design library services and tools that are accurate, relevant, and effective in delivering information to users.
In a later publication Kuhlthau (2003) introduced the notion of the zones of intervention whereas a user's search proceeds with the assistance of help from someone else thereby increases its accuracy and efficacy. The zones differentiate between the level of assistance provided:
Zone 1 - Self-diagnosis of information need
Zone 2 - Librarian as locater (i.e. providing a reference response)
Zone 3 - Librarian as identifier (i.e. identifying potentially useful information resources)
Zone 4 - Librarian as advisor (i.e. identifying possibly resources and guiding the user)
Zone 5 - Librarian as counsellor (i.e. guiding user on the overall process)
Each of the zones is further associated with strategies to be used by librarians and information professionals to intervene in the search process (i.e. collaborating, continuing, choosing, charting, conversing and composing). According to Kuhlthau, while being alert to user confusion or frustration, we must also aim to reduce the user's isolation, encourage the user to test his own ideas, make the user aware of the search process stages, recommend search strategies, and promote critical thinking skills and synthesis of information. I can appreciate the value of her theories in emphasizing the process oriented service which tailor each user's experience according to their individual characteristics and needs.
Dervin's 1992 Sense-Making model is also user centered and argues that the user is an individual acting at a particular point in time and space. As I understand it, as a person moves through time and space he is developing a unique point of view (i.e. a sense) that is influenced by his particular observations and experiences. Whenever he comes to a gap (i.e. where sense runs out), he needs to bridge the gap in some way (Dervin & Dewdney, 1986). The process of sense-making is the action taken by the user in order to acquire the missing information and to apply it to the blocked situation. Thus, the central idea of sense-making is how people make sense of their worlds. I appreciate this model of information-seeking behavior because it allows for individuality of users. Also, though flawed in some respects, the sense-making approach has been applied to how librarians and information professionals conduct reference interviews with users. This is accomplished by the librarian asking neutral or sense-making questions that allow him or her to learn about the unique situations of users, their gaps in knowledge, and their planned usage for the information (Dervin & Dewdney, 1986). I had a chance to employ this approach during a reference assignment for LIBR 210 (Reference and Information Services) in which I served as a reference librarian in the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) project. Besides asking a question, VRD users were also asked to give a bit of a background on themselves as well as describe their use for the information requested in order to give the reference librarian a more complete picture of the user. For example, a typical question could be "Hello, I am an 8th grade student working on a project for school about the lives of honey bees. I need to know if honey bees are the only bees that are capable of making honey. I can't find this in the book for the class and I'm getting frustrated as my homework is due in two weeks." When replying to this user my first step is to make sense of the situation by identifying the user's background (8th grade student) and feelings (frustrated). These will help shape the language and redaction of my reply. Next, I pinpoint the information need (are honey bees the only bees that produce honey) and purpose (school project) which will help me determine which research tool is most adequate. I like the idea of 'putting ourselves in the users shoes' in order to pinpoint their information needs as precisely as possible. I feel this not only gives us a deep understanding of the information-seeking task at hand but it also better addresses the users' needs which ultimately is what we, as librarians and information professionals, aim for.
Beyond the unique information-seeking characteristics of individual users, professional literature also shows that behaviors can vary greatly between different groups of users. There are many studies and information-seeking behavior models that are specific to certain groups of users such as information professionals, engineers, or people searching for medical information on the Internet, just to name a few.
In my current line of work, I interact with two different groups of users: investors and investment professionals. The patterns of information seeking behaviors utilized by each group are very different. Most of our investors do not keep copies of any financial documents such as quarterly reports that are distributed throughout the year. As well when tax filing season approaches they almost never choose to log in to our web site which affords them the ability to explore the complete history of their investment and download any needed documents. Instead they prefer to place a call to request that any set of yearly documents be e-mailed to them. As such when I archive information in our files I do it by investors rather than by year as other firms do. When documents are grouped by investors I am able to quickly retrieve any needed materials by navigating to one folder in the electronic archive. This reduces the length of time I would otherwise spend retrieving documents from different yearly archives. By tailoring the organization of our investors' information to their information-seeking behavior I have greatly improved the efficacy of our services and our response time to them.
In contrast, the group of investment professionals in the office often utilizes the full extent of information resources (i.e. specific software, databases, electronic archives, etc.) provided by the company to guide their investment activities. A 1998 study by Sadler and Rice on the information-seeking behavior of securities analysts, a type of investment professional, corroborates my observations and concludes that institutional resources have a significant influence on the information sources and communication channels that analysts use ultimately influencing the outcomes of their investment activities. Accordingly, if I were required to design a library for the investment profesionals in my office, it would be wise to take into account their information-seeking habits as well as any studies that shed some light on their research patterns to guide the library services and tools (e.g., desktop applications, communication tools such as video-conferencing, instant message and e-mail, electronic databases and filing, etc.) that would make the library efficient to them.
Information-seeking behavior has been the subject of much discussion. Several studies propose different models of the information-seeking process but the collective research seems to accept that the search for information exists within context (i.e. the actual search experience), innate cognitive tendencies, and social factors. From exploring several models in class lectures as well as from drawing from my work experience I can safely conclude that our ideal approach and understanding of information-seeking behavior should be user-oriented, multi-directional, cognizant of affecting factors (i.e. personal preconceptions, issues of time and levels of difficulty in obtaining information), and mindful of the many differences between users (i.e. motivation, information use, social factors, etc.). As librarians and information professionals it is important we recognize all of this because it can guide our efforts in tailoring our offerings to users (i.e. the way the collection and catalogs are organized, how reference services are provided, etc.) and ultimately satisfy their information needs holistically.
References
Case, D.O. (2002). Looking for information: A survey on research on information seeking, needs and behavior. London: Academic Press. Retrieved September 19, 2008, from Google Book Web Site:
http://books.google.com/books?id=BNMQ16FPzLIC&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138&dq=Wilson+ Model+of+Information+Behavior&source=web&ots=a733KpjGAc&sig=5-
Bhp1WerVLCEZe1LYgutUi57x0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result" \l "PPA143,M1
Dervin, B., & Dewdney, P. (1986). Neutral questioning: A new approach to the reference interview. RQ , 25 (4), 506-513.
Kuhlthau, C. C. (1991, June). Inside the search process: Information seeking from the users perspective. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 42(5), 361-71.
Kuhlthau, C. C. (2003). Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and information services. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Sadler, N., & Rice, R. E. (1998, August). Information-seeking behavior of securities analysts: Individual and institutional influences, information sources and channels, and outcomes. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 48(8), 674-693. Retrieved September 19, 2008, from Wiley InterScience Web Site: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/home
Evidentiary
LIBR 210 - Reference & Information Services - Virtual Reference Desk Experience