What other possibilities might there be in terms of characteristics that might be missing from the list of characteristics of information seekers?
the psych traits have very specific definitions in psch for measurements; some are more general;
identity becomes less useful bc it arches across all of these (demographics, psychological traits, context)
demographics
sexual orientation
geographic location
religious, political affiliation
psychological traits and states
satisficing, least effort
the opposite: diversion-->this is what i do all the time; distraction; immersion
opportunism
information overload
skepticism
curiosity
self-actualization
uncertainty in the sense of the psychological state
confidence in your knowledge
knowledge (relates to the locus of control trait) [Leah wrote an article with someone at Rutgers; he wrote abt teen suicide notes, she wrote abt scholarly research narratives; one of the things you tend to hear from accomplished ppl: they use a lot of language that the locus of control rests with them--actors, not acted upon; ppl who strugle account for that as out of their locus of control-->as an actor, I am acted upon more than able to achieve on my own accord; Leah says it has a whole lot to say about potential for leadership--ppl indicate sthg in their statements that say they are taking control, have confidence/power to do it; one of the cliches of librarianship occupational group-->occupational stereotype; one of the issues with younger applicants is this locus of control]MT: my locus of control has diminished over time, whereas most ppl gain it with age
psychological disorders: can generate a lot of psych isb-->obsessions, scizophrenic
selectivity-->pattern recognition
memory/recall
context
collectives
social seal of approval-->popularity, endorsement; assumption that it has passed the validity test (like John Maynard Keynes)
we want to teach ppl to be skeptical
new category: Action
thinking about people as actors rather than thinking about ppl as collections of traits within a context "stuff in a box"
what breaks us out of those habits is a focus on action (like Leah's work on what ppl do)
relations--how do you engage with people? on what basis?
work (instead of employment status)
play
entertainment
[things you do for yourself versus what you do for yourself--personal well being; things you want to be spending your time doing, versus things you must spend time doing]
accessibility (physical disability)
gatekeeping
the things on the list are those that tend to be studied. the new things are overlooked
the last items on the context list have to do with social role
social intelligence, expertise, hobbyist, fan, etc.
expert seekers
gatekeeping as a social role and as an action; many professions are gatekeepers; judgments are made abt what is the best kind of information to share (example of stroke victim, where denial can be functional)
Cronin & Davenport 1993 p. 28: social intelligence ARIST article (on slide from last week)
SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, ABILITY
there were a lot of "spooks" in the library role
social intelligence is a good way to think about the "good seeker" bc not just about documents, it's about seeking within the whole context for effective action
MT: a sense of selectivity in the raw versus processed intel-->pattern recognition
critical to being a good finder and/or creator of info
being able to see what doesn't fit, what's missing, what could fit into a larger category
MT: what could the tie be to fractals
miscellaneous quality of life--one thing after another; have a really hard time making an argument, no structure; no sense of how do you connect the dots
MT: articulation of those connections as evidence of argument
MT: what about memory and recall?
Precursors
next week: Colin Doty and barriers (second part of Case Ch. 5)
need to study up on diffusion theory-->ppl seek new ideas if they're more cosmopolitanism
Precursors to Information Seeking
• Uncertainty (lack of confidence in knowledge)
• Predisposition, readiness, "set," "press," perseverance [MT: the 80-20 rule]
• Agenda-setting, prioritization (time)
• Social role (e.g., gatekeeper, opinion leader)
• "Cognitive map" or schema
• Perceived access / Availability of help
• Curiosity? Inquisitiveness
• Social skills / Social intelligence
• Wilson: “Distressing ignorance”
Bitzer: prevailing discourse (situation; changes)
early emphasis on demographic characteristics and motivating search and tied up with info need
Dervin, Belkin, Taylor
difficulty in separating needs and seeking-->interesting how much research done on needs and relatively little on seeking itself; gets conflated; hard to measure internal stuff, so they post hoc attribute needs to behavior bc behavior is the evidence of the need
post hoc theorizing
use observable behavior as a proxy for some sort of preexisting state of the seeker and then construe that state
what issues are there with framing this state with need?
stigma of deficiency
omits the existence of serendipity, pleasure of searching, curiosity
is the need a goal? or is it a more psych state
psych ways of thinking about needs (from Case): kinds of needs; basic, necessary to life; can extend that to Maslow's hierarchy of needs
some ppl can compartmentalize, and don't look for their work to be self-actualizing: work to live versus live to work
very individualistic, even though the belonging element is smack dab in the middle
can be seen as a theory of action/role in society, as well
MT: loyalty as an organizational goal implies work can be designed to do this
"martyrdom being a self-limiting condition"
the only way to achieve self-actualization is to shed lower-level needs dualism of mind and body
MT: dualism concept is interesting related to how we think about mind versus body(context?)
