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Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors and how they should be considered when connecting individuals or groups with accurate, relevant, and appropriate information.
Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors and how they should be considered when connecting individuals or groups with accurate, relevant, and appropriate information.
Introduction
Introduction
What is information seeking? It is the “conscious effort to acquire information in response to a need or gap in your knowledge”(Case, 2018, p. 50). When individuals lack the information or knowledge needed in order to fulfill a goal, they look for it. A significant part of an information professional’s duties is helping customers meet their information needs by connecting them with accurate, relevant, and appropriate resources. In order to effectively do this, professionals need to understand information-seeking behaviors and theories that aid in constructing the best strategies to approach various information needs. Some of these theories include Information Search Process (ISP), Berrypicking, and Sense-making.
Explication
Explication
Information Search Process (ISP)
Information Search Process (ISP)
ISP is a six-stage process introduced by Carol Kuhlthau (1991). The information seeker’s feelings, thoughts, and actions are described in each stage of the process.
● Stage 1 - Initiation: the information seeker recognizes that they lack the information or knowledge needed. They feel uncertain and apprehensive, their thoughts are general/vague, and they initiate the search for background information.
● Stage 2 - Selection: the information seeker selects a general topic to explore and becomes more optimistic.
● Stage 3 - Exploration: the information seeker experiences feelings of confusion, frustration, or doubt while seeking and investigating relevant information.
● Stage 4 - Formulation: the information seeker starts to gain clarity as they start to form a focus by identifying and selecting ideas from the information. Thoughts are clearer.
● Stage 5 - Collection: the information seeker gathers relevant information to the focused topic. They gain a greater sense of direction and confidence.
● Stage 6 - Presentation: the results of the search will either generate feelings of relief/satisfaction or disappointment and the information is synthesized and summarized, completing the search process.
Berrypicking
Berrypicking
Berrypicking is an information-seeking model introduced by Marcia Bates (1989). While previous models were more or less linear – the information seeker needs information, looks for it, and finds it – Bates’ model argues that berrypicking is a more accurate model of how information is retrieved. Real-life searches change and evolve as an information seeker performs queries, mainly because “at each stage, with each different conception of the query, the user may identify useful information and references” (Bates, 1989, p. 410). Various strategies and information resources are employed and examined. Terms are often changed depending on the results from the information retrieval system. As a result, queries are satisfied bit by bit, which gives the model its name of “berrypicking.”
Sense-making
Sense-making
Sense-making is the methodology introduced by Brenda Dervin (1983) that redirects the research focus from information resources to information users and their information-seeking behaviors. The term “sense-making” refers to “behavior, both internal (i.e. cognitive) and external (i.e. procedural) which allows the individual to construct and design his/her movement through time-space” (Dervin, 1983, p.3). The methodology is based on the following premises:
● There are gaps in reality.
● Information is based on human observation.
● All information is subjective. (Dervin, 1983)
In sense-making, the focus is on the context of the situation and how information seekers construct or create sense by bridging cognitive gaps through observed data.
Significance of Information Seeking Theories and Methodologies in Library Services
Significance of Information Seeking Theories and Methodologies in Library Services
“Information needs are highly contextual: different social and material contexts give rise to different needs and may therefore be approached according to ‘the user’s life world’” (O’Brien et al., 2022, p. 57). By utilizing and applying various information-seeking theories and methodologies, information professionals can better understand the unique information needs of their customers and how they seek information. This will help professionals effectively design and provide services, collections, and tools required to fulfill these information needs. Professionals can use the user’s preferences and priorities to help become more effective and maintain relevance within an information community.
Evidence
Evidence
For Blog Post #3, I had to write about the information-seeking behaviors of my chosen information community as part of the research I was conducting for my final research paper. I addressed various questions that helped me understand my information community better – who are the information seekers? Why are they looking for information? How are they looking for information? By understanding the community’s information needs, information professionals can ensure that information that meets those needs are easily accessed and ready to be used.
For this assignment, I had to evaluate two different information sources – one research-based and one community-based – and then compare and contrast them. For each source, I described the position of the sources within the information cycle, scope of content, credentials, and authority of the author, editor, and/or publisher, purposes and uses, the intended audience, design of the source, currency, and frequency of update, biases and gaps, and the overall value for my chosen information community. This assignment gave me a better understanding of the available information resources and how to evaluate them for quality, which is important in selecting accurate, relevant, and appropriate resources.
In my research paper for INFO 200, I combined all the groundwork I completed during the research process. I examined the information-seeking behaviors of the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) community. During the process, I identified the many variables that affect their information needs, explored the various sources of CAM information, and highlighted how library and information service (LIS) providers could best meet the community’s unique needs. One of the findings I discovered was that there was a heavy reliance on resources on the internet that are often questionable regarding accuracy. One of the suggestions I made was for information professionals to get more involved with the internet and modern communication technology to create online web resources and references that would direct information seekers to information that was more reliable and accurate than the information found on most online websites and forums.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Understanding the diverse information needs and situations of information communities is integral for information professionals to successfully satisfy the needs by providing services and resources that are most beneficial for the information user. Information-seeking theories such as ISP, berrypicking, and sense-making can help information professionals understand queries and aid them in finding accurate, relevant, and appropriate information and resources. While this may not seem important to people outside of the library and information science field, it is essential in information communities like the one I chose for my INFO 200 research paper, where misleading information could lead to detrimental results for the user. In my future professional career, I will be mindful of how information-seeking behaviors and situations affect information needs and use this information to develop and provide the services needed.
References
References
Bates, M. J. (1989). The design of browsing and berrypicking techniques for the online search interface. Online Review,
13(5), 407–424. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb024320
Case, D. O. (2018). Information seeking. In K. Haycock & M. Romaniuk (Eds.), The portable MLIS (2nd ed., pp. 49–59).
Libraries Unlimited.’
Dervin, B. (1983). An overview of sense-making research: Concepts, methods and results. Paper presented at the annual
meeting of the International Communication Association, Dallas, TX, May. [On-line]. Available:
http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/art/artdervin83.html
Kuhlthau, C. (1991). Inside the search process: Information seeking from the user’s perspective. Journal of the American
Society for Information Science, 42(5), 361–371. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(199106)42:5
O’Brien, H., Greyson, D., De Forest, H., & McDavid, K. (2022). Information needs. In S. Hirsh (Ed.), Information services
today: An introduction (3rd ed., pp. 53–65). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
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