Models of information-seeking behavior

Information Seeking Definitions

Traditionally information seeking behavior focused on retrieval of information and it’s processing. A variety of library surveys were undertaken and predictions about user information seeking behavior were made, based on the use of library material, bibliographic databases, and library OPAC’s etc. Recent studies have focused more on information seeking behavior of the users on the World Wide Web. Definitions of human information seeking behavior by leading LIS professionals and their concerns are discussed here.

Marchionini gives the appropriate definition of information seeking as “a process in which humans purposefully engage in order to change their state of knowledge (Marchionini 1995).

Information seeking behavior is defined as any activity of an individual that is undertaken to identify a message that satisfies a perceived need.

Wilson defined Information seeking behavior is the purposive seeking for information as a consequence of a need to satisfy some goal. In the course of seeking, the individual may interact with manual information system (such as a newspaper or a library) or with computer-based systems (such as world wide web).

Introduction

Information seeking behaviour refers to the way people search for and utilize information.In 2000, Wilson described information behaviour as the totality of human behaviour in relation to sources and channels of information, including both active and passive information-seeking, and information use. He described information seeking behaviour as purposive seeking of information as a consequence of a need to satisfy some goal. Information seeking behaviour is the micro-level of behaviour employed by the searcher in interacting with information systems of all kinds, be it between the seeker and the system, or the pure method of creating and following up on a search.

A variety of theories of information behaviour - e.g. Zipf’s Principle of Least Effort, Brenda Dervin's Sense Making, Elfreda Chatman's Life in the Round - seek to understand the processes that surround information seeking

Wilson had suggested to the BLRDD that a more comprehensive review of the literature in fields other than information science could draw attention to useful models; theoretical concepts and research instruments that might be employed in future work from an information science perspective.

The information-seeking behaviour process evolved by Wilson (1981) and shows how that model may be revised in the light of work in other fields.

B. T. Fidzani “reports results of a questionnaire survey to determine the information seeking behavior and use of information resources by graduate students at Botswana University. The purpose of the survey was to determine their information requirements and their awareness from 144 students out of a total of 223 part time and full time graduate students. Findings indicated that

guidance in the use of library resources and services is necessary and that periodicals and textbooks are the most popular sources of information for course work and research and that student need to be taught how to use the library. The study recommends that a further questionnaire survey be conducted on students’ ability to use information resources and administered during registration to all master students”.

T. D. Wilson “ Paper presents an outline of models of information seeking and other aspects of information behavior, showing the relationship between communication and information behavior in general with information seeking and information searching in information retrieval systems. It is suggested that these models address issue of various levels of information behavior and that they can be related by envisaging a ‘nesting’ of models. It is also suggested that, within both information seeking research and information searching research, alternative models address similar issues in related ways and that the models are complementary rather than conflicting. Finally, an alternative, problem-solving model is presented, which, it is suggested, provides a basis for relating the models in appropriate research strategies”.

When we turn to information-seeking behaviour the models are rather more numerous: five will be discussed here: Wilson's (1981) model of information-seeking behaviour; Devin’s (1983) sense-making theory; Ellis's (1989 and 1993) behavioural model of information seeking strategies; Kuhlthau's (1991) model of the stages of information-seeking behaviour; and Wilson's (1996) model, which expands his 1981 model through an analysis of the literature in fields other than information science.

  Wilson, 1981

Wilson's second model of 1981 is based upon two main propositions: First, that information need is not a primary need, but a secondary need that arises out of needs of a more basic kind; and Second, that in the effort to discover information to satisfy a need, the enquirer is likely to meet with barriers of different kinds.

Drawing upon definitions in psychology, Wilson proposes that the basic needs can be defined as physiological, cognitive or affective. He goes on to note that the context of any one of these needs may be the person him- or herself, or the role demands of the person's work or life, or the environments (political, economic, technological, etc.) within which that life or work takes place. He then suggests that the barriers that impede the search for information will arise out of the same set of contexts.

This model is shown in a simplified version. Wilson's model is clearly what may be described as a macro-model or a model of the gross information-seeking behavior and it suggests how information needs arise and what may prevent (and, by implication, aid) the actual search for information. It also embodies, implicitly, a set of hypotheses about information behavior that are testable: for example, the proposition that information needs in different work roles will be different, or that personal traits may inhibit or assist information seeking. Thus, the model can be regarded as a source of hypotheses, which is a general function of models of this kind.

The weakness of the model is that all of the hypotheses are only implicit and are not made explicit. Nor is there any indication of the processes whereby context has its effect upon the person, nor of the factors that result in the perception of barriers, nor of whether the various assumed barriers have similar or different effects upon the motivation of individuals to seek information. However, the very fact that the model is lacking in certain elements stimulates thinking about the kinds of elements that a more complete model ought to include.

Three sets of "barriers" to information-seeking behaviour are shown, which are related to the dimensions of the situation in which the person finds himself or herself:

1. Personal, individual Barriers;2. Social or role-related Barriers; or Interpersonal Barriers and 3. Environmental Barriers.