Maslow: "necessary but maybe not sufficient" plus the stages aren't discrete; this is a model, right?
"If you're gonna talk about needs, you're gonna bump into Maslow."
how well does that map onto information seeking?
no one has come up with a set of info needs that's construed this way
MT: could I map the hierarchy onto ISB?
info needs & uses: what are we talking about when we say need?
Belkin ASK
Dervin construes her sense making theory in terms of gaps--trying to fill the deficiency; tries to be constructivist
in education, we talk abt predisposition to learning/readiness to learn; conditions necessary for the set of learners; do you have the foundations necessary to take the next step-->some are attitude, not just knowledge
predisposition: three domains of learning: cognitive, affective, motor (Bloom taxonomy)
cognitive: the what of knowledge
affective: attitude, belief, judgment, values
motor: physical
Prioritization-->key to expert seeking
ISB is highly pragmatic--not needy; ppl adjust their expectations accordingly
Bitzer: depends on circumstances and they can be id'ed and understood by looking at the discourse
MT: attention instead of need
attentiveness
MT: needs and other factors affect how you decide to focus your attention-->better called attentiveness to avoid conflation with marketing speak of attention as a commodity; would incorporate the leisure browsing, encountering, context, etc.
Abstracts for this week
Richard L. Derr (1983). A conceptual analysis of information need. Information Processing & Management 19(5), 273-278. doi:10.1016/0306-4573(83)90001-8.
In this article, Richard Derr applies conceptual analysis to determine what an information need is. First, he determines that an individual does need to be aware of the existence of a need, as a person may not have information but need it or may have information but not need it. Second, desire is not part of an information need, as a person may not desire information but need it, or may desire information but not need it. In order for there to be an information need, there must be a purpose for which information will be employed in its achievement. The content of the information must match the purpose in order for an individual to need it. To determine whether or not a user has an information need, information specialists must make judgment calls. Value judgments determine whether the user has a legitimate purpose for requested information; factual judgments determine if the information content in question matches the user’s purpose.
Therefore, this information need is defined by the presence of a purpose and actual information capable of meeting that purpose; it is not a psychological state of the user. This frees an information specialist from attempting to discern user’s state; he or she must only evaluate the purpose and determine the information needed. However, objective information cannot always answer purposes motivated by value disputes, and determining whether an information source is needed is difficult to ascertain because the type and level of contribution a source provides in achieving a purpose is hard to quantify. Ultimately, it may be that only information systems that provide information for wants or answers to formal search queries are feasible.
very paternalistic; the idea of setting aside values is very old school; very 19th century; he defines the universe of what defines information seeking so narrowly that all the rest is tossed out; desire to "define out" the messy bits
precursors in this sitch: purpose; information itself defines the need
MT: implies intentionality of information creation-->only can access the info when your purpose matches its intent
Connaway L.S., Dickey T.J., & Radford M.L., (2011). “If it is too inconvenient, I’m not going after it:’ Convenience as a critical factor in information-seeking behaviors. Library & Information Science Research, 33(3), 179-190.
Connaway et al. highlights the concept of convenience as a main factor during all stages of the information-seeking process. This concept has been reinforced by the theoretical framework of gratification theory, which posits that individuals seek information in their own self-interest – mainly due to an acknowledgment that people choose strategies that are within their comfort zone and people tend to make choices without considering all possibilities. Another framework emphasized in the article is time as a context in information seeking. When time factors act as situational constrains on information seekers, Connaway et al argues that this can be a “contextual limiter”; for example, if an individual has a lack of time and needs to access information immediately, the individual’s choice of information source becomes dictated by factors of convenience such as “ease and speed of use” and whether it is quick to access.
