Competency J
Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviours, and how they should be considered when connecting individuals or groups with accurate, relevant, and appropriate information.
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Awareness of lack of knowledge/ understanding Contemplation of the problem and the task connecting the issue to the individual’s knowledge base and experiences. |
Proceed to think of different approaches/ topics to look into. |
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Optimism |
Weighing prospective topics against task requirements, time, personal interests and information available. |
Preliminary search (skimming/ scanning) of information where the general topic is identified. |
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Exploration- some may abandon the ISP here due to uncomfortable feelings. |
Confusion + Doubt + Frustration |
Becoming informed and oriented in the information landscape |
Finding and reading information and then relating that information to what the individual already knows. |
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Formulation- a turning point in the ISP. |
Clarity, Increase in Confidence |
Identify and select ideas from the information to form a focus. |
Use the information encountered to form a focus. |
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Confidence + Sense of Direction |
Gather information related to the focused topic developed in the formulation phase. |
Interaction between the individual and the information the system is the most effective and efficient. |
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Depending on the outcome of the information search: Satisfaction + Relief or Disappointment |
Synthesizing the information to culminate the search. |
Complete the search and present the findings. |
Introduction
In addition to knowing how collections are created and catalogued, information professionals should have an understanding of the information-seeking behaviours of their communities so that they are able to directly guide them in their search for information or can create tools and an environment that can aid them in their search.
Information seeking is a behaviour that is ubiquitous in day-to-day life, but people only think about it when the information need is urgent due to some kind of deadline. This behaviour will stop when the information need is fulfilled or the deadline arrives (i.e. we give up). If there is no imminent deadline, people information seek to satisfy curiosity after they encounter some information about a topic.
From the extensive body of research into the topics, there are several foundational information-seeking models that resonated with me and how I approach helping patrons in a public library environment including Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP), Bates’ Berrypicking Model, and Dervin’s Sense-Making Theory.
Carol Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process
Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP) model is one of the most cited works in LIS literature. This model was the first to consider an individual’s emotions felt during the search for information and describes a user’s experience as a series of feelings, thoughts, and actions (referred to as realms in the literature). The ISP consists of 6 stages each identified by the three realms of experience. The process is centred around the creation of a personal perspective, where reflection provides direction for the search. The following table illustrates the Information Seeking Process as detailed in Kuhlthau (1988).
Table 1.0: The Different Stages of Kuhlthau’s Information-Seeking Process
Marcia Bates’ Berrypicking Model
Bates challenged the classic model of information retrieval (document → document representation-|matches|-query← information need) as not being a realistic representation of searches and limiting the ability to create IR systems that genuinely meet a user’s wants and needs. Her challenge of the classic model focused on four key areas: the nature of the query, the nature of the search process, the range of search techniques used, and where the search is conducted.
The following diagram, adapted from Bates (1989) graphically represents the berry-picking model:
Figure 1.0: Diagram Representation of the Berrypicking Process
The line running through each query (Qs) variation represents a human moving towards their goal of completing their search for information to satisfy a need. The indirect path through the different queries represents changes in thoughts (T) that follow up on various leads. The offshoots (outlined in blue) represent information that is produced by each query.
Zooming out, we are able to examine the context of this berry-picking search. The area occupied by the query path is known as the universe of interest (I) and this universe exists within the wider universe of knowledge (K).
Something not displayed in these diagrams is the various strategies and resources that an individual may use to help them in their information search. They include footnote chasing (following up on footnotes to reveal sources of interest), citation searching (looking at who cites a specific resource), journal run (identifying central publications in the area and searching the different volumes), area scanning (browsing materials physically located near materials found in an earlier search), subject search in bibliographies and abstracting & indexing services (using subject description and indexing in a search), and author searching (looking through the author’s other works).
Eliza Dresang’s Radical Change Theory
This theory was developed with the digital age in mind. This is what makes the radical change theory unique compared to other theories because it addresses the relationship between the digital age information seeking and digital age resources. Dresang (2009) suggests that many of the changes in information resources and human behaviour in this digital age can be explained through these core concepts of interactivity, connectedness, and access.
Interactivity refers to information being sought out anyway at virtually any time. Connectedness refers to information acquisition as a social process where a community of peers creates a reputation for the source. Access refers to information being found in a wide variety of places and opening new doors to new information and communities.