This formulation has been repeated in one form or another by other writers, some of whom use what we propose as the preferred term, intervening variables.

There is, however, a certain difficulty in positioning the barriers between the identification of information-seeking as a suitable coping strategy and the information-seeking behaviour itself. In fact, the barriers, particularly those at the level of the person, may act to prevent the initial

emergence of a coping strategy, or may intervene between the acquisition of information and its use.

As with other aspects of information-seeking behaviour, the intervening variables have been quite exhaustively discussed in the study of personality, health communication literature, consumer research, and innovation studies. The other areas considered in this review (decision-making and information system requirements) contribute rather less.

1. Personal / Individual Barriers :a)Emotional variablesb) Educational variablesc)Demographic variables

2.Social/interpersonal Barriers :

3.Environmental Barriers : a)Economic variablesb)Source characteristics

1. Personal / Individual Barriers :

a) Emotional Variables In a study of the information-seeking behaviour of cancer out-patients found characteristics of the patient could act as barriers to seeking information during a consultation with that certain the doctor. These included physiological characteristics such as hearing problems (experienced by 5% of the sample), cognitive characteristics such as the lack of medical knowledge (5%) and verbal limitations (5%), as well as nervousness (20%) perhaps signifying emotional problems. The study concluded that three factors determined the information-seeking behaviour of patients:

1. The characteristics and perceptions of the patient. 2. Certain characteristics of the patient's companion and the specialist. 3. Characteristics of the organization and situation.

b) Educational Variables Level of education has been explored as an intervening variable by a number of researchers. For example, in the study by Kassulke, educational level was associated with risky behaviour in relation to cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and with risky behaviour by women in relation to a number of health factors, such as checks for breast cancer and cervical smear tests. In the field of consumer behavior.

Individuals, the more likely they will view themselves as knowledgeable about the subject. In conditions of privacy it was found that persons with less perceived knowledge (that is, lower self-perceptions) searched more. In public settings the relationships were more complex but, overall, the study concludes that perceived knowledge is a central construct in the analysis of information-seeking behaviour, perhaps more so that actual knowledge.

c) Demographic variables: age, sex & other factorsConnell & Crawford (1988) found that the amount of health information received by urban residents from all sources declined with age, but that older rural women received a great deal of information from a variety of sources and that the amount declined only slightly with age. Older men received far less information than younger men.

Connell & Crawford (1988) found women reported receiving more health information than men from all sources and attributed this to women's traditional role as a care-giver and 'lay health care provider'.

Feick et al. (1986) studied women's searching behaviour for nutrition information on food labels. The study found that participants with children searched for nutrition and ingredient information on particular products, without showing an overall interest in more general nutrition information, suggesting that concern for their children was the motivating factor in information search.

2. Social/interpersonal Barriers :

Interpersonal problems are likely to arise whenever the information source is a person, or where interpersonal interaction is needed to gain access to other kinds of information sources.

Borgers et al. (1993) found cancer patients identified several barriers to successful information seeking during consultations, these included the attitude of the specialist, and the presence of other people, such as clinical assistants during the consultation.

In examining the behaviour of scientists in acquiring information relevant to research and development.

3.Environmental Barriers :

a) Economic Variables

The economic issues related to information-seeking behaviour fall into two categories: direct economic costs, and the value of time. These may apply either to the process of information-seeking itself, or to the consequent actions.

Prices change with varying frequency in all markets, and, unless a market is completely centralized, no one will know all the prices which various sellers (or buyers) quote at any given time. A buyer (or seller) who wishes to ascertain the most favorable price must canvass various sellers (or buyers) - a phenomenon I shall term "search."

b) source characteristics

Access

A fundamental requirement for information-seeking is that some source of information should be accessible. The lack of an easily accessible source may inhibit information-seeking altogether, or may impose higher costs than the enquirer is prepared to pay.

Credibility

If a seeker of information discovers that an information source is unreliable in the quality and accuracy of the information delivered he or she is likely to regard the source as lacking in credibility. As may be expected, this is a subject of considerable interest in consumer research, since advertisers must persuade consumers to believe their claims for products and services.

Channel of communication

Although not strictly a characteristic of the source, the communication channel through which the information is received is sufficiently closely tied to the source to be considered here. In a study of bicycle safety helmet use it was found that threatening information (that is, on the dangers of non-use of safety helmets and the need for use) was more effectively presented through interpersonal channels, such as through telephone conversations, rather than through the mass media: 'Threatening messages given over mass media channels may simply be ignored by the audience, whereas threatening messages given interpersonally may force audience members to evaluate a given health risk.'

References:

Information seeking behavior (n.d.), retrieved from, 18 september, 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_seeking_behavior

Choukhande, V.G. Information needs and information seeking behavior. Place : Shivneri Publisher & Distributor. Pg.294