Information Seeking and Subject Representation: An Activity-Theoretical Approach to Information Science. Birger Hjørland

Results are reported from a study that investigated patterns of information behaviour and use as related to personal reputation building and management in online environments. An everyday life information seeking (ELIS) perspective was adopted. Data were collected by diary and interview from 45 social media users who hold professional and managerial work roles, and who are users of Twitter, Facebook and/or LinkedIn. These data were first transcribed, then coded with NVivo10 according to themes identified from a preliminary literature review, with further codes added as they emerged from the content of the participant diaries and interviews. The main findings reveal that the portrayal of different personas online contributes to the presentation (but not the creation) of identity, that information-sharing practices for reputation building and management vary according to social media platform, and that the management of online connections and censorship are important to the protection of reputation. The maintenance of professional reputation is more important than private reputation to these users. They are aware of the ‘blur’ between professional and private lives in online contexts, and the influence that it bears on efforts to manage an environment where LinkedIn is most the useful of the three sites considered, and Facebook the most risky. With its novel focus on the ‘whole self’, this work extends understandings of the impact of information on the building and management of reputation from an information science perspective.

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Documenting the Information-seeking Experience of Remedial Undergraduate Students

Proceedings from the Document Academy ◽

10.35492/docam/1/1/4 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Shelley Blundell

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Information Literacy ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Qualitative Methodology ◽

Information Science ◽

Phenomenological Study ◽

Secondary Analysis ◽

Secondary Data ◽

Primary Analysis ◽

Dissertation Research

As presented at DOCAM’14, this proceedings paper discusses my ongoing dissertation research: Documenting the information-seeking experience of undergraduate students enrolled in a remedial English course at a 4-year state university in Ohio, United States. Because the information behaviors, needs, and information literacy abilities of these students are understudied areas in library and information science and higher education literature; I chose to investigate these areas in my dissertation research toward contributing research to this gap, using descriptive phenomenological (qualitative) methodology to do so. Although secondary data analysis is still in progress, this paper presents findings from primary analysis (a necessary step in phenomenological study to eliminate bias and assumption from secondary analysis). Ultimately, I aim to use study findings to create targeted, needs-based instruction for remedial undergraduate students, toward supporting their academic progress through information literacy development, and consequently encouraging their persistence toward graduation.

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Developing Visualisation Prototypes from EZproxy Server Logs to Understand Information Seeking Behaviour of Curtin Library Users

Preservation Digital Technology & Culture ◽

10.1515/pdtc-2018-0007 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 23-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Western Australia ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Information Science ◽

Full Time ◽

Data Visualisation ◽

Senior Lecturer ◽

Massive Datasets ◽

Library Users ◽

Valuable Role

AbstractDuring a 10-week, full-time research internship at Curtin University’s HIVE (Hub for Immersive Visualisation and eResearch) Center in Western Australia, Aaron Kent worked on visualising massive datasets documenting the information seeking behaviours of the university’s Robertson Library patrons at the request of Peter Green, Amanda Bellenger, and Matthew Robinson from the Curtin Library. Supervisor of the project, Senior Lecturer in Library, Records, Archives and Information Science, Dr. Pauline Joseph, talks to PDT&C about the research, curation of the datasets, and the emerging and valuable role of data visualisation.

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A comparison of information behavior studies in United States and India: Number of publications, authorship, journals, theories, research populations, and methods

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science ◽

10.1177/09610006211069672 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 096100062110696

Author(s):

Vinit Kumar ◽

Brady Lund

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Research Methods ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Information Science ◽

Information Behavior ◽

Relevant Information ◽

The United States ◽

Research Area ◽

Quantitative Research Methods ◽

Research Populations

This study compares attributes (authors, journals, populations, theories, methods) of information seeking behavior studies based in the United States and India, based on a search of published articles from 2011 to 2020 in relevant information science databases. The findings indicate major differences in information behavior research among the two countries. Information behavior research in the United States tends to focus more on health and medicine-related research populations, employ greater use of information behavior theories, and use a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods (as well as mixed methods). Information behavior research in India tends to focus more on general populations, use less theory, and rely heavily on quantitative research methods—particularly questionnaires (88% of studies). These findings suggest a healthy and intellectually-diverse information behavior research area in the United States and ample room for growth of the research area within India.

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Bates' Berrypicking Model (1989, 2002, 2005)

Information Seeking Behavior and Technology Adoption - Advances in Knowledge Acquisition, Transfer, and Management ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8156-9.ch007 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 113-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Linda L. Lillard ◽

YooJin Ha

Keyword(s):

Information Seeking ◽

Information Science ◽

Systematic Search ◽

Search Process ◽

Directed Search ◽

Cultural Perspective ◽

Theoretical Perspectives

Bates' model integrated a biological and a socio-cultural perspective to argue that, in practice, information seeking does not follow a systematic search process but more commonly takes the form of “berry picking”, or finding information bit by bit using a range of sources. According to her theory, humans collect most of their information through passive, undirected behavior, while the remainder is generated using three types of behavior defined as monitoring, browsing and directed search. Bates argued that a process of sampling and selection that she refers to as “berry picking”, underlies most browsing and directed searches, and has evolved from traditional mating and foraging behaviors. The chapter discusses the diverse theoretical perspectives on which Bates' model is based, and its key contributions to Information Science.

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