Drawing on two studies, Connaway et al conducted in-depth interviews with students and faculty and found that convenience was either explicitly or implicitly a major contributing factor to information seeking behavior. They found that students avoided physical trips to the library when possible, and credited virtual reference services, e-books and interlibrary loans as ways to save time. In conclusion, the authors implicate that libraries need to become more like their Web competitors such as Google and Amazon because the Web environment is familiar, convenient and easy to use.
Leah: this is a riff on least effort; gratifications theory (prominent in communications and media but takes a much more positive view of the seeker)
criticisms of gratifications theory are that ppl aren't rational; funny that the authors took the name and put a negative spin on it
Rachel: would be interesting to see the role of convenience over time
Leah: there is a feeling of human nature that doesn't fly here
Bitzer, L.F. (1968). The rhetorical situation. Philosophy & Rhetoric. 1(1): 1-14.
Bitzer argues in this article that while the literature, up until this point, has done a great deal to discuss rhetoric in terms of methodology, content, audience, or oratory, it has yet to discuss the situation that leads to a rhetorical discourse. The rhetorical situation is broadly described as the contexts in which speakers create rhetorical discourse. It is the elements that come together at a specific time establishing a situation that then necessitate rhetoric. In other words, the rhetoric is a response to a specific type of situation. The two phenomena are inextricably linked just as he describes, “a question must exist as a necessary condition of an answer” (6). More specifically, he establishes that there are three parts to a rhetorical situation: First, the exigence, or a problem in the world that can be changed by human interaction, requiring persuasion. The exigence is something that invites discourse and is capable of being altered by “positive modification” (7) (acknowledging that there are situations that cannot be
changed such as death, which are then considered not rhetorical situations). Second, the audience, which are the mediators of change. The audience, as he clarifies, are not just mere listeners, but
are capable of being influenced and are actively involved in transformation. Third is constraints, which are unconscious limiters such as other people, relationships, and ideologies among others, which have the power to constrain a decision or action needed to change the exigence. Lastly, he describes how the response must be fitting to the rhetorical situation and it is considered fitting if, “it meets the requirements established by the situation” (10). He admits, however, that the complexity of reality and the characteristics of human beings allows for rhetorical discourse to not always fit the situation that necessitated it. Situations can become weakened by complexities such as multiple or conflicting exigences, competing demands on our time, competing roles as both rhetor and audience, limited or competing constraints or maturation and decay/persistence of rhetorical situations.
rhetoric isn't only about the seeker; there is both the persuader and the persuadable; speak and correspondent
the appeal of rhetoric
exigencies
Aristotle: triple appeal principle
rhetorical situations are not static
MT: Info skkg isn't static either, though that's how it's treated in research
"chicken and egg"-->inextricably tied up as a dynamic process; emergent process
we should all read this piece
Beautyman, W., & Shenton, A. (2009). When does an academic information need stimulate a school-inspired information want? Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 41, 67-80.
This study, conducted in Northeast England, is an interpretivist ethnography of two 7-8 year old classes in a primary school from September 2006 to July 2007. During this time Beautyman acted almost as a classroom assistant, interacting directly with children and becoming apart of class activities during their instruction and activities on historical periods and geography subjects. With the intent of focusing on children in the second key stage of development, Beautyman interacted with and observed children throughout the school year, attending class eighty-eight days during this period. The classes she observed consisted of six females and seventeen males in the first class and a second class of eight girls and seventeen boys. Her purpose was to witness them in their most natural state to determine their strategies and motivations for attaining information about topics raised during class or homework time.
Analyzed using grounded theory, the study found that students were intrinsically motivated to ask questions and seek information for comprehension of class subjects that created some cognitive discourse or appealed to their personal interests. The researcher is also able to commit to a four-part typology of information seeking among these children based on patterns explained by specific child examples. These findings bring about suggestions to empower students to successfully create and follow through with information wants.
Dervin, B. and Nilan, M. (1986). Information Needs and Uses. ARIST, 21(1), 3-33.
Brenda Dervin and Michael Nilan’s article offers a summary of scholarly literature on information needs and uses, and the changing direction of that literature, during the period from 1978 to 1986—the years when the information science profession began to veer noticeably away from its traditional obsession with system-based research presuming that information has a fixed, objective content, and toward its more recent obsession with user-based research, the interaction between information and its users to create subjective, individualized understandings, and a contextualist, constructivist, non-positivist vision of information in general. The authors herald this paradigm shift that was then underway and has gained momentum ever since.