Technology’s Impact on Information-Seeking Behaviors
Another topic that is of particular interest to me professionally is the impact of technology on information-seeking behaviours. Technology has made the gap between individuals and the information they seek basically non-existent, sometimes to a fault (information overload) (Case, 2018). The mass amount of information available on the internet has turned our society into browsers vs. formal searchers and has led to the idea that information service organizations are redundant and will eventually disappear. Information professionals counter this notion; with any search engine capable of returning hundreds of thousands of search results (which is often a hodgepodge of fact, opinion, and nonsense) how does one identify robust and reliable sources of information? The role of information professionals has morphed from that of gatekeeper of resources to guide through the complicated information landscape and associated technologies.
Evidence
Biblio and Bytes Blog
INFO 200 with Steven Tash
Description
Throughout INFO 200, we were asked to create a variety of blog posts that centred around describing the forces (social, cultural, economic, technological and political) that shape our chosen information users. For my blog posts, I concentrated on elementary school-aged children (4-10 years of age). Blog post topics included:
describing the information users
how libraries around the world help these information uses
emerging technologies for children
peer-reviewed article summary
a book review
Justification
I chose this blog as evidence for this competency because collectively each of my blog posts describes the information-seeking behaviours of elementary school-aged children.
The Information Seeking Needs & Behavior of Young Children Research Project
INFO 200 with Steven Tash
Description
Along with our blog, we were asked to select an information community to focus on for this end-of-term project. I selected young children and their parents. Throughout the semester, we were asked to create blog posts for the following topics:
Community Description
Overview of Information-Seeking Behaviors of Community
Research Article Summary
Information Community & Instructional Programming
Global Issues & Information Community
Emerging Technology Use of Information Community
Using these blog posts and other assignments from the class, we were to write a final paper that condensed all of the blog posts and included a:
Literature Review
Critical Assessment of the Research
Justification
I chose this research project as a piece of evidence for Competency J because I was able to show that I could explore the body of literature discussing the information needs of my chosen community and build upon the information presented in my blog.
Content Audit
INFO 287 User Experience with Aaron Schmidt
Description
For this assignment, we were asked to choose a library website and conduct an analysis of how the content was written. I chose the Orillia Public Library’s website and used the laws of usability outlined in Steve Krug’s Book-Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited as the criteria.
In this audit, we were asked to map out the significant areas of the website and then conduct a content inventory. The content inventory involved assessing whether the content was written for the web, was useful for the user and was useful for the library staff.
Based on an analysis of the site map and the content inventory, I then provided commentary that addressed whether the website content and organization were suitable for the library’s information community and the information that they may be searching the library’s website for. This commentary included discussions about:
whether the website was designed with accessibility in mind/
the organization of the information (i.e. logical headings and subheadings, proper use of dropdowns, etc.).
written content took into account the communities information needs.
Justification
I chose this audit to represent my ability to identify the information community along with their needs and to assess whether a resource (website) is able to connect those individuals with accurate, relevant, and appropriate information at the right time.
Conclusion
By having a solid understanding of notable information-seeking models, an information professional is able to have a better awareness of the information needs of the individuals they help on a day-to-day basis. Understanding how different groups of people in their information communities enables these professionals to firstly, more effectively help them find the information they need. Secondly, it helps them to create tools and an environment which creates a positive information-seeking experience.
For myself, professionally, knowing the different models of information-seeking helps me the most when I am looking at creating or improving a patron’s experience in the Makerspace. Having this knowledge has also been really helpful for my Reader’s Advisory responsibilities, where I am asked for help using digital devices or about different topics and book suggestions throughout the day.
References
Bates, M. J. (1989). The design of browsing and berrypicking techniques for the online search interface. On-Line Review, 13(5), 407–424. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb024320
Case, D. O. (2018). Information Seeking [Print]. In K. Haycock & M.-J. Romaniuk (Eds.), The Portable MLIS (2nd ed., pp. 49–56). Libraries Unlimited.
Dresang, E. T., & Koh, K. (2009). Radical Change Theory, Youth Information Behavior, and School Libraries. Library Trends, 58(1), 26–50. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.0.0070
Kuhlthau, C. (2023). Information Search Process | Carol Kuhlthau. https://wp.comminfo.rutgers.edu/ckuhlthau/information-search-process/
Kundu, D. (2017). Models of Information Seeking Behaviour: A Comparative Study. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4289303
Stephens, M. (2023). Overview of Information Seeking Behavior Theories – INFO 200 – Information Communities. https://infocom.hyperlib.sjsu.edu/assignments/assignment-helper-overview-of-information-seeking-behavior-theories/