The article’s bibliography lists about 140 other articles out of more than 300 potentially relevant articles from the period and summarizes that literature briefly, offering a long list of emblematic features of the lingering traditional approach, the new constructivist approach, and the paradigm shift between them. Key topics include: perennial under-theorization; calls for more effective service to information users; various standard features of the traditional, system-oriented paradigm; and key points of debate between the old and new paradigms, including objective vs. subjective information, mechanistic/passive vs. constructivist/active users, trans-situationality (universality/generalizability) vs. situationality, atomism vs. wholism regarding users’ information encounters and experiences, and quantitative vs. qualitative research, among others. The article concludes by discussing then-still-alternative (now established) scholarship of the new paradigm, particularly the User-Values approach of Taylor and MacMullin, the Sense-Making approach of Dervin et al., and Belkin et al.’s Anomalous States-of-Knowledge approach.
flashback to paradigm shift: moving away from system-oriented vision of IS, and the new direction toward fosuing on users, experience, subjective interaction with info,
everyone cites this article when referring to this paradigm shift
summarizes about 140 of 300 articles on developments in the field
obj vs. subj
active vs. passive users
transituationality (positivist) vs. situationality (depends on the context)
atomism vs. holism (users' dynamic ongoing process)
qual v. quant
hree new approaches to the new paradign: user values approach (Taylor, others?), sense making approach (Dervin), anomalous states of knowledge appraoch (Belkin)
really good summary of the prevailing critique of the time. even more recent critiques haven't changed much
individualist bias still happening
theorization remains weak
ASK and sense making approaches are both cognitivist in the origins and orientation, and yet both of them are also work hard to get ppl to articulate linguistically what their needs are< --this is a problem, I think
focus on the action to get ppl to talk
Jennex, M. E. (2009, January). Re-visiting the knowledge pyramid. In System Sciences, 2009. HICSS'09. 42nd Hawaii International Conference On (pp. 1-7). IEEE.
The objective of this article was to critique and analyze the traditional knowledge hierarchy, which consists of four levels illustrated in a pyramid model. The first level is the data element and is the base of the pyramid. The next levels are information, knowledge, and wisdom, which is the apex of the pyramid structure. The knowledge pyramid depicts a knowledge hierarchical model, originally purposed by Ackoff in 1989. The author proposes a revision in the model due to the original model’s lack of clear construct definition and its unclear process of explaining how knowledge develops into wisdom. The author has added and modified the existing knowledge pyramid structure in several ways to enhance its explanation on how knowledge is managed. The proposed new model has the pyramid shape flattened out on the top, however the four levels of data, information, knowledge, and wisdom are kept intact. The label ‘reality’ is now the foundation, and the sensors (human senses) as the input to data level. The main differences noted by the author of the new model are: the apex of the structure is learning rather than wisdom; addition of “filters” in the knowledge process to filter the levels of data, information, knowledge and wisdom to generate specific information, based on limited number of appropriate participants; added element of social network, which is informal/formal, direct/indirect methods to transfer knowledge between the users. These enhancement to the current knowledge pyramid focuses on the process of information management rather than the levels of information.
sense making as key to moving from knowledge to learning; puts learning at the top of the information hierarchy, similar to Maslow's
how data becomes knowledge
should read this
Urbany, J. E., Dickson, P. R., & Wilkie, W. L. (1989). Buyer uncertainty and information search. Journal of Consumer Research, 16(2), 208-15.
This paper investigates whether different types of uncertainty exist in consumer settings and if some types may result in less pre-purchase information search despite the traditional view that individuals dislike uncertainty and use information search as a means to reduce it. Surveys collected responses on six uncertainty measures and six shopping and search behaviors from participants who had purchased a major home appliance within the previous year.
The authors use exploratory factor analysis of the uncertainty measures to create a two-factor solution. The first factor, knowledge uncertainty (KU), captures uncertainty related to features and product performance whereas the second factor, choice uncertainty (CU), relates to which product to choose from a set. Regressing search behaviors on the two factors revealed that CU had a positive effect while KU was negative, but high collinearity between CU and KU means that could be an artifact of the analysis technique. Due to this, they created a 2x2 median split of the two factors and did a more descriptive comparison based on the search behaviors of individuals in each quadrant. Interestingly, the low KU/low CU group did not engage in the most search and the high KU/high CU group did not engage in the least search, which goes against the traditional hypothesis of using search to minimize uncertainty. The high KU/low CU group (“blissfully uninformed”) did the least amount of search and was more likely to shop at a single store—“I’ll just go to Sears since I don’t know (and don’t care to know) about dishwashers.” The low KU/high CU group searched the most, likely due to their knowledge about trade-offs between alternatives creating more uncertainty about which product to choose.
MT: very interesting method might be applicable to my study?
Ward, J. and Hansen, K.A. (1991). Journalist and librarian roles, information technologies and newsmaking. Journalism Quarterly, 68, Fall, 491-8.
This article, written by two University of Minnesota journalism professors, begins with the conjecture that, in the new digital age, the roles of the journalist and the news librarian seem more and more similar as both roles increasingly served in “manipulating ever-expanding bodies of information and serving as intermediaries between the reader and the constantly-expanding store of information.” In this systematic study of 105 major news organizations, the two researchers found that this supposed merging of roles is actually true.
To complete this study, the researchers performed an extensive survey of 105 of the largest news organizations (defined as such since they had circulations of “100,000 or more”); three organizations refused to participate though the study was confidential. The survey was conducted in a “computer assisted telephone interviewing program” and consisted of a 92- question questionnaire designed to gauge the rate of technology adoption by newpapers, the types of technology most commonly adopted, and the subscriptions of newspapers to databases, among other things. The results of the survey were tabulated in the computer and the interviews were all recorded in case a check for accuracy was needed.
The results showed that portable computers and fax machines were the most frequently adopted technologies, and the researchers also found that 90% of the newspapers held subscriptions with electronic databases. Their survey also identified many “shared roles” between news librarians and reporters, including information search tasks (both in electronic libraries and with community library materials requested via fax,) and story framing (primarily the inclusion or exclusion of certain facts, showing that news librarians had a heavy hand in the newsmaking process). The study also identified “distinctive roles,” most notably those related to publication credit (usually given solely to reporters despite the librarian’s research role,) and data analysis (reporter) vs. data retrieval (librarian), in addition to the librarian’s fiscal and managerial responsibilities. Ultimately, based on this study, the researchers found that the use of technology in the newsroom was indeed increasing and blurring the lines between roles for reporters and news librarians.
4-part typology seems interesting; these researchers are saying there's prolly a point where the conversion bt externally imposed motivation and internally motivation info skkg; converting a need to a want; could be sthg really powerful and contrasts the needs/wants conversation; they think there's a typology from no conversion to internalization; precursors-->empathy, inconsistency
she'll post the typology to the discussion group
Chu, Clara M. “Immigrant Children Mediators (ICM): Bridging the Literacy Gap in Immigrant Communities,” The New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship, 5: 85-94, 1999.
Chu’s article describes linguistic coping practices employed by multi-generational immigrant families in close-knit communities. The article covers studies and observations of immigrant adults with limited language literacy. The studies reveal unique practices and strategies employed by these adults used to communicate and generally function in society. One of these is called “interpreter strategy,” in which children of the immigrants serve as social membranes, filtering, organizing and relaying information. Mediation activities vary by need and community, and are discussed in Chu’s article. Chu also gathers resources for immigrant children mediators (ICMs) and ways librarians can help guide them to become more effective and competent mediators.
Parents who come to the United States with young children (or immigrants who have children after arriving in the country) will often see their children’s linguistic capacities surpass their own very quickly. Schools and libraries can be useful network resources for immigrant families. The literature review shows that some cultural social networks take precedence over secular, educational or public-created social networking opportunities. This means that in some communities, librarians and educators can shape the way ethnolinguistic gatekeepers (children of immigrants who operate in two linguistic spheres) provide information to their parents and elder family members. Sometimes information professionals can’t reach these communities. Librarians can provide resources, programs, outreach, an environment, advocacy, and staff development to aid ICMs.
Ross, C.S. (1999). Finding without seeking: The information encounter in the context of reading for pleasure. Information Processing & Management, 35(6), 783-99.
Ross problematizes goal-oriented information seeking research and examines information seeking in the everyday, non-goal-oriented context. Looking specifically at how individuals seek books to read for pleasure, Ross concludes with five themes from an analysis of 194 interviews that she argues have implications for the search process.
During the course of the interviews, ‘heavy readers’ were asked how they went about choosing books to read for pleasure, and what value this reading has in their lives. An analysis of readers’ statements suggests that the process of choosing a book to read for pleasure must include certain related elements – the reading experience desired, sources to alert readers to new books, elements of the book itself, clues on the book, and the cost in time, money, or cognitive energy. Readers discussed how books have made differences in their lives through providing new perspectives, models for identity, comfort, connection with others, courage, acceptance, and understanding of the world.
Through Ross’ analysis of heavy readers’ information seeking five themes emerged: the reader is actively engaged in constructing meaning, the affective dimension is critical in the reader’s experience with the text, readers value trust in recommendations, reading occurs in a network of social relations, and that meta-knowledge is used by experienced readers in making decisions about books.
very few ISB studies have dealt with advice and trust
people rely on critics/recommenders who have your tastes
MT: the is like Yelp
Sairanen, A. & Savolainen R, (2010). Avoiding Health information in the context of uncertainty management. Information Research 15(4). Retrieved from http://www.informationr.net/ir/15-4/paper443.html
Sairanen and Savolainen open their paper with a discussion about the assumption of “needy” information seekers, and the question of information avoidance. The authors point out that questions of information avoidance are typically excluded from information science inquiries, and present a study that investigates this issue within the context of health issues and “uncertainty management.” A literature review describing research approaches to uncertainty management is included, and features Donald Case's work quite heavily. The review serves to provide information about how the notion of information avoidance (especially within health-related contexts) has long been discussed within the fields of psychology and communication studies.
Interestingly, the authors point out that issues of information avoidance are much more complex than previously imagined, and can be demonstrative of both desirable and undesirable uncertainty. Various reasons and strategies for avoiding health-related information are included, which demonstrate that people may “employ both information seeking and buffering strategies together.”
An empirical study was conducted, which attempted to address such research questions as how/why people avoid health-related information, and the kinds of strategies they employ to avoid such information. The study drew data from interviews with nine students at a Finnish university, and conclusions indicated that information seeking and information avoidance are not mutually exclusive. While health information was often avoided to evade feelings of fear, depression, and anxiety, the participants related a variety of reasons for avoiding such potentially life-saving information.
March, J. G., & Heath, C. (1994). A primer on decision making: How decisions happen. New York, NY: Free Press.
James March’s oft-cited book, a Primer on Decision Making, provides a straightforward examination of the way people make decisions and highlights the aspects of decision making that cause people to make choices that boggle the minds of rational choice theorists. Through an analysis of the assumptions and perspectives of a variety of decision-making theories, March describes the complex temporal issues that complicate the predictive ability of decision-making models:
Decision outcomes unfold over time. The short run is nested in the long run. Many actions that contribute to short-run well-being are deleterious in the long run, and vice versa. Moreover, preferences and identities change over time, partly as a result of taking actions. Are outcomes to be evaluated in terms of preferences and identities that existed at the time of the decision or in terms of those that exist at the time at which the effects of the decision are realized? The complications of weighting consequences that are distributed across time constitute a prime topic in both the psychology and the economics of choice (p. 227).
March delineates the decision-making process as conditioned by four factors: (1) alternatives, (2) expectations, (3) preferences, and (4) decision rule. Each of these factors not only is part of the decision-making process, but also relates directly to the decision maker’s attention allocation and judgment of the relevance of information encountered during search. As March explains, “the study of decision making is, in many ways, the study of search and attention” (p. 23). His examination of decision making delves into the concept of frame rationality—that actors make rational choices based on both cognitive and evaluative beliefs. Differences in framing and access, as well as the varied ways in which decision makers judge information and incorporate it into their worldviews, result in different ideas about information relevance and value.
Leah: this illustrates how DM can be seen as a relation to action-->does the information acquisition/finding have a consequence
a likely pivot point is the adoption decision (diffusion theory) changes knowledge into action/has the potential to action
info skkg lit is so institutionally boxed in LIS and we don't care what ppl do after the fact
for me, the decision abt whether it's enough leads to action (feedback loop to keep searching, or end